In March 2009, a mutual friend linked Vado with New York rapper and
Dipset leader
Cam'ron, who subsequently invited Vado to a recording session they soon-after formed the hip hop duo
U.N., which stands for "Us Now". In August of that year, U.N. released their first mixtape
Bosses of All Bosses to positive reception. The following year, U.N. released their debut album,
Heat in Here Vol. 1 in May through
Asylum Records, an imprint of
Warner Records. Vado then released his debut solo project, a mixtape titled
Slime Flu in October 2010 through Cam'ron's
Diplomat Records label, with distribution from independent label
E1 Music. That same year, Cam'ron introduced Vado to
Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder
Damon Dash, as Cam'ron and Dash were in talks of U.N. signing to the newly re-launched Roc-A-Fella. Vado signed with Dash's subsidiary record label,
BluRoc. The U.N. recording outfit also signed to BluRoc, although they would only release the five-song extended play
Blu Tops under the label in February 2012. During this time, many outlets described Vado as a "protégé" or "
hype man" of Cam'ron. In March 2011, Vado signed a solo contract with
Interscope Records. However, he released no projects under the label. In the following month of April, U.N. independently released their second album, ''
Gunz n' Butta, which saw a commercial improvement from its predecessor at number 78 on the Billboard'' 200, also spawning the singles "Speaking in Tungs" and "Hey Muma." In the same month, Vado made a guest appearance on fellow New York rapper
Fabolous' mixtape,
The S.O.U.L. Tape. In July, Vado made his first mainstream appearance on
DJ Khaled's song "Future" alongside
Ace Hood,
Wale, and
Meek Mill, which was included in Khaled's fifth studio album
We the Best Forever. In November 2011, he released the sequel to his
Slime Flu mixtape. In 2012, Vado announced his departure from Interscope as he felt more comfortable recording music for a regional audience. On January 22, 2013, Vado released the third installment to his
Slime Flu mixtape series. On January 30, 2013, Vado confirmed he signed with
DJ Khaled's
We the Best Music Group label, an imprint of
Republic Records and
Cash Money Records. His first major label mixtape,
V-Day was released the following month. During the rest of 2013, Vado made guest appearances on the
VH1 shows
Love & Hip Hop and
Black Ink Crew, and was a guest artist on
Lil Wayne's
Dedication 5 and DJ Khaled's
Suffering from Success. In March 2014, released his debut commercial single, "My Bae" featuring frequent Khaled collaborator
Jeremih, produced by the labels in-house producer,
Lee on the Beats. In December, he released his follow up commercial single "Look Me In My Eyes" featuring
Rick Ross and
French Montana and produced by
Scott Storch. The single was from his sixth solo mixtape
Sinatra, which was released earlier that year in February 2014. Both singles failed to enter the
Billboard Hot 100. In 2015, he appeared on Khaled's album
I Changed a Lot. After eleven mixtapes with We the Best and a two-year hiatus, he released his mixtape,
LongRun: Vol. 2 independently through his own label LongRun in January 2022. In October 2023, Vado was featured on "Still Believe In Love", a single by American singer
Mary J. Blige. On May 1, 2024, Vado confirmed that he signed to Blige's new record label, Beautiful Life Records, in a distribution deal with
Larry Jackson's digital distribution imprint,
gamma. The singer also confirmed the signage in an interview with radio personality and television show host,
Big Tigger. On April 29, 2025, Vado's close friend, fashion stylist and businesswoman
Misa Hylton filed a $5 million lawsuit against Mary J. Blige, for breach of contract and interferences, involving a business deal which regarded him. Hylton claims in the lawsuit that she launched a management company in February 2023 to represent for Vado, who would later sign a contract with Blige's imprint, Beautiful Life Records. Blige later used tactics to coerce the rapper to terminate his management contract with Hylton's company. She furthermore added that Vado completed the recording sessions for a planned album which Blige scrapped, due to him not firing Hylton. ==Discography==