Actor and music producer Romany Malco was born on November 18, 1968 in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a Trinidadian, and Malco was the first American-born son in their family. He began his career at the age of seven, picking up a microphone and rapping under the name Kid Nice. In his teens, he moved to Texas, and soon formed the rap group R.M.G. They changed their name to College Boyz after they moved to Los Angeles and signed with Virgin Records. Their single, "Victim of the Ghetto" went to #1 on the Billboard rap charts.
Romany Malco pursued a career in acting when he was encouraged by John Leguizamo. Malco was working on the soundtrack of Leguizamo's film,
The Pest, when he was approached. His next projects became several television appearances. He was in
Touched by an Angel and
For Your Love in 1998. He then appeared in
The Wrecking Crew and
Urban Menace the following year. Malco has also portrayed rapper MC Hammer in the made-for-television movie
Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story, which was released on VH1. Before that, he landed a role in a number of episodes of the series
Level 9. His other film credits include
Ticker,
The Prime Gig,
White Boy and
The Tuxedo with Jackie Chan. In 2005, he appeared in the hit comedy
The 40-Year Old Virgin as Jay. That same year, he was given the role of Conrad Shepard in the dark comedy series
Weeds. His character is the son of Heylia James, a cannabis supplier for Nancy Botwin's business. Malco was next seen in
Fast Track in 2006, while voicing a character in the animated series
American Dad. He was also in the comedy
Blades of Glory with Will Ferrell and Jon Heder, and has also been cast in
Baby Mama with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.