Given the fact that his last record didn’t do the type of big number he’d hope for you’d think that Yo Gotti would switch up his style to reach a larger audience. With his TVT sophomore album entitled Back 2 Da Basics, Yo Gotti returns with the same hardcore street flavor that his die-hard fans have come to know and love, only this time around the true king of Memphis has elevated his game a bit. Gotti’s reputation as the king of Memphis continued to spread and that eventually led him to a production deal with Cash Money/Universal records for his group the Block Burnaz. “That record did what it did on its own.” But as the old saying goes when one door is closed another opened. “It sold about 40 or 50,000, with no promotions or video,” says Yo Gotti. Two years later he inked a distribution deal with TVT Records and released the critically acclaimed album Life, which did respectable numbers for an independent label. In addition to being featured on the cover of Murderdog Magazine along side his idols Kingpin Skinny Pimp and Al Kapone his record From the Dope Game to the Rap Game made the list for the magazine’s top independent record for the year 2000.

Soon he found himself ranked among the city’s top rappers. From the Dope Game to the Rap Game, Yo Gotti’s sophomore effort sold so well that Select-O-Hits, a local based independent distributor offered him a small deal and the Memphis rapper more than doubled his fan base with absolutely no marketing or promotions. The tape sold like hotcakes on the street and made Yo Gotti the hottest rapper on the streets of Memphis. Taking his cue from Memphis rap legends such as Eightball & MJG, Al Kapone, Gangsta Black, Triple 6 Mafia and Kingpin Skinny Pimp, all of whom he lists as influences, Yo Gotti released his own underground tape entitled, Youngster on the Come Up and placed it on consignment at local mom & pop record stores as well as hustling it out the trunk. “Everybody in my family hustled in some kinda way.” Ironically, hustling is what ultimately led Yo Gotti to rapping. “Being from the hood things like hustling will come your way,” says Yo Gotti. Raised in a family of hustlers and exposed to hard times 24 hours a day the Tennessee rap titan soon turned to the only thing that he knew could get him paid, hustling. His childhood was typical for a poor ghetto youth in the Deep South. Known and respected throughout the South for his skill and finesse on the microphone, Yo Gotti is one the South’s most respected young rappers.īorn Mario Mims, Yo Gotti grew up in the infamous Ridge Crest Apartments in a North Memphis neighborhood called Frazier. Like his namesake John Gotti, the Memphis based rapper has been running the Southern underground scene with an iron fist for the past. Next up to bat is Yo Gotti, M-Town’s current underground rap kingpin. All of the above-mentioned artists at one point in time literally dominated the city’s underground rap scene before going on to become national superstars.

Since then he has released 2001’s Self-Explanatory, 2003’s Life, 2006’s Back 2 Da Basics, 2008’s Cocaine Muzik, 2009’s CM2 (Cocaine Muzik 2 hosted by DJ Drama), and The Pyrex King: Street Runnaz Special Edition.Īs one of the six epicenters of Southern hip hop, Memphis has always had a thriving underground capable of producing major platinum superstars such as Eightball & MJG, 3-6 Mafia and Project Pat,Skip a.k.a Gianni Booker. Formerly known as Lil Yo in the 90’s, he released his first album, From Da Dope Game 2 Da Rap Game, in 2000. Since then he has released 2001’s Self-Explanatory, 2003’s Life, 2006’s Back 2 Da Basics, 2008’s Cocaine Muzik, 2009’s CM2 (Cocaine Muzik 2 hosted by DJ Drama), and The Pyrex King: Street Runnaz Special Edition.Īs one of the six epicenters of Southern hip hop, Memphis has always had a thriving underground capable of producing major platinum superstars such as Ei Mario Mims (born in Memphis, Tennessee), better known by his stage name Yo Gotti, is an American rapper signed to Cash Money Records. Description: Mario Mims (born in Memphis, Tennessee), better known by his stage name Yo Gotti, is an American rapper signed to Cash Money Records.

List of yo gotti albums