Young Maylay | |
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Born | Christopher Bellard June 17, 1979 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2000–present |
Relatives | Shawn Fonteno (cousin) |
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Labels |
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Christopher Bellard [1] [2] (born June 17, 1979), also known by his stage name Young Maylay, is an American rapper, record producer and actor based in Los Angeles. He is best known for his portrayal of Carl "CJ" Johnson, the main character of the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas .
Christopher Bellard was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in poverty, in a crime-ridden neighborhood, amid gang violence and gangsta rap inspired his rapping career. He grew up with close affiliates of the Crips gang. Bellard is the younger cousin of actor and rapper Shawn Fonteno, who played Franklin Clinton, one of the protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V . [3]
His rapping career eventually took off in 2000, at the age of 21. With help from King T, Maylay made his first appearance in Killa Tay's Thug Thisle, with the song #1 Hottest Coast (Killa Cali) in 2000. Later he appeared in Rodney O & Joe Cooley's Summer Heat in 2002. Since then, he has been featured on many releases across the West Coast. Maylay wrote the majority of King T's album Ruthless Chronicles. [4] He founded his independent label in 2005 with the money from GTA San Andreas and released his debut mixtape in the same year.
In 2006, Maylay was featured in Deeyah's single "What Will It Be" with a music video. In the same year, he appeared in DJ Crazy Toones' CT Experience, it was the first collaboration of the trio DJ Crazy Toones, WC and Young Maylay. In 2007 the trio began working in Maylay's album The Real Coast Guard. The album was released in 2008 and later that year, WC signed Young Maylay to Bigg Swang/Lench Mob.
Lench Mob Records were set in 2006 to put out Ice Cube's and WC's records, but later other artists were signed, like Young Maylay, who is considered a veteran by Ice Cube. [5] DJ Crazy Toones created two blogs for Maylay, the first is called Who's Young Maylay? Mix Blog [6] and the second is called Young Maylay, WC & Bad Lucc Mix Blog. [7]
Young Maylay is working on three albums, by himself, WC and Crazy Toones. Young Maylay is featured on two tracks by Ice Cube called "Y'all Know Who I Am" and "Too West Coast" on the album I Am the West .
In 2010 Young Maylay was featured on two tracks on the album DJ Premier Presents Year Round Records - Get Used To Us. The track "Temptation" is a solo performance, while the track "Ain't Nuttin' Changed (remix)" is a collaborative effort with Blaq Poet and MC Eiht.
In an interview, when asked about a new album, Maylay said:
Yeah, I'm working on an album. But I will not tell the title again! (laughs) And we gonna know when we're gonna drop it. But I got something that I wanna put out. I was gonna call it "Brushfires and Earthquakes", cause that's California all day. On the brushfire side I come with just straight heat spittin'. And then on the earthquake side I'm coming for that like to get out there in traffic and show you they got some sounds. But that's gonna be more or less like a mixtape. The album is in the works. I'm not trying to just take songs that I didn't use off my mixtape and put it on a CD and call it my album. I can't really put no timeline on it, we're working everyday. So it ain't the fact about getting songs done or nothing like that, timing is everything man. [8]
OBG Rider Clicc is Young Maylay's rap trio (with Young Dre The Truth and Killa Polk) the group first appeared in Young Dre's album called Revolution In Progress The Movement with the single Let's Get The Game Bacc Right. and later appeared with Compton Cavie, Dresta and BG Knocc Out with the song Wes Indeed in the Cali Luv mixtape.
Maylay was working in New York when he received a phone call from DJ Pooh, who was in a meeting with staff from Rockstar Games. They started a regular conversation about music which, unknown to Maylay, occurred on speakerphone. Rockstar staff heard the conversation, and after the conversation between the two ended, they encouraged Pooh to bring Maylay in to audition. A few weeks after the audition, Rockstar reviewed the tapes and decided on Maylay for the role of the main character of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas , Carl "CJ" Johnson. [9] When asked in 2021 if he would consider reprising the role of CJ in any future Grand Theft Auto titles if given the opportunity, Maylay stated that he would never voice CJ again due to conflicts with Rockstar Games. [10]
Malaynium Muziq is Young Maylay's own independent record label based in Studio City, California. His mixtapes were released on this label.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2004 | The Introduction | Carl "CJ" Johnson | Short film made in the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game engine, showcasing the events that occurred prior to the game itself. |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2014 | The Brodies | Mario | Unknown episodes/episode |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2004 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Carl "CJ" Johnson | |
2021 | Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition | Remaster of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas only; Archival voicelines |
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh title in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, the game follows Carl "CJ" Johnson, who returns home after his mother's murder and finds his old gang has lost much of their territory. Over the course of the game, he attempts to re-establish the gang, clashes with corrupt authorities and powerful criminals, and gradually unravels the truth behind his mother's murder.
Priest Joseph Brooks, is a hip hop producer and rapper from Long Beach, California. He is a member of the DPGC.
William LaShawn Calhoun Jr., better known by his stage name WC, is an American rapper and actor. He originally was a rapper in the group Low Profile and later formed his group WC and the Maad Circle, who first succeeded with the single "Ain't A Damn Thang Changed". He later started a solo career and has released four solo albums. He is also well known for being a member of the rap supergroup Westside Connection with West Coast rappers Ice Cube and Mack 10.
Carl "CJ" Johnson is a fictional character and the playable protagonist of the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the fifth main installment in Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series. He is voiced by Young Maylay, who also served as the likeness for the character.
Lench Mob Records is a record label owned by Los Angeles rapper and actor Ice Cube. Founded as Street Knowledge Records, it was once home to many of Cube's former allies such as DJ Pooh, and Lench Mob's own Chilly Chill, Del the Funky Homosapien, Kam, Yo-Yo and the group Da Lench Mob. The label, established in 1992, remained dormant for a long period until a revival in 2006 with the release of Ice Cube's album Laugh Now, Cry Later. Lench Mob Records also distributes Bigg Swang Records home to WC, DJ Crazy Toones, Young Maylay and Tha Trapp. Hallway Productionz have produced multiple tracks for the label's two major artists.
Ghetto Heisman is the second solo studio album by American rapper WC. It was released on November 12, 2002 via Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place at Paramount Recording Studios, at Ameraycan Studios, and at Larrabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles, and at Criteria Studios in Miami Beach. Production was handled by several record producers, including Tony Pizarro, DJ Battlecat, Crazy Toones, Buckwild, Rick Rock and Scott Storch. It features guest appearances from Butch Cassidy, Case, Kokane, MC Ren, Nate Dogg, Scarface, Snoop Dogg and Westside Connection among others.
Lamar Dupré Calhoun, better known as DJ Crazy Toones, was an American hip hop producer and deejay. He was a member of the rap group WC and the Maad Circle and was later signed to Ice Cube's Lench Mob Records.
WC and the Maad Circle was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California that consisted of WC, Big Gee, Coolio and DJ Crazy Toones.
Raw Footage is the eighth studio album by American rapper Ice Cube. It was released on August 19, 2008, by his record label Lench Mob Records and EMI. The album features guest appearances from The Game, Butch Cassidy, Musiq Soulchild, Young Jeezy and WC. The album is his most political effort, since over a decade earlier with the release of his album The Predator (1992).
"Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It" is the first single from Ice Cube's studio album, Raw Footage. It was released with a music video directed by Jonathan Silver on his MySpace page on January 3, 2008 The song contains a "chopped and screwed" line from Cube's previous single Child Support. Several members of Westside Connection make cameo appearances in the video. In the song Ice Cube comments on the exploitation of gangsta rap as a scapegoat for society's problems.
Hallway Productionz is a 3x Grammy Nominated, Dove Award-winning music production duo made up of producer/mixer/engineer/multi-instrumentalist Teak & Dee Underdue. The pair reside in Stockton, California. Teak and Dee's production is most notably featured on Ice Cube, WC, T-Bone, Angie Stone, Dave Hollister, Mindless Behavior & Blackalicious records.
Dubb Union is a rap group featuring artists from Los Angeles and the nearby areas of Inglewood, Long Beach, and Watts.
San Andreas: The Original Mixtape is the debut mixtape by American West Coast rapper Young Maylay. It was released on July 5, 2005.
South Central Los Skanless is the only album by American rap group Kausion. It was released October 10, 1995 through Lench Mob Records. The album peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number 23 on the Heatseekers Albums charts.
I Am the West is the ninth studio album by American rapper Ice Cube. It was released on September 28, 2010 by Lench Mob Records and EMI.
Derrick Baker, also known as Chilly Chill, is an American hip hop music producer who has worked for Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, Rick James, RBX, Ike Turner, Public Enemy, Kurupt, Jewel, Yo-Yo, WC, Korn, 7th Veil, Kool Keith, Da Lench Mob, Lupe Fiasco, Bun B, and more.
Revenge of the Barracuda is the fourth solo studio album by American rapper WC. It was released on March 8, 2011 via eOne. Production was handled by Hallway Productionz, Jahzilla, EQ, Fredwreck, Jiggolo, THX and Trick-Trick. It features guest appearances from Young Maylay, Bad Lucc, Daz Dillinger, Ice Cube, Juvenile, Kokane, Kurupt, Soopafly and Traci Nelson.
Dazzie Dee is an American West Coast hip hop rapper and record producer who has collaborated and affiliated with artists such as Suga Free, Mausberg, DJ Quik, Ice Cube, Shade Sheist, K-Dee, Kool G Rap, Coolio, Mixmaster Spade, Yo-Yo, Da Lench Mob, and many more. He released two solo albums in 1996, Where's My Receipt? and The Re-Birth, with the most known singles "Knee Deep", "Everybody Wants To Be A Gangsta", and "Where You From?".
Shawn Darnell Fonteno, also known as Solo, is an American actor and rapper. He is best known for playing Franklin Clinton in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V. Aside from his portrayal of Franklin Clinton, Fonteno has acted in films such as The Wash.
Jackin' for Beats is the debut mixtape from rapper and actor O'Shea Jackson Jr. (OMG), son of the rapper Ice Cube. The 10-track mixtape was hosted by DJ Crazy Toones, the official DJ for Ice Cube and WC. OMG's debut was on his father's album I Am the West with his brother Doughboy. In this mixtape, OMG shows similarities to his father's tone, enunciation and humor, while adding his own vocals over some of the standout tracks of today.