Ya Boy

The newest rap phenom to burst out of California, Ya Boy is poised to take the industry by swarm with his phat rhymes and undeniable swagger. Ya Boy - real name William Joseph Crawford - graduated from El Camino High School in South San Francisco in 2001 and began rapping a year later, chiefly inspired by the work of the late great Tupac Shakur. He first made waves in Cali with his regional hit "16's With Me"; Ya Boy's slick rhymes and the song's dope beat (sampling the "Imperial March" from Star Wars) introduced the young player to the world.

Since 2002, Ya Boy has gone nowhere but up. After releasing a number of bomb mixtapes that increased his cred on the West Coast rap scene (drawing praise from a number of prominent producers, including DJ Skee and Dr. Dre), Ya Boy began working closely with his cousin San Quinn (a regionally famous hyphie rapper and producer) on his record label Done Deal Entertainment, LLC. With San Quinn's guidance, Ya Boy dropped his first album Rookie of the Year in 2005. Featuring appearances by E-40 and Messy Marv on hit tracks like "Fly As This" and "Bigger The Drama", Ya Boy's rookie effort caught the attention of one of the biggest players in the game - actually, it caught the attention of The Game.

After amicably parting from his cousin's label, Ya Boy signed to The Game's Warner Brothers distributed label The Black Wall Street in late 2006. 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 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 to critical success. Keep your head on a swivel, because the young rapper is set to drop more powerful tracks by the end of the year.

From Lastfm:

William Joseph Crawford (born January 28, 1984 in the Fillmore District, San Francisco), better known by his stage name Ya Boy, is an American rapper and actor signed to his own Precise Music Group. He also has strong ties with The Game's Black Wall Street label, and is the cousin of fellow rappers San Quinn, Messy Marv and Champ Bailey. He released his debut album Rookie of the Year in 2005, and plans to release his second studio album, The Facelift, in October of 2009. He has even done tracks with Jin the emcee such as; Down So Long and a remix of 16's Wit Me called 16's Wit Us

Ya Boy was given his name by his cousin Bailey, and was helped to develop into a rap artist by his other cousin San Quinn. In the Summer of 2005, Ya Boy released his first solo mixtape, Future of The Franchise, and it sold 10,000 copies in the first month alone. This was to be followed up by his debut album, Rookie of the Year. His album features E-40, Turf Talk, Clyde Carson of The Team, San Quinn and more. The first single off the album was produced by Rick Rock and is titled "Step Ya Game Up."

In 2006, Ya Boy began an affiliation with The Black Wall Street. The Game took him under his wing and the two began to network. His affiliation with Game brought him a step higher in the rap game, as he began to collaborate with big name producers such as JR Rotem, Nu Jerzey Devil and Scott Storch to name a few. Pop star Britney Spears' ex-husband Kevin Federline, aka [artist[K-Fed, called upon Ya Boy's talent for writing, and had him ghost write for his debut album Playing With Fire.

Ya Boy makes a cameo appearance in the 1996 crime film Mad Dog Time.