"Every stage made me sharper": Flau'jae Johnson drops throwback carousel from her America’s Got Talent episode as a young rapper 

LSU star Flau'jae Johnson opted against declaring for the 2025 WNBA draft in favor of staying an extra season in college basketball with the Tigers. During the offseason, Johnson has continued to shore up her reputation as a talented rapper by releasing two songs.

She has become a popular figure in college basketball circles due to her balancing both her basketball and rap career while excelling at both. She started her journey to stardom by appearing in the television show "The Rap Game" when she was 13 years old and in season 14 of "America's Got Talent" when she was 14 years old.

On Friday, the multi-talented LSU star posted a throwback on Instagram of her appearances on both "America's Got Talent" and "The Rap Game."

She captioned the post:

"Remember when I was that little girl on The Rap Game, and on America’s Got Talent…They said, 'You got something…but you not there yet.' I didn’t take that as hate I took it as fuel. I knew I had it in me, just had to grow into it.

"Every verse, every setback, every stage made me sharper. I ain’t new to this, I been putting in work. “Not yet” just meant my time was coming. And now? I’m here. Can You Hear Me Now?"

Flau'jae Johnson got a golden buzzer on "America's Got Talent"

Flau'jae Johnson reached the final round of the television show, "The Rap Game" though she did not clinch a record deal with producer Jermaine Dupri's 'So So Def' record label. A few months later, she was invited to participate on "America's Got Talent."

During an interview with Revolt, Johnson revealed how she felt during the moment when she got the golden buzzer:

“I had that cosign when I was 14, but they had already given away all their golden buzzers, right? So, they told me that and it was like damn... because I was one of the latest additions, but another round they do is Judge Cuts.

"A celebrity judge comes, and they get one golden buzzer. Chris Hardwick gave it to me,” she added. “He was so touched. I was overcome with emotions. And when the golden buzzer stuff [happens], the confetti was falling down on me... It was just like my dad [was just] telling me, ‘There you go.’”

Flau'jae Johnson's career has grown since then, having signed a distribution deal with Jay Z's Roc Nation in 2020 and getting the chance to collaborate with famous rappers like Lil Wayne and NLE Choppa to further her music career while thriving on the court for the LSU Tigers.