Young Maylay
Young Maylay | |
|---|---|
| Born | Christopher Bellard June 17, 1979 |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Relatives | Shawn Fonteno(cousin) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Labels |
|
Christopher Bellard[1][2](born June 17, 1979), known professionally asYoung Maylay,is an American rapper, record producer and actor based in Los Angeles. He is best known for his portrayal ofCarl "CJ" Johnson,the main character of the 2004 video gameGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Early life
[edit]Christopher Bellard was born and raised inLos Angeles, California.Growing up in poverty, in a crime-ridden neighborhood, amid gang violence andgangsta rapinspired his rapping career. He grew up with close affiliates of theCripsgang. Bellard is the younger cousin of actor and rapperShawn Fonteno,who played Franklin Clinton, one of the protagonists ofGrand Theft Auto V.[3]
Music career
[edit]Early years: 2000–2005
[edit]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 inRodney 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 albumRuthless 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.
Pre-Lench Mob: 2006–2008
[edit]In 2006, Maylay was featured inDeeyah's single "What Will It Be"with a music video. In the same year, he appeared inDJ Crazy Toones' CT Experience, it was the first collaboration of the trioDJ Crazy Toones, WC and Young Maylay.In 2007 the trio began working in Maylay's albumThe Real Coast Guard.The album was released in 2008 and later that year, WC signed Young Maylay to Bigg Swang/Lench Mob.
Lench Mob days: 2008–present
[edit]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 calledWho's Young Maylay? Mix Blog[6]and the second is calledYoung 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 byIce Cubecalled "Y'all Know Who I Am" and "Too West Coast" on the albumI Am the West.
In 2010 Young Maylay was featured on two tracks on the albumDJ 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 withBlaq PoetandMC 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
[edit]OBG Rider Cliccis Young Maylay's rap trio (withYoung Dre The TruthandKilla Polk) the group first appeared inYoung Dre'salbum calledRevolution In Progress The Movementwith the single Let's Get The Game Bacc Right. and later appeared withCompton Cavie,Drestaand BG Knocc Out with the songWes Indeedin theCali Luvmixtape.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
[edit]Maylay was working in New York when he received a phone call fromDJ Pooh,who was in a meeting with staff fromRockstar 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 ofGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas,Carl "CJ" Johnson.[9]When asked in 2021 if he would consider reprising the role of CJ in any futureGrand Theft Autotitles if given the opportunity, Maylay stated that he would never voice CJ again due to conflicts with Rockstar Games.[10]
Maylaynium Muziq
[edit]Malaynium Muziqis Young Maylay's own independent record label based inStudio City, California.His mixtapes were released on this label.[11]
Discography
[edit]- Mixtapes
- San Andreas: The Original Mixtape(2005)
- The Real Coast Guard(2008)
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Brodies | Mario | Unknown episodes/episode |
Video games
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Carl "CJ" Johnson | |
| 2021 | Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition | Archival recordings Remaster ofGrand Theft Auto: San Andreasonly |
References
[edit]- ^"Young Maylay".Discogs.Archivedfrom the original on August 10, 2013.RetrievedAugust 7,2008.
- ^"Young Maylay".Allmusic.RetrievedMarch 3,2009.
- ^"IGN's GTA 5 Panel - NY Comic Con 2013".IGN.October 12, 2013.Archivedfrom the original on July 29, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 12,2018.
- ^"King T Ruhtless Chronicles".RetrievedMay 15,2009.
- ^"Ice Cube Dubcnn interview".Archivedfrom the original on May 7, 2016.RetrievedOctober 10,2008.
- ^"Who's Young Maylay? Mix Blog by DJ Crazy Toones".Dubcnn.Archivedfrom the original on January 13, 2020.RetrievedMarch 3,2009.
- ^"Young Maylay, WC and Bad Lucc Mix Blog by DJ Crazy Toones".Dubcnn.Archivedfrom the original on March 3, 2016.RetrievedApril 5,2009.
- ^"Young Maylay Dubcnn interview".Archivedfrom the original on January 31, 2009.RetrievedMay 5,2009.
- ^"Young Maylay RiotSound interview".Archived fromthe originalon September 17, 2008.RetrievedOctober 10,2008.
- ^Bhushan, Rahul (January 14, 2021)."Young Maylay from GTA San Andreas: The actor behind CJ and his dispute with Rockstar Games".Sportskeeda.Archivedfrom the original on May 1, 2021.RetrievedMay 1,2021.
- ^"Jaxsta".jaxsta.com.RetrievedNovember 2,2024.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
- 1979 births
- African-American male rappers
- African-American male actors
- American male video game actors
- Record producers from California
- Living people
- Male actors from California
- Male actors from Los Angeles
- Rappers from Los Angeles
- Gangsta rappers
- West Coast hip-hop musicians
- 21st-century American rappers
- 21st-century American male musicians
- 21st-century African-American musicians
- 20th-century African-American musicians