# Vado (rapper)

Teyon Isiah Winfree (born March 13, 1985), better known by his stage name Vado (backronym for Violence And Drugs Only), is an American rapper. He formed the hip hop duo U.N. (Us Now) with hometown native Cam'ron in 2009, with whom he has released two collaborative albums—Heat in Here Vol. 1 (2010) and Gunz n' Butta (2011)—and the Boss of All Bosses mixtape series.
As a solo act, Vado signed with DJ Khaled's We the Best Music Group, an imprint of Cash Money and Republic Records in 2013 to release his debut commercial single, "My Bae" (featuring Jeremih) the following year. Despite failing to chart, Vado guest appeared on Khaled's studio albums We the Best Forever (2011), Suffering from Success (2013), and I Changed a Lot (2015); he continued releasing mixtapes for We the Best until parting ways with the label in 2020.

## Early life

Teyon Winfree was born on March 13, 1985. He was raised in Harlem and grew up on 144th and Lenox. His mother is of Ghanaian, while his father is of African American descent. Winfree first started writing at 16 and was influenced by Ma$e, Cam'ron, and Big L. At age 19, Vado appeared on the public access television show Mad Ciphas. In 2008, he recorded songs with childhood friend Jae Millz. Winfree's first stage name was MOVADO, later shortened to VADO, an acronym which stands for "Violence And Drugs Only."

## Career

In March 2009, a mutual friend linked Vado with New York rapper and Dipset leader Cam'ron, who subsequently invited Vado to a recording session they soon-after formed the hip hop duo U.N., which stands for "Us Now". In August of that year, U.N. released their first mixtape Bosses of All Bosses to positive reception. The following year, U.N. released their debut album, Heat in Here Vol. 1 in May through Asylum Records, an imprint of Warner Records. Vado then released his debut solo project, a mixtape titled Slime Flu in October 2010 through Cam'ron's Diplomat Records label, with distribution from independent label E1 Music. That same year, Cam'ron introduced Vado to Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash, as Cam'ron and Dash were in talks of U.N. signing to the newly re-launched Roc-A-Fella. Vado signed with Dash's subsidiary record label, BluRoc. The U.N. recording outfit also signed to BluRoc, although they would only release the five-song extended play Blu Tops under the label in February 2012. During this time, many outlets described Vado as a "protégé" or "hype man" of Cam'ron.
In March 2011, Vado signed a solo contract with Interscope Records. However, he released no projects under the label. In the following month of April, U.N. independently released their second album, Gunz n' Butta, which saw a commercial improvement from its predecessor at number 78 on the Billboard 200, also spawning the singles "Speaking in Tungs" and "Hey Muma." In the same month, Vado made a guest appearance on fellow New York rapper Fabolous' mixtape, The S.O.U.L. Tape. In July, Vado made his first mainstream appearance on DJ Khaled's song "Future" alongside Ace Hood, Wale, and Meek Mill, which was included in Khaled's fifth studio album We the Best Forever. In November 2011, he released the sequel to his Slime Flu mixtape. In 2012, Vado announced his departure from Interscope as he felt more comfortable recording music for a regional audience.
On January 22, 2013, Vado released the third installment to his Slime Flu mixtape series. On January 30, 2013, Vado confirmed he signed with DJ Khaled's We the Best Music Group label, an imprint of Republic Records and Cash Money Records. His first major label mixtape, V-Day was released the following month. During the rest of 2013, Vado made guest appearances on the VH1 shows Love & Hip Hop and Black Ink Crew, and was a guest artist on Lil Wayne's Dedication 5 and DJ Khaled's Suffering from Success.
In March 2014, released his debut commercial single, "My Bae" featuring frequent Khaled collaborator Jeremih, produced by the labels in-house producer, Lee on the Beats. In December, he released his follow up commercial single "Look Me In My Eyes" featuring Rick Ross and French Montana and produced by Scott Storch. The single was from his sixth solo mixtape Sinatra, which was released earlier that year in February 2014. Both singles failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100. In 2015, he appeared on Khaled's album I Changed a Lot. After eleven mixtapes with We the Best and a two-year hiatus, he released his mixtape, LongRun: Vol. 2 independently through his own label LongRun in January 2022.
In October 2023, Vado was featured on "Still Believe In Love", a single by American singer Mary J. Blige. On May 1, 2024, Vado confirmed that he signed to Blige's new record label, Beautiful Life Records, in a distribution deal with Larry Jackson's digital distribution imprint, gamma. The singer also confirmed the signage in an interview with radio personality and television show host, Big Tigger.

## Discography
### Collaborative albums

| Title | Album details | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions |
| Title | Album details | US | US R&B | US Rap |
| Heat In Here Vol. 1 (with U.N.) | Released: May 25, 2010 Label: Diplomat Records, Asylum Records Format: Digital download, streaming | 146 | 30 | 16 |
| Gunz n' Butta (with Cam'ron) | Released: April 19, 2011 Label: Diplomat Records, Entertainment One Music Format: Digital download, streaming | 78 | 15 | 7 |

### Mixtapes

List of mixtapes, with year released :
| Title | Album details |
| Boss of All Bosses (with Cam'ron) | Released: August 18, 2009 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |
| Slime Flu | Released: October 12, 2010 Label: E1 Music Format: Digital download |
| Boss of All Bosses 2 (with Cam'ron) | Released: January 12, 2010 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |
| Boss of All Bosses 2.5 (with Cam'ron) | Released: May 12, 2010 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |
| Boss of All Bosses 2.8 (with Cam'ron) | Released: September 5, 2011 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |
| Boss of All Bosses 3 (with Cam'ron) | Released: December 15, 2011 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |
| Slime Flu 2 | Released: November 25, 2011 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |
| UNLostFiles (with Cam'ron) | Released: May 11, 2012 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |
| Slime Flu 3 | Released: January 22, 2013 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download |
| V-Day | Released: February 15, 2013 Label: We the Best, Cash Money Format: Digital download |
| Slime Flu 4 | Released: August 15, 2013 Label: We the Best, Cash Money Format: Digital download |
| Sinatra | Released: February 10, 2014 Label: We the Best, Cash Money Format: Digital download |
| V-Day II | Released: February 14, 2015 Label: We the Best, Cash Money Format: Digital download |
| Slime Flu 5 | Released: November 1, 2015 Label: We the Best Format: Digital download |
| Sinatra 2 | Released: May 29, 2017 Label: We the Best Format: Digital download |
| Sinatra 2.5 | Released: October 31, 2017 Label: We the Best Format: Digital download |
| Sinatra 3 | Released: July 9, 2018 Label: We the Best Format: Digital download |
| V-Day 3 | Released: March 5, 2019 Label: We The Best Format: Digital download |
| Crime Square | Released: June 11, 2019 Label: We The Best Format: Digital download |
| Long Run Vol. 1 | Released: October 11, 2019 Label: We The Best Format: Digital download |
| Long Run Vol. 2 | Released: January 21, 2022 Label: Long Run/DMG Format: Digital download |
| Long Run Vol. 3 | Released: November 18, 2022 Label: Long Run/DMG Format: Digital download |
| V-Day 4 | Released: May 12, 2023 Label: Long Run/DMG Format: Digital download |

### Singles

| Title | Year | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | US | US R&B | US Rap | Album |
| "Speaking in Tungs" (with Cam'ron as U.N.) | 2010 | — | 82 | — | Slime Flu and Gunz n' Butta |
| "Hey Muma" (with Cam'ron as U.N.) | 2011 | — | 84 | — | Gunz n' Butta |
| "My Bae" (featuring Jeremih) | 2014 | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Look Me In My Eyes" (featuring Rick Ross and French Montana) | 2014 | — | — | — | Sinatra |
| "Talk To Me" (featuring DreamDoll) | 2019 | — | — | — | V-Day 3 |
| "Respect My Jux" (featuring Lloyd Banks and Dave East) | 2021 | — | — | — | Non-album single |

#### As featured artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | US | US R&B | Album |
| "Christmas in Harlem" (Kanye West featuring CyHi the Prynce, Teyana Taylor, Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Vado, Pusha T, Musiq Soulchild, & Big Sean) | 2010 | — | — | — |
| "Livin' Dreams" (Akini Blake featuring Maino, Vado & Fred the Godson) | 2012 | — | — | — |
| "Walk In New York" (Grafh featuring Raekwon and Vado) | 2014 | — | — | 88 Crack Era |
| "Blue Bandana" Ms.Choppa featuring Vado) | 2020 | — | — | — |
| "Still Believe In Love" Mary J. Blige featuring Vado) | 2023 | — | — | — |

### Guest appearances

List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
| "That Work" | 2010 | DJ Suss One, Uncle Murda, Cassidy, Joell Ortiz, French Montana | The Feature Presentation Album |
| "Mo Brooklyn, Mo Harlem, Mo Southside" | 2011 | Fabolous, Lloyd Banks | The S.O.U.L. Tape |
| "Future" | 2011 | DJ Khaled, Wale, Ace Hood, Meek Mill | We the Best Forever |
| "We Run The Town" | 2012 | Lloyd Banks | V.6: The Gift |
| "Shut The City Down" | 2012 | CashFlow | The Enterprise |
| "Clap, Clap, Clap" (Remix) | 2012 | J-Star, Twista | — |
| "Something Else" | 2012 | Fred The Godson, Face49 | Gordo Frederico |
| "Excuse Me" | 2012 | DJ Kay Slay, Gunplay, Uncle Murda, Sauce Money | The Return Of The Gatekeeper |
| "Make It Back" | 2012 | Bizzy Crook | P.S. I'm Sorry 2 |
| "Out Here" | 2012 | Smoke DZA, ASAP Twelvy | K.O.N.Y. |
| "5:46 A.M." | 2012 | Al-Doe, Boldy James | Nose Candy. |
| "Violent Music" | 2012 | DJ Kay Slay, Busta Rhymes, DJ Paul | Grown Man Hip-Hop |
| "Count Your Blessings" | 2013 | DJ Kay Slay, Torch, Uncle Murda | Grown Man Hip Hop Part 2 (Sleepin' With The Enemy) |
| "I Gotta Eat" | 2013 | Jae Millz, Fred The Godson | Dead Presidents 2 |
| "I Came" | 2013 | Funkmaster Flex, Reek da Villian | Who You Mad At? Me Or Yourself? |
| "The Sound Of NYC" | 2013 | DJ Kay Slay, Sheek Louch, Styles P | The Last Champion |
| "New York City" | 2013 | Uncle Murda, Waka Flocka Flame | — |
| "Levels" | 2013 | Lil Wayne | Dedication 5 |
| "Black Ghost" | 2013 | DJ Khaled | Suffering from Success |
| "Take That Off" | 2013 | DJ Khaled, Jeremih | Suffering from Success |
| "Paint The Sky" | 2013 | Lloyd Banks | A.O.N. (All Or Nothing) Series Vol. 1: F.N.O. (Failure's No Option) |
| "Home Invasion" | 2014 | Ace Hood | Starvation 3 |
| "Fire" | 2014 | DJ Kay Slay, Young Chris, Papoose, Nathaniel | The Rise of a City |
| "Real Hip Hop" | 2014 | DJ Kay Slay, Papoose, Ransom | The Last Hip Hop Disciple |
| "American Dream" | 2014 | Boogz Boogetz | C.O.O.L. 2 |
| "MMM (Remix)" | 2015 | Cassidy, Fred Money, J.R. Writer, Red Café, Papoose, Maino, Uncle Murda, Fat Trel, Fred the Godson, Chubby Jag, Drag-On, Dave East, Compton Menace | — |
| "Every Time We Come Around" | 2015 | DJ Khaled, French Montana, Jadakiss, Ace Hood | I Changed a Lot |
| "Love My Niggas" | 2015 | Maino, Uncle Murda | K.O.B. 3 |
| "Seniorities" | 2016 | Lloyd Banks, Prodigy | All or Nothing: Live It Up |
| "It's Harlem" | 2017 | DJ Kay Slay, Dave East, Ms Hussle | The Big Brother |
| "A Million Bucks" | 2017 | DJ Kay Slay, Fatman Scoop, Nipsey Hussle, Troy Ave, Rocko | The Big Brother |
| "Different Scenario" | 2017 | Fred The Godson, Jim Jones, Jaquae | Gordo |
| "God Bless The Summer" | 2018 | Dave East | — |
| "Da Hated" | 2018 | Dave East | — |
| "Blue Hundreds" | 2018 | Dave East | — |
| "Nice For What" | 2018 | Dave East | — |
| "Once Upon A Time" | 2018 | Dave East | — |
| "Boo'd Up" | 2018 | Dave East | — |
| "Back To The Bars" | 2019 | DJ Kay Slay, Ninoman, Mysonne, Fred The Godson, Locksmith, Jon Connor, Joell Ortiz | Hip-Hop Frontline |
| "Back To The Bars Pt. 2" | 2020 | DJ Kay Slay, Ninoman, RJ Payne, Sauce Money, Sheek Louch, Jon Connor, Styles P | Living Legend |