Boi Toy is Still on the Rise

Twenty years ago, Boi Toy was finding her way. In the city of East Cleveland, Ohio, there was a very young woman who was told she had what it took to be a star.

I met her right after I came back from college in 2002. I came back to my old neighborhood and was preparing to start a radio show in Cleveland. On the hunt for hip-hop artists to feature on my show, my eyes were also open for models to hopefully get featured in magazines such as "King," "Black Men," "Smooth" and the many others that featured video models. Armed with my new bachelor's degree, I was a news reporter, radio personality, photographer and anything else I wanted to be at the time.

Boi Toy had personality and a twinkle in her eye. I told her she should try modeling and we went to the literal shore of Lake Erie and took photos. Dressed in a red, white and blue stars and stripes two piece we took a few shots on Sept. 29, 2002. It was so long ago we used film. Didn't even own a digital camera at the time.

The pics were okay, but most importantly was that it was a start. We both needed someone to believe in us, so we believed in each other. Coming out of East Cleveland isn't easy. Some people never muster up the drive to accomplish their goals, but we did.

I never got Boi Toy in any of those magazines but something better happened. After experimenting with fashion and even a stint as a cheerleader for Cleveland State men's hoop squad, she embarked upon a rap career and I became a writer for a local newspaper as well as host of my own radio show. I pretty much had the free-range to write about whatever I chose and I definitely had the freedom to play whatever music I wanted.

Boi Toy founded a rap group called the D.O.C. Showstoppaz whose anthology and album Underground Queens can be heard below.

I featured the group in the newspaper and played their music often, not only because Boi Toy was my friend, but because they were actually good. In an era where gangsta rap was almost 100 percent masculine, Boi Toy and her three mates were as tough, gritty and intimidating as any rap group in Ohio, while still being very feminine. It was impressive and not easy to accomplish.

The group won awards, had a concert streamed on TIVO and let me tell you, I actually was able to get Boi Toy in a nationally published magazine when she and her group was featured in Murderdog Magazine in bookstores around the country. In the 2000s Murderdog was seen by many as the third biggest hip-hop magazine behind The Source and the short-lived Blaze. They were featured alongside platinum selling acts like Trick Daddy, Birdman and Wiz Kahlifa.

Over the next decade Boi Toy evolved as an artist and business woman and I went on to focus more on filmmaking. I featured her in my early projects of course. In time however we went on to work with very successful people in our fields. She even has become an actress.

Our paths cross from time-to-time as they did when I booked her and her husband, Young Shon, to perform at a club where I was filming and helping to promote in central Ohio during the mid to late 2010s. Below you can see the music video for their duet "I Need a Freak," which featured a cameo appearance by two members of the D.O.C. Showstoppaz, Tay Teez and Lady Luck.

While I steamrolled through filming projects that featured artists such as Adina Howard, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony as well as future pro wrestling stars such as Shayna Baszler, Britt Baker, Mia Yim and Ruby Soho, it seemed that Boi Toy and I had strayed apart.

Not true. I'm always checking on my little homey. In 2021 she released a song entitled "Baddie," which I am proud to say is the most heard song she has ever released. "Baddie" has been heard at least 20 million times on TikTok. Thanks to TikTok I was able to help my friend by posting her song in the background of videos on the highly viral platform. If you click the link below you can see the many videos that have used the song and the view count that supports the 20 million view claim that is made.

Also let us include the Spotify link for "Baddie."

Before wrapping this up, I just want to take time to say happy birthday and congratulations to Boi Toy. Your resilience, endurance, toughness and fight continuously connects us and inspires me. Thanks for proving me right way back in 2002. Congratulations on being better than ever and evolving into a productive woman. Thanks for proving that someone can come from our hometown of East Cleveland and see their goals become a reality, while becoming a mother, wife and great person.

This 20-year journey has been an honor to experience. Oh and let's not forget Boi Toy's latest new songs, "Front Row" and "Hold the Line" both released this year. I haven't even heard them so we can all enjoy them for the first time together.

 - Zaire