William Joseph Crawford (born January 28, 1984), known by his stage name Ya Boy (also known as Rich Rocka), is an American rapper from the Fillmore District of

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He was formerly signed to both of

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles ...

's labels Konvict Muzik and

Kon Live Distribution Kon may refer to: Places * Koń, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland * Kon Tum province, Vietnam :*Kon Tum, capital of Kon Tum province, Vietnam. * Karkhaneh-ye Sefid Kon, a village in Lorestan Province, Iran * Kon, India, a town in ...

Biography

Crawford grew up in San Francisco's Fillmore District, and graduated from El Camino High School in South San Francisco. His cousin is football player Stevie Johnson.

Musical career

In late 2006, Ya Boy signed to

Game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

’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 begun 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 lead single, "Holla at Ya Boy," was released in early 2008. In 2009 Ya Boy, with Nitevision, started his own record label, "Black Card Music" and signed to Mack 10's Hoo-Bangin' Records. However he would leave that label and in 2010 signed to

's label Konvict Muzik and

. 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.

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

*
Ya Boy's Official MyspaceYa Boy's Official Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ya Boy Living people People from South San Francisco, California African-American male rappers Hip hop musicians from San Francisco Rappers from the San Francisco Bay Area West Coast hip hop musicians 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 1984 births 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people