Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Ya Boy" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Ya Boy
Ya Boy in 2009
Background information
Birth name	William Joseph Crawford
Also known as	Rich Rocka
Born	(1984-01-28)January 28, 1984 (age 41)[1]
Origin	San Francisco,California, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop,West Coast hip hop
Occupations	Rapper songwriter
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Black Card Music E1 Konvict KonLive SMC Hoo-Bangin' Black Wall Street Done Deal

William Joseph Crawford (born January 28, 1984), known by his stage nameYa Boy (also known asRich Rocka), is an American rapper fromFillmore District,California. He is best known for his 2011 single "Lock Down" (withDJ Drama featuringAkon).^[2] The year prior, he signed with the latter's record label,Konvict Muzik, having first signed withSan Quinn's Done Deal Entertainment to release his debut studio album,Rookie of the Year (2005). The following year, he signed withthe Game'sBlack Wall Street Records, and laterMack 10'sHoo-Bangin' Records in 2009, although he released no albums with both labels.^[3]

Crawford grew up in San Francisco'sFillmore District, and graduated fromEl Camino High School inSouth San Francisco.

His cousin is football playerStevie Johnson.^[4]

In 2005, Crawford signed withSan Quinn's Done Deal Entertainment andSMC Recordings to release his debut album,Rookie of the Year in May of that year. In 2006, Crawford signed withthe Game's record labelThe Black Wall Street Records, an imprint ofWarner 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 includingScott Storch,Araab Muzik andCool & Dre, the latter of whom produced his 2008 standalone single, "Holla at Ya Boy".^[5]

In 2009, Crawford formed the record label Black Card Music, and signed himself and the label toMack 10'sHoo-Bangin' Records.^[6] He released no projects with the label, and instead signed withAkon's labelsKonvict Muzik andKon Live Distribution in February 2010. The following August, he released the single "Party Girls" (featuringRico Love), and later the single "Lockdown" (withDJ 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 ofRich Rocka in early 2013. He then released the mixtapeRoad 2 Rocka on July 4, 2013.^[7]

• Rookie of the Year (2005)
• Rich Rocka (2013)^[8]

• Redd, Maria."Redd Roxx Rundown: Livin' Rich with Rich Rocka, formerly Ya Boy". buffalo.com. RetrievedMarch 19, 2013.
• Ya Boy's Official Myspace
• Ya Boy's Official Twitter

• 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 musicians

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2017
• BLP articles lacking sources from January 2012
• All BLP articles lacking sources
• Articles with hCards