Ya Boy
American rapper from California
title: "Ya Boy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "people-from-south-san-francisco,-california", "21st-century-african-american-male-rappers", "21st-century-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-rappers", "20th-century-african-american-musicians"] description: "American rapper from California" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ya_Boy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American rapper from California ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ya Boy |
| image | Ya-Boy 2009.jpg |
| caption | Ya Boy in 2009 |
| birth_name | William Joseph Crawford |
| alias | Rich Rocka |
| birth_date | |
| origin | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| genre | |
| instrument | Vocals |
| occupation | |
| years_active | 2002–present |
| label | |
| :: |
| name = Ya Boy | image = Ya-Boy 2009.jpg | caption = Ya Boy in 2009 | birth_name = William Joseph Crawford | alias = Rich Rocka | birth_date = | birth_place = | origin = San Francisco, California, U.S. | death_date = | Death_place = | genre = | instrument = Vocals | occupation = | years_active = 2002–present | label = | website =
William Joseph Crawford (born January 28, 1984), known by his stage name Ya Boy (also known as Rich Rocka), is an American rapper from Fillmore District, California. He is best known for his 2011 single "Lock Down" (with DJ Drama featuring Akon). The year prior, he signed with the latter's record label, Konvict Muzik, having first signed with San Quinn's Done Deal Entertainment to release his debut studio album, Rookie of the Year (2005). The following year, he signed with the Game's Black Wall Street Records, and later Mack 10's Hoo-Bangin' Records in 2009, although he released no albums with both labels.
Early life
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.
Career
In 2005, Crawford signed with San Quinn's Done Deal Entertainment and SMC Recordings to release his debut album, Rookie of the Year in May of that year. In 2006, Crawford signed with the Game's record label The Black Wall Street Records, an imprint of Warner Bros. Records. After making an appearance on the label's collaborative mixtape, The Black Wall Street Journal, Vol. 1 (2006), Crawford began working with producers including Scott Storch, Araab Muzik and Cool & Dre, the latter of whom produced his 2008 standalone single, "Holla at Ya Boy".
In 2009, Crawford formed the record label Black Card Music, and signed himself and the label to Mack 10's Hoo-Bangin' Records. He released no projects with the label, and instead signed with Akon's labels Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution in February 2010. The following August, he released the single "Party Girls" (featuring Rico Love), and later the single "Lockdown" (with DJ Drama featuring Akon) in late 2011. The latter song was shared with disc jockey DJ Drama as part of his third album, Third Power (2011). Crawford changed his stage name in favor of Rich Rocka in early 2013. He then released the mixtape Road 2 Rocka on July 4, 2013.
Discography
Studio albums
- Rookie of the Year (2005)
- Rich Rocka (2013)
Mixtapes
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2003 | Mind Motion Rocks The Done Deal Party |
| 2004 | Fully Loaded Street Heat "16's Wit Me" |
| 2005 | The Future of the Franchise |
| 2006 | Chapter 1: The Rise |
| 2007 | Ya Boy Radio: Part One |
| The Fix | |
| 2008 | Optimus Rime |
| I'm 'Bout to Murdah This Shit | |
| The Bay Area Bully | |
| 2009 | Kush 2009 |
| Mohawks & Heavy Metal | |
| 2010 | The Fix 2 |
| 2011 | The Fillmore Renaissance Story |
| Pray For Forgiveness (with DJ Paul and Lil Lody, hosted by DJ Scream) | |
| 2012 | Trappy Birthday |
| 2013 | Road 2 Rocka |
| 2014 | Allegiance |
| 2015 | Rich Rocka II |
| 2016 | Alien |
| Legacy | |
| Guilty by Association 2 | |
| The Fix 3 | |
| 2017 | Definition of Explosive |
| The Tonite Show | |
| Rocka World | |
| 2023 | *Back From the Future 2 * |
| :: |
References
References
- (1984-01-28). "Ya Boy". Hotnewhiphop.com.
- Paine, Jake. (February 26, 2010). "Akon Signs Ya Boy To Konvict Music". hiphopdx.com.
- "L.A.'s 10 Best Up-and-Coming Rappers - LA Weekly".
- (October 13, 2011). "The GQA: Stevie Johnson". GQ.
- (October 24, 2006). "The Black Wallstreet, Vol. 1 by The Game & DJ Infamous Haze on Apple Music".
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100219165741/http://www.hiphopblog.com/news-mainmenu-35/2530-ya-boy-hoo-bangin.html Ya Boy Hoo Bangin]. hiphopblog.com (October 21, 2009)
- (July 4, 2013). "Rich Rocka – Road 2 Rocka Hosted by Digital Product". datpiff.com.
- "None".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::