NEW YORK — In glitzy Instagram posts and media sitdowns, Tyra Myricks laid claim to the legacy of the man she calls her father — the late and legendary DJ Jam Master Jay.
She boasted in interviews of her executive position with hip-hop icon Drake’s clothing line, earned a reported seven-figure income as a rising young entrepreneur, and opened a Los Angeles pizzeria last year with the daughter of Brooklyn rap icon Notorious B.I.G.
Behind the public facade, multiple interviews and court documents present a starkly different backstory for the 29-year-old Myricks. She never worked in any position with the four-time Grammy winning artist’s businesses, according to the Drake camp. Myricks did jail time in a Maryland identity theft case targeting two unsuspecting victims, and was accused by a pair of Los Angeles landlords with nonpayment of rent after relocating to California, legal papers indicated.
There’s more: A publicist hired to promote the media-heavy 2021 debut of “Juicy Pizza” claims she was stiffed on part of her bill for the work. More ominously, Myricks faces a court date next month for failure to pay restitution of $65,870 to victims of the Maryland scam, a possible violation of her probation, recently filed court papers showed.
And Jay’s extended family remains divided on whether her paternity claim is legit. Two cousins of the slain DJ, whose real name is Jason Mizell, say the hip-hop icon would be spinning in his grave over her assertion. Based on her past history, they argue the question is a fair one.
“She’s living off Jay’s name for profit,” said Mizell’s cousin Doc Thompson, who grew up with Mizell and remained close with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer until his October 2002 murder in a Queens recording studio.
“Take his name out of your mouth, it’s disgusting. She never produced any DNA, we’re asking for months now. No birth certificate.”
The Brooklyn-born Myricks, who now lives in California, flatly disputes their claims. She acknowledges Mizell’s name does not appear on her birth certificate, but insists that a DNA test seen by her mother and Jay’s mother ― both now dead ― confirmed her claim.
Myricks could not produce a copy of the results and suggested the document was “probably in a basement with the rest of my stuff” in her old Delaware residence.
“I’m not interested in dealing with the other side of the family,” she told The News in one of two interviews. “The older I get, the more I realize why my mother shielded me from them. It doesn’t faze me. I know the truth. Jealousy is what it is.”
But there’s no disputing this: A Drake spokesman was flabbergasted when contacted about Myrick’s continuing claim of a high-profile position with his October’s Very Own clothing line. Just four months ago, a Maryland court document detailed how Myricks again reported she was working with OVO after eight months out of work.
Maryland probation authorities, echoing the Drake camp, noted she had “failed to submit verification of her employment.” Myricks suggested the rapper was only distancing himself from her over “a couple of rumors.”
“I get why they say I’m separated from OVO,” she insisted. “Drake doesn’t want his name associated with that.”
Myricks, despite her claims of financial success, has repaid only $3,010 to the victims of her scams since her 2018 conviction, prosecutors reported in court papers. The defendant was also barred by a Maryland judge from further contact with either of the targeted women.
Trouble followed her to the West Coast, where she relocated after her Sept. 18, 2018, release from jail. Legal paperwork detailed a pair of court actions for nonpayment of rent totaling $13,225 and an alleged scam where she duped a friend out of $1,530 to purchase a pricey ticket to the annual Coachella concert.
Default judgments were entered against Myricks in both the rent cases. One was eventually dismissed, apparently after she vacated the apartment. And court documents offered no details on a resolution in the Coachella incident.
The publicist who worked on the opening of Myricks’ pizza business said she was warned by others about her new client — and recounted eating her unpaid bill rather than continue their relationship.
“It was getting messier and messier,” said the publicist with the firm of Rodeo & Madison. “She kept trying to get out of it. I finally thought, ‘I’m just going to stay far away [from her].’ I don’t know what kind of [nerve] you need to try this.”
Myricks acknowledged the nonpayment, but insisted it was because the publicist’s work was subpar. And despite the red flags, her pizza business partner offered a spirited defense of her friend.
“From my side, everyone knows Tyra is a relative,” said T’yanna Wallace. “She has done a DNA test, definitely.”
At the time of his death, Jay was publicly known as the father of three sons. Myricks, born a decade before Mizell’s slaying, drew the attention of his cousins Thompson and Stephon “Phonz” Watford in recent years with interviews where she routinely presented herself as Mizell’s daughter.
Myricks said she remains friendly with Jay’s three sons, referring to the trio as her siblings, and Thompson confirmed her ties to the trio. Attempts to reach the sons were unsuccessful, but their mother declined to take a side in the family feud.
“I’m not going to comment on my family,” said Jay’s widow Terri Corley in a conversation with the Daily News. “I’m a private person, and I never discuss my family at all.”
Multiple media outlets in recent stories mentioned Myricks’ ties to the seminal DJ, who teamed with rappers Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “D.M.C.” on hits like “It’s Tricky” and the smash remake of “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith rockers Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.
And several pulled Myricks’ interviews from their websites after the Drake spokesman told The News about her false claims of employment with his business. Myricks acknowledges some missteps along the way in her career but insists her ties to Jam Master Jay are real.
“I was a different person at the time,” said Myricks of her checkered past. “At a younger age, I was worried about the wrong things. There’s nothing I have to hide.”
The cousins remain suspicious of her and fear the claim may be part of an ongoing fraud.
“She is a professional manipulator who must be stopped,” said Watford. “This isn’t about just our family. This is about the millions of fans who loved Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay.”
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