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Tony Yayo
Background information
Birth name	Marvin Bernard
Born	March 31, 1978 (age 29)
Origin	Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States
Genre(s)	Hip-Hop
Occupation(s)	Hip Hop Artist
Years active	2003 – present
Label(s)	G-Unit, Interscope, Dumout Records/Entertainment
Associated acts	G-Unit, Mazaradi FOX, Snoop From The Wire
Website	TonyYayo.com

Tony Yayo (born Marvin Bernard on March 31, 1978 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti)^[1] is an American hip-hop artist who is signed to the G-Unit Records label.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles 3 References 4 External links

Biography

Growing up with 50 Cent and with the addition of Lloyd Banks they formed the group G-Unit. With the success of the their mixtapes, Yayo quickly made a name for himself in the rap circuit.^{[citation needed]}

Before the recording of his debut album even started, rapper Tony Yayo was a lifelong friend of 50 Cent and a member of his G-Unit crew.^{[citation needed]} Yayo had been with 50 during his career-building years in the world of mixtapes. Along with 50 Cent, Yayo was arrested on December 31, 2002 on weapons-possession charges. During a background check, police discovered Yayo had an outstanding warrant for a previous weapons-possession charge. In early 2003, he was sentenced for bail-jumping and would remain in jail until the beginning of 2004. He met Greg Fleming and Yayo has stated the great influence Gregory's Hair and "Bossman Status" has had on his career. During this time, 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew were becoming popular. Videos featured the group wearing "Free Yayo" shirts, but Yayo himself was unaware of all the attention he was getting. The prison inmates Yayo shared a television with preferred watching sports to music videos, but when Eminem and 50 Cent were scheduled to make an appearance during the Grammy Awards, he convinced everyone to change the channel.^{[citation needed]} It was the first time he saw a "Free Yayo" shirt -- this time worn by Eminem. Inspired by the shirt, he started working extra hard on his rhymes while keeping in touch with the G-Unit crew let him know he was going to get his chance once he was a free man.^{[citation needed]} Come January 8, 2004, Yayo was released from prison, but presenting a forged passport to his parole officer a day later put him back in prison for a few weeks. Out again, Yayo was finally able to start work on his debut. Some mixtape appearances on the G-Unit Radio series announced his comeback at the street level while the "So Seductive" single let the rest of the world know in the summer of 2005. In August and while the single was dominating urban radio, MTV, and BET, Yayo released his debut, Thoughts of a Predicate Felon.^[2]

Tony Yayo is currently working on his second album to be released in 2007 called Godfather of the Ghetto. The video for his new single off the album, "It's A Stick Up" features Mazaradi FOX and Snoop From The Wire.

Yayo has also recorded a track with DMX along with 50 Cent on a track titled "50 Reasons" which will be on DMXs 2007 release The Dog.

Yayo has received critical acclaim for his commercial releases, and his mix tape appearances have been successfully translated to mainstream success.^{[citation needed]}

On the 24/3/07 Tony Yayo was arrested for assault. Allegedly, he spotted the son of Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond wearing a Czar entertainment shirt and pushed him against a wall,slapped him and shouted explicitives about Czar entertainment.[1] [2] Czar entertainment has previously been sued by curtis "50 cent" jackson for showing footage of him in a documentary about Kelvin "50 Cents" Martin who Curtis Jackson got his name from.[3]

Discography

Albums

Cover	Album information
	Thoughts of a Predicate Felon Released: August 30, 2005 Chart Positions: #2 U.S.[3]; #3 CAN[4] U.S. sales: 504,000 (stated in recent article in XXL Magazine) Worldwide sales: 700,000[citation needed] RIAA certifcation: Gold[citation needed] Singles: "So Seductive", "Curious", "Pimpin", "I Know You Don't Love Me" , "Drama Setter"
	Godfather of the Ghetto Released: Late 2007 Chart Positions: TBA RIAA Certifcation: TBA Singles: "It's A Stick Up"

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
		US Hot 100	US R&B/Hip-Hop	US Rap	UK Singles Chart
2005	"So Seductive" (feat. 50 Cent)	#48	#7	#12	#28	Thoughts of a Predicate Felon
2005	"Curious" (feat. Joe)	-	#85	-	-	Thoughts of a Predicate Felon
2005	"Pimpin"	-	#66	-	-	Thoughts of a Predicate Felon
2007	"I Know You Don't Love Me" (feat. 50 Cent, Young Buck, & Lloyd Banks)	-	-	-	-	Thoughts of a Predicate Felon
2005	"Drama Setter" (feat. Eminem & Obie Trice)	-	-	-	-	Thoughts of a Predicate Felon
2007	"It's A Stick Up" (feat. Mazaradi Fox & Snoop From The Wire)	-	-	-	-	Godfather of the Ghetto

References

External links

• Tony Yayo at MySpace
• Details of convictions in New York State. NYC Department of Correctional Services Online
• "Tony Yayo - Breaking Down A PDR" - Interview with ThaFormula.com