Background
The fourth of six children, Yoba was born in Bronx, New New York His parents are Mahmoudah Young (née Lanier) and Abdullah Yoba.
The fourth of six children, Yoba was born in Bronx, New New York His parents are Mahmoudah Young (née Lanier) and Abdullah Yoba.
He is known for his starring role as New York City Police Department Detective J. C. Williams on the Fox police drama New York Undercover and as Yul Brenner in Cool Runnings. He also appeared as former Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Bill Harken on the Syfy drama series Alphas, as Jim Hudson in Revolution as well as Vernon Turner in Empire. In 1994, Yoba began his role as New York City Police Department Detective J.C. Williams on the popular FOX police drama series New York Undercover, opposite Michael DeLorenzo.
Yoba and DeLorenzo (who is of Puerto Rican and Italian descent) made television history, as the series was the first police drama on American television to feature two people of color in the starring roles.
Yoba"s work on New York Undercover earned him three consecutive National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (in 1996, 1997, and 1998). The series was cancelled in 1998, with Yoba as the only actor to appear in all 89 episodes.
Yoba has also appeared in films such as Cool Runnings and Criminal. He has made appearances on the FOX television series Arrested Development as Ice, a bounty hunter whose real love is party planning, and had a recurring role as Brock Harris on the Universitas Pembangunan Nasional sitcom Girlfriends.
Yoba also appeared in the Forex Networks crime drama Thief and the National Broadcasting Company crime drama Raines.
In 2009, he co-starred as astronaut Ted Shaw on the futuristic American Broadcasting Company drama Defying Gravity. Recently, he announced his plans to bring back New York Undercover to the small screen in a modern television series adaptation of the original series. Law & Order writer Courtney Parker penned a spec script for networks to bid on.
2011 to 2012, Yoba appeared as former Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Bill Harken on Alphas, a science fiction drama series about a team of people with special abilities who belong to a secret department attached to the Department Of Defense. In 2013, Yoba joined the cast of Revolution as Jim Hudson, a former captain of the Monroe Republic.
Yoba"s character was killed off in the Season 1 finale due to a network decision despite false rumors of his getting fired. Since 2009, the popularity of Malik Yoba has spiked in the Russian segment of the Internet, as result of his surname being identical to the transcript "YOBA" - local about casual video games.