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 The Fillmore District is a historical neighborhood in San Francisco located to the southwest of Nob Hill, west of Market Street and north of the Mission District.Oaks, Robert F. San Francisco's Fillmore District. lectronic resource n.p.: Charles ...

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 P) ...

's labels

Konvict Muzik Konvict Muzik is a record label founded by R&B singer Akon.Melvin Brown: Konvict Business ...

and Kon Live Distribution.

Biography

Crawford grew up in San Francisco's

, and graduated from El Camino High School in

South San Francisco South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially known as "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 census. ...

. His cousin is football player

Stevie Johnson Steven John Johnson Jr. (born July 22, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Johnson was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draf ...

Musical career

In late 2006, Ya Boy signed to

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

’s Warner Brothers distributed label

The Black Wall Street Records The Black Wall Street Records was a record label founded by Jayceon "Game" Taylor and George "Big Fase 100" Taylor III. History The name " The Black Wall Street" is adopted from what was the racially segregated Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, ...

. 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 Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. He started off as a keyboardist for the group the Roots. Early life Storch was born on Long Island, New York. He was raised in South Florida and Ph ...

Araab Muzik Abraham Orellana (born June 16, 1989), better known as his stage name AraabMuzik ( ; stylized as araabMUZIK), is an American record producer and DJ. He made a name for himself by performing beats and instrumentals live and in real time on a Ak ...

and

Cool & Dre Cool & Dre are a record production and songwriting duo from North Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Antonio Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. The duo are best known for their work with Terror Squad founder Fat Joe, first ...

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 Dedrick D'Mon Rolison (born August 9, 1971), better known by his stage name Mack 10, is an American rapper. He has sold nearly 11 million records combining his solo and group works. Mack 10 made his first appearance on Ice Cube's 1994 " Bootleg ...

Hoo-Bangin' Records Hoo-Bangin' Records is a record label founded by Dedrick "Mack 10" Rolison. He took the name from the name of the song "Hoo Bangin'" by his group, Westside Connection. Hoo-Bangin' Records was recently released from its contract at Priority Reco ...

. However he would leave that label and in 2010 signed to

's label

Konvict Muzik Konvict Muzik is a record label founded by R&B singer Akon.Melvin Brown: Konvict Business ...

and Kon Live Distribution. In August 2010 he released his first single, "Party Girls," featuring

Rico Love Richard Preston Butler Jr. (born December 3, 1982), better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American record producer, songwriter, singer, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wiscon ...

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