Ya Boy

Ya Boy
Background information
Birth name	William Joseph Crawford
Also known as	Rich Rocka
Born	(1984-01-28) January 28, 1984
Origin	San Francisco, California
Genres	Hip hop, West Coast Hip Hop
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Black Card Music (current) Black Wall Street Records, Hoo-Bangin Records, Konvict Muzik (former)
Associated acts	Akon, San Quinn, The Game
Website

William Joseph Crawford (born January 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Ya Boy or Rich Rocka, is an American rapper from the Fillmore District, San Francisco. He is a younger cousin of San Francisco rapper San Quinn and also the cousin of Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson. Crawford graduated from El Camino High School in South San Francisco, California, in 2002. He was formerly signed to both of Akon's labels Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution.^[1][2]

Musical career

As a youth growing up in the Fillmore District, San Francisco, Ya Boy began rapping with the song "16's with Me." He continued to release mixtapes and singles with the support of cousin San Quinn's independent label Done Deal Entertainment. He released his debut, Rookie of the Year, in 2005. In 2006, he amicably left his cousin's label to pursue opportunities with his uncle, who was an executive at Compton rapper The Game's Black Wall Street Records imprint, His affiliation to Game allowed him to work with top industry producers and lead to greater exposure outside of the Bay Area locale as shown by his feature in The Source magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column. Ya Boy appeared on the track "Dance with a Pimp" on Kevin Federline's 2006 album Playing with Fire.

In late 2006, Ya Boy signed to Game’s Warner Brothers distributed label The Black Wall Street Records. After making an appearance on the label’s first release - a mixtape, The Black Wall Street Journal Vol. 1 - Ya Boy has began to work with a number of big name producers including Scott Storch, Araab Muzik and Cool & Dre on his second full length album Holla at Ya Boy. The album’s fresh lead single, "Holla at Ya Boy", was released in early 2008 however in that same year he left Black Wall Street Records. In 2009 Ya Boy with Nitevision started his own record label, "Black Card Music" and he signed to Mack 10's Hoo-Bangin' Records.^[3] However he would leave that label and in 2010 Boy signed to Akon's label Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution. In August 2010 he released his first single, "Party Girls," featuring Rico Love and a second single "Lockdown" featuring his boss Akon on October 11, 2011. Ya Boy announced in early 2013 that he changed his name to Rich Rocka. He then released a mixtape "Road 2 Rocka" on July 4, 2013.^[4]

Discography

Studio Albums

EPs

Mixtapes

References

• Redd, Maria. "Redd Roxx Rundown: Livin’ Rich with Rich Rocka, formerly Ya Boy". buffalo.com. Retrieved 2013-03-19. 

External links

• Ya Boy's Official Myspace
• Ya Boy's Official Twitter