Ya Boy (born William Joseph Crawford in 1984) is a San Francisco based rapper from the Fillmore District of the city. He started rapping in the year 2002, with his song "16's With Me" being the first to hit it big locally. "16's With Me" was #1 on both major bay area radio stations, KMEL and KYLD for a number of consecutive weeks. It was produced by South San Francisco producer Big D and sampled the Imperial March from Star Wars.

Ya Boy was given his name by his cousin Bailey, and was helped to develop into a rap artist by his other cousin San Quinn. In the Summer of 2005, Ya Boy released his first solo mixtape, Future of The Franchise, and it sold 10,000 copies in the first month alone. This was to be followed up by his debut album, Rookie of the Year. His album features E-40, Turf Talk, Clyde Carson of The Team, San Quinn and more. The first single off the album was produced by Rick Rock and is titled "Step Ya Game Up."

In 2006, Ya Boy began an affiliation with The Black Wall Street. The Game took him under his wing and the two began to network. His affiliation with Game brought him a step higher in the rap game, as he began to collaborate with big name producers such as JR Rotem, Nu Jerzey Devil and Scott Storch to name a few. Pop star Britney Spears' husband Kevin Federline called upon Ya Boy's talent for writing, and is having him write rap songs for his debut album.

Ya Boy makes a cameo appearance in the 1996 crime film Mad Dog Time.

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