Before the Fame: Tony Yayo’s Prison Story (Part I)

Born Charly Wingate and raised in Harlem, Max B helped shape a sound, language, and movement that influenced an entire generation of street music. His creativity and individuality made him impossible to ignore and even during years away from the spotlight, his influence never faded.Recently released from prison, Max B joins Dog In The Yard for an exclusive conversation focused on clarifying his upbringing, addressing long standing legal misunderstandings, and reflecting on the personal growth that came with time and distance. This episode is not about rumors or headlines it’s about perspective, accountability, and telling the story in his own words.Max B speaks openly about where he comes from, how his environment shaped him, and what it means to return home with clarity after years of reflection. He discusses legacy, responsibility, and the lessons learned through hardship offering insight into how time behind the wall changed his outlook on life, freedom, and purpose.This episode captures a pivotal moment: a respected voice returning to the conversation, ready to move forward with intention and truth. 🎙 Hosted by:Pistol Pete: @pistolpetekartsBX Tone: @tonybxtonewindley🎤 Guest:Max B: @maxb140Dog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

In Part II of Tony Yayo’s Dog In The Yard episode, the focus shifts from incarceration to life after coming home.Yayo reflects on returning to freedom, reconnecting with his crew, and navigating personal growth while carrying the weight of past experiences. He speaks openly about loyalty, maturity, and how time behind the wall changed his outlook on life, music, and responsibility.This episode explores what it means to move forward after the system  balancing success with self-awareness, and understanding that survival is only the first step toward purpose.🎙 Hosts:Pistol Pete (@pistolpetekarts)BX Tone (@brainbodysequencesdevelopment)🎤 Guest:Tony Yayo (@tonyyayo)Dog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

Before becoming a household name in hip-hop, Tony Yayo faced a defining chapter shaped by the justice system. Between 2002 and 2004, Yayo was incarcerated on charges related to felony weapon possession, bail jumping, and the use of a forged passport, stemming from a 2002 arrest involving a firearm and false identification. Despite having bail posted, the seriousness of the charges kept him behind bars during the early rise of G-Unit.In this first part of his Dog In The Yard episode, Tony Yayo reflects on that period watching success unfold from the inside, navigating the system, and preparing himself mentally for the moment he’d finally return home.Part 1 focuses on the time, the pressure, and the foundation that shaped the man audiences would later see back in the spotlight.🎙 Hosted by:Pistol Pete – @pistolpetekartsBX Tone – @brainbodysequencesdevelopment🎤 Guest:Tony Yayo – ​⁠@tonyyayoDog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

King Ace D’General’s journey is rooted in movement, survival, and reinvention. Born in Rhode Island and raised between R.I. and Brooklyn, King Ace’s life shifted early. By his teenage years, he was living in Dorchester, Boston — specifically Devon Street, known as D-Block — where he entered the system through foster homes, group homes, youth detention, and eventually adult incarceration. In December 2019, King Ace was indicted in a massive federal RICO case targeting the Latin Kings, charged with a leadership role as Boston Chairman alongside 62 co-defendants across multiple states. After being on the run for three months during the federal raids, he was sentenced to just under four years and served over three years in federal prison at USP Canaan, followed by federal probation. Since his release, King Ace has moved with purpose. Within months, he hit the road on a nationwide tour with Millyz, sharing stages with artists like Jadakiss, Styles P, Dave East, Jim Jones, Albee Al, and O.T. The Real. At the same time, he recommitted himself to fatherhood, music, and giving back through involvement in his local football community. This episode explores the realities of the system, federal indictments, identity, and what it takes to come home focused after everything is stripped away.Dog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

At just 17 years old, D Rock was sentenced to 15 to life.Growing up between Castle Hill and Forest Houses in the Bronx, survival became his job long before he became a man. But prison brought a different kind of fight - CO beatings, near-death moments, being targeted on the inside, and the mental battle of facing a life sentence while still a kid. In the middle of that darkness, D Rock found one thing that kept him alive: his faith in God. That faith carried him through the pain, the trauma, and the years he thought would break him. When he finally made it home, he chose transformation. Today, D Rock is the creator of Drock That Body Fitness, helping people rebuild their bodies, minds, and purpose through discipline and resilience. This is a story about survival, faith, and the strength it takes to turn scars into a mission.Dog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

He grew up in Alphabet City without stability, structure, or safety raised by grandparents after being abandoned, surviving the streets before he even understood what danger was. By 15, the streets pulled him all the way in. By 16, he was sitting in a county jail cell. And by adulthood, Coach Jay was staring down a 24-year prison sentence that would change everything. While serving time, he suffered one of the deepest losses anyone can face the passing of his young daughter to leukemia. That moment shattered him, but it also awakened something inside him. From that pain came purpose. Inside prison, Coach Jay became a boxing coach, HIV/AIDS counselor, facilitator, mentor, and leader, helping build the only active boxing program in the NYS correctional system while earning his GED, counseling certifications, and guiding men toward transformation. Once released, he dedicated his life to healing and rebuilding his community. Today, Coach Jay is a USA Certified Boxing Coach at El Maestro Boxing Club, a youth mentor, a counselor, and a living testament that transformation is real and possible even in the darkest places. From freestyle skating and breakdancing with the NYC Breakers, to running his own boxing program, to saving lives inside and outside prison, Coach Jay’s story is about redemption, pain turned into power, and a man who refuses to let the past define the future.This episode is raw, inspiring, and proof that discipline, love, and purpose can rebuild a broken life.Dog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

He grew up in Grimey Grant with pain on his shoulders, loyalty in his chest, and the streets calling his name before he even had a chance to figure out life. Yayo’s story is the reality so many young men face a childhood disrupted, a future derailed, and a loyalty that cut both ways. Raised in Harlem’s Grant Projects, Yayo came up in a single-parent home, with a mother doing everything she could, a sister holding the family together, and a father battling addiction. By 11, the system had already stamped him with a P.I.N.S. petition. By his teens, stick-ups, guns, and the street cycle had pulled him in deep, even after getting accepted to F.I.T for Graphic Arts & Design. While his brother was on the run for an alleged homicide, Yayo was getting caught up in his own trouble two young men living parallel lives in chaos. He wasn’t gang-related, but he lived by a code, loyal to his friends even when it cost him everything. In total, Yayo lost 15 years to incarceration years he now sees were avoidable had he listened to the elders trying to guide him. Now finally off papers after a 26-year journey, he’s ready to tell the truth about the path that shaped him, the pain he carried, the loyalty that misled him, and the lessons that took him decades to understand. #DogInTheYard #Yayo #GrantProjects #HarlemStories #RedemptionStory #PrisonToPurpose #NYCStories #StreetLifeTruthsDog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

Jadakiss is a Top 5 Dead or Alive MC - a hip-hop icon whose voice and lyricism shaped New York culture. But behind the legend is a man who’s lived real life, real pressure, and real growth. In this Dog in the Yard episode, Kiss opens up about his journey from Yonkers to global respect. He talks early LOX days, Bad Boy, Ruff Ryders, and the personal lessons that shaped his evolution as an artist, father, and businessman. We also get into the moments the world doesn’t always hear about: - His partnership with Pistol Pete & The Academy of Hope pushing prison reform and youth empowerment. - His 2004 North Carolina case — marijuana & gun charges resolved with a plea deal and three months probation. - His 2006 Yonkers arrest involving a .38 revolver and marijuana. - How maturity, accountability, and purpose helped him rise above that era. This episode is raw, honest, and centered on growth. The story of a man who turned mistakes into momentum, and pain into purpose. #DogInTheYard #Jadakiss #TheLOX #Top5DeadOrAlive #PrisonReform #AcademyOfHope #YonkersNY #HipHopLegend #RedemptionStoryDog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

Shanduke McPhatter is living proof that transformation is possible when purpose meets discipline. Born and raised in South Brooklyn, Shanduke’s early life was marked by instability, foster care, and the absence of his biological father. By 16, he was incarcerated at Rikers Island for robbery and it was there that he joined the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods, becoming one of the first five adolescents to form the set on the East Coast. Known in the streets as “Trife Gangsta,” his influence grew but so did the consequences. Over the years, Shanduke faced more than 18 arrests and served a total of 13 years behind bars.  During his last prison sentence, everything changed. Through a spiritual awakening, Shanduke decided to redefine his life. Upon release, he founded Gangstas Making Astronomical Community Changes Inc. (G-M.A.C.C.), a nonprofit dedicated to reducing gun violence and uplifting communities. Under his leadership, G-M.A.C.C. helped achieve a 65% reduction in shootings in East Flatbush and provided hundreds with mental health counseling, legal aid, and job training. Today, Shanduke is an activist, motivational speaker, and certified trainer who travels the country teaching nonviolence, conflict resolution, and community empowerment. From the block to the boardroom, his story is one of redemption, resilience, and real change.  #DogInTheYard #ShandukeMcPhatter #GMACC #BrooklynStories #GunViolencePrevention #RedemptionStory #FromPrisonToPurpose #CommunityHealingDog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org

Joseph “Yusuf” Cobb is a community activist, leader, and mind cultivator based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania known for his tireless dedication to driving positive change and helping others heal from cycles of violence and loss.  A survivor of the streets who turned his life toward service, Yusuf now channels his experience into empowerment. As Vice President of S.A.V.E. Pennsylvania, he advocates for peace and safety in communities impacted by gun violence. Through his work with the Victim Impact Program, he helps others find healing, accountability, and direction after trauma. Yusuf is also a public speaker, trainer, and mentor captivating audiences with his insight on street violence, grief, leadership, and self-transformation. Beyond his community work, he’s known as a “mind cultivator,” guiding people to grow through reflection, purpose, and personal discipline.  This episode of Dog in the Yard explores Yusuf’s powerful story of redemption from navigating street life to becoming a force for peace and change in Philadelphia and beyond.  #DogInTheYard #YusufCobb #Philadelphia #SavePennsylvania #CommunityActivist #RedemptionStory #MindCultivator #FromPrisonToPurpose #ViolencePrevention #HealingThroughActionDog In The Yard: Real Stories From Real Comrades🎥 Full Episodes: YouTube.com/@DogInTheYard📱 Follow: @dogintheyardpodcast📩 Booking & Inquiries: [email protected]🌐 Join the movement: dogintheyard.org