# Who is Yayo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878 "2003-02-27T14:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mister\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@mister\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_me)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/1 "2003-02-27T14:30:06Z")
Who is Yayo (I think that was the spelling), and why does Eminem want to free him/her (according to his shirt on Grammy night)? ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/2 "2003-02-27T15:04:52Z")
Yayo is the phonetic spelling of the Spanish word “llello,” which is apparently a nickname for cocaine. Barry ---
**Author:** ![mister\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@mister\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_me)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/3 "2003-02-27T15:33:36Z")
Hmmm. Am I missing something? Was Eminem saying ‘Free Cocaine’ then? Anybody have any clue on this? Was this his way of saying ‘I like cocaine’? ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/4 "2003-02-27T15:57:27Z")
Maybe he thinks that cocaine should be free (I guess he’s tired of paying for it). Barry ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/5 "2003-02-27T16:06:03Z")
Yayo may also be japanese name. Maybe the situation is like Mumia Abu-Jamal. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/6 "2003-02-27T16:07:29Z")
It’s one of his friends locked up in prison. ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/7 "2003-02-27T16:08:28Z")
Or… Tony Yayo a collaborator wit’ fity cent. ---
**Author:** ![yme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/35a633/32.png) [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/8 "2003-02-27T16:10:52Z")
Oh yeah… [http://www.collectorsedition.biz/moreabouttonyyayo.html](http://www.collectorsedition.biz/moreabouttonyyayo.html) [http://www.mtv.com/bands/123/50\_Cent/news\_feature\_021203/index2.jhtml](http://www.mtv.com/bands/123/50_Cent/news_feature_021203/index2.jhtml) - His name mentioned midway down the page. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/9 "2003-02-27T16:13:31Z")
[http://www.geocities.com/wrestleeverything/index3.html](http://www.geocities.com/wrestleeverything/index3.html) > [@](#): > > 50 Cent Goes To Court On Gun Charges, Doesn’t Enter Plea > > Rapper 50 Cent appeared in court Friday for a preliminary hearing on gun charges, and though he didn’t speak during the appearance, he maintained his innocence outside the courtroom via his lawyer. > > The Queens, New York, hip-hop artist, born Curtis Jackson, was arrested early Tuesday morning in New York when police allegedly found two loaded guns in his rented SUV (see “50 Cent Arrested For Gun Possession”). He posted $10,000 bond and was released on Tuesday (see “50 Cent Released From Police Custody”). > > Though the rapper has yet to enter a formal plea, his lawyer, Robert Kalina, told MTV News that his client is “as innocent as anyone I’ve ever seen or heard.” Kalina said Jackson is cooperating with prosecutors and only hopes to help them “learn the truth of what happened.” > > Though police arrested all five occupants of the SUV, prosecutors declined to charge the hired driver of the vehicle, instead charging Jackson, one of his bodyguards and two rap associates — Timothy Bonaparte, Christopher Lloyd and Jean Bernard — with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and unlawful wearing of a body vest. Lloyd and Bernard comprise 50 Cent’s rap crew G-Unit, in which they go by the names Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. Bernard remains in custody because of an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Queens. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/10 "2003-02-27T17:47:57Z")
I’m sure everyone can now guess how Tony got his name. The next time someone asks if you’re, “down with the yay nation” you can tell them where to cram it. Unless of course, you are down, in which case you can ask them for the hook up. “Drugs are bad…mmmmkay?” ---
**Author:** ![lothos2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/df788c/32.png) [@lothos2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lothos2002)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/11 "2003-02-27T18:13:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by godzillatemple \* > \*\*Yayo is the phonetic spelling of the Spanish word “llello,” which is apparently a nickname for cocaine. > > Barry \*\* Cite? Yayo is not the phonetic spelling of the Spanish word “llello” that would be Yeyo, and AFAIK, “llello” is not a word in Spanish, slang for cocaine or otherwise. Maybe it’s a chicano thing? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/12 "2003-02-27T18:30:17Z")
Now I have one of those songs from GTA stuck in my head. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/13 "2003-02-27T19:20:16Z")
Llello is indeed slang for cocaine in Spanish. Particularly in the Caribbean and Mexico. And Yayo is indeed an Anglicization of the word - Yayo sounds like llello. [http://www.notam02.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Spanish.html](http://www.notam02.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Spanish.html) Scroll down. ---
**Author:** ![lothos2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/df788c/32.png) [@lothos2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lothos2002)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-yayo/157878/14 "2003-02-27T22:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > \*\*Llello is indeed slang for cocaine in Spanish. Particularly in the Caribbean and Mexico. And Yayo is indeed an Anglicization of the word - Yayo sounds like llello. > > [http://www.notam02.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Spanish.html](http://www.notam02.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Spanish.html) > > Scroll down. \*\* I didn’t know about it, but I must admit that, although I’ve heard most of the words in that dictionary, the drug related ones just escape me in general, since I don’t nor ever had done drugs. You learn something everyday. Despite the above, **Neurotik** , I wouldn’t take that dictionary as authoritative, since there are several mistakes in it from a cursory read, and it is done by anonymous contributors from anywhere in the world. Also, since the guy who maintains the webpage is Norweigan and does not speak spanish, I wouldn’t use it as reference when writing a paper. I’m not saying that invalidates the “llello” entry, I have to accept it for lack of better information, but still…