Introduction
Teeyon Winfree, better known by his stage name Vado, is an American hip hop recording artist.
Biography
Early life
Teeyon Winfree was born on March 13, 1985. He was raised in Harlem and grew up on 144th and Lenox and is of Jamaican, St. Vincent, and African American descent. Winfree first started writing at 16 and was influenced by Ma$e, Cam'ron, and Big L. At the age of 19, Vado appeared on a public access television show named "Mad Ciphas."In 2008, he released tracks with childhood friend, Jae Millz. Winfree's original stage name was MOVADO but later was shortened to VADO. Vado is an acronym that stands for "Violence And Drugs Only."
Career
In March 2009 a mutual friend linked Vado with New York rapper and Dipset member Cam'ron who invited Vado to come record music with him and after their first session Cam made Vado the new keystone artist of his crew U.N. Vado officially released his long-awaited debut mixtape Slime Flu on October 12, 2010 under Diplomat Records/E1 Music.
Vado is featured on the DJ Khaled track "Future" with rappers Ace Hood, Wale, Meek Mill and Big Sean, produced by Boi-1da, from Khaled's fifth studio album We the Best Forever. In 2010, Vado's mentor and friend Cam'ron introduced him to Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Dame Dash, and Cam'ron and Dame were in talks of the U.N. signing to the newly re-launched Roc-A-Fella. Vado signed with Dame's subsidiary record label of Roc-A-Fella under DD172 named BluRoc. The U.N. would also sign to BluRoc instead of Roc-A-Fella.
After signing he would release the critically acclaimed mixtape Slime Flu and the Bosses of all Bosses mixtape with Cam'ron. He would then release the album Gunz n' Butta with Cam'ron in April 2011. It would chart on the Billboard 200 at #78. On November 25, 2011 he would release the second Slime Flu mixtape. In 2012 after remaining quiet for a while Vado was granted a release from Interscope to return to the independents. On January 22, 2013 Vado released his third installment of his Slime Flu mixtape series. On January 30, 2013, Vado confirmed he signed with DJ Khaled's We the Best Music Group label. Vado has appeared on different VH1 shows, like Love & Hip Hop and Black Ink Crew. After appearing on Lil Wayne's Dedication 5 and DJ Khaled's Suffering from Success, on December 13, 2013, Vado released a new single Look Me In My Eyes featuring Rick Ross and French Montana. He also announced that he would be releasing a new mixtape titled Sinatra. Sinatra was released February 10, 2014.
Discography
Collaborative albums
| Title | Album details | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat In Here Vol. 1
(with U.N.) |
|
146 | 30 | 16 |
| Gunz n' Butta
(with Cam'ron) |
|
78 | 15 | 7 |
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Boss of All Bosses (with Cam'ron) |
|
| Slime Flu |
|
| Boss of All Bosses 2 (with Cam'ron) |
|
| Boss of All Bosses 2.5 (with Cam'ron) |
|
| Boss of All Bosses 2.8 (with Cam'ron) |
|
| Boss of All Bosses 3 (with Cam'ron) |
|
| Slime Flu 2 |
|
| UNLostFiles (with Cam'ron) |
|
| Slime Flu 3 |
|
| V-Day |
|
| Slime Flu 4 |
|
| Sinatra |
|
| V-Day II |
|
| Slime Flu 5 |
|
| Sinatra 2 |
|
| Sinatra 2.5 |
|
| Sinatra 3 |
|
| V-Day 3 |
|
| Crime Square |
|
| Long Run Vol. 1 |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Speaking in Tungs" (featuring Cam'ron) |
2010 | — | 82 | — | Slime Flu and Gunz n' Butta |
| "Hey Muma" (featuring Cam'ron) |
2011 | — | 84
|
— | Gunz n' Butta |
| "My Bae" (featuring Jeremih) |
2014 | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Look Me In My Eyes" (featuring Rick Ross and French Montana) |
— | — | — | Sinatra | |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | USR&B | |||
| "Livin' Dreams" (Akini Blake featuring Maino, Vado And Fred The Godson) |
2012 | — | — | N/A |
| "Walk In New York" (Grath featuring Raekwon, and Vado) |
2014 | — | — | 88 Crack Era |
Guest appearances
| 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 |
| "We Run The Town" | 2012 | Lloyd Banks | V.6: The Gift |
| "Shut The City Down" | CashFlow | The Enterprise | |
| "Clap, Clap, Clap" (Remix) | J-Star, Twista | N/A | |
| "Something Else" | Fred The Godson, Face49 | Gordo Frederico | |
| "Excuse Me" | DJ Kay Slay, Gunplay, Uncle Murda, Sauce Money | The Return Of The Gatekeeper | |
| "Make It Back" | Bizzy Crook | P.S. I'm Sorry 2 | |
| "Out Here" | Smoke DZA, ASAP Twelvy | K.O.N.Y. | |
| "5:46 A.M." | Al-Doe, Boldy James | Nose Candy. | |
| "Violent Music" | 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" | Jae Millz, Fred The Godson | Dead Presidents 2 | |
| "I Came" | Funkmaster Flex, Reek da Villian | Who You Mad At? Me Or Yourself? | |
| "The Sound Of NYC" | DJ Kay Slay, Sheek Louch, Styles P | The Last Champion | |
| "New York City" | Uncle Murda, Waka Flocka Flame | N/A | |
| "Levels" | Lil Wayne | Dedication 5 | |
| "Black Ghost" | DJ Khaled | Suffering from Success | |
| "Take That Off" | DJ Khaled, Jeremih | ||
| "Paint The Sky" | 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" | DJ Kay Slay, Young Chris, Papoose, Nathaniel | The Rise of a City | |
| "Real Hip Hop" | DJ Kay Slay, Papoose, Ransom | The Last Hip Hop Disciple | |
| "American Dream" | 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 | N/A |
| "Every Time We Come Around" | DJ Khaled, French Montana, Jadakiss, Ace Hood | I Changed a Lot | |
| "Love My Niggas" | 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" | DJ Kay Slay, Fatman Scoop, Nipsey Hussle, Troy Ave, Rocko | ||
| "Different Scenario" | Fred The Godson, Jim Jones, Jaquae | Gordo | |
| "God Bless The Summer" | 2018 | Dave East | N/A |
| "Da Hated" | Dave East | N/A | |
| "Blue Hundreds" | Dave East | N/A | |
| "Nice For What" | Dave East | N/A | |
| "Once Upon A Time" | Dave East | N/A | |
| "Boo'd Up" | Dave East | N/A | |
| "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 |