Lil Tay's first full interview since the death hoax is as confusing as ever

Earlier this year, a message on child influencer Lil Tay’s dormant social media account erroneously announced that she and her brother Jason were both dead. Tay (birth name Claire Hope) became a viral star at just nine years old by imitating the hyper-masculine, hyper-capitalistic side of hip hop. She posed with cars, she waved around stacks of cash, she spouted slurs and profanity, she parroted African American Vernacular English. And then she fell off the map for about five years, returning with a death hoax and—surprise—a new single.

Tay speaks up about her situation for the first time in a new profile for Rolling Stone, though writer EJ Dickson notes that the young wannabe star’s story is about as opaque as ever. For instance, neither Tay nor her mother Angela Tian would answer directly as to how old she is, both opting to call her “timeless” instead. (Court records reportedly confirm Tay is 16.) There are still no answers as to who perpetrated the death hoax. Tay, her mother, and her brother all blame her father Christopher Hope and erstwhile manager Harry Tsang. Both of them also deny involvement in the hoax, and Tsang directs blame to Tay’s brother Jason drumming up a publicity stunt. Jason also denies making the post.

The viral sensation had been absent from social media up to that point due to a custody battle between her parents. Tay and her mother have accused Hope of domestic and sexual abuse, which Hope denies; they say the custody battle kept Tay locked out of her social media, which Hope denies; they say he kept her from potential opportunities to further her career by refusing to sign contracts, which Hope also denies. Reasons given for his intervention are that she was missing too much school, and her social presence was alarming. He says he was trying “to prevent her from ruining her life.”

There’s definitely some lying and obscuring going on. Dickson couldn’t find any evidence to support Tian’s claims that Tay was court-ordered off social media. An email supposedly from Eminem inviting Tay on tour was shut down by the rapper’s team as “bogus.” Tian claimed Tay “reached a level 10 in the Royal Canadian Conservatory of Music certification program,” but the conservatory claimed to have no record of her ever attending. (For what it’s worth, the teenager really is musically talented, proficient on piano and guitar.)

Within that context, it’s not a far stretch to assume that the death hoax was all a promotion for Tay’s new single “Sucker 4 Green,” which was posted shortly after. “There’s always going to be conspiracy theories,” Tay tells Rolling Stone when asked if her brother Jason perpetrated the hoax. “If you want to make conspiracy theories, I can’t stop you.”

There is one definitive statement to come out of the profile: “I always had a vision of myself becoming famous. It was something I wanted to do. And I just spoke it into reality,” Tay proclaims. The abrasive tiny “Tay” character is something she and her brother created together, but “I am the one that’s always wanted to become famous. I was the one who had a vision for myself as an artist, and I made it happen.” How it all happened is still somewhat of a mystery, but at this point, all we have is her word.