Vado | |
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Birth name | Teeyon Winfree |
Born | March 13, 1985 |
Origin | Harlem, New York City, New York, United States |
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Rapper |
Years active | 2000–present |
Labels | We the Best, Diplomat, DD172/BluRoc |
Associated acts | DJ Khaled, Cam'ron, Ace Hood, The U.N. |
Teeyon Winfree, better known by his stage name Vado, is an American hip hop recording artist. He is best known for his affiliation with Cam'ron and Dipset.
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."
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.