Rapper Mario Mims, best known by his stage name Yo Gotti, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 19, 1981. He is an American and is signed to Cash Money Records.
Rapper Mario Mims, best known by his stage name Yo Gotti, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 19, 1981. He is an American and is signed to Cash Money Records.
Rapper Mario Mims, best known by his stage name Yo Gotti, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 19, 1981. He is an American and is signed to Cash Money Records. Known as Lil Yo in the past, he made his debut in 2000 with the release of From Da Dope Game 2 Da Rap Game. His subsequent releases include The Pyrex King: Street Runnaz Special Edition, 2008’s Cocaine Muzik, 2009’s CM2 (Cocaine Muzik 2 presented by DJ Drama), 2003’s Life, 2006’s Back 2 Da Basics, and 2001’s Self-Explanatory.
Memphis, one of the six Southern hip-hop epicenters, has long had a strong underground scene that has produced platinum-selling artists like 3-6 Mafia, Project Pat,Skip, a.k.a. Gianni Booker, and Eightball & MJG. Before becoming national celebrities, all of the aforementioned musicians once literally controlled the city’s underground rap scene. Yo Gotti, the current underground rap kingpin of M-Town, is the next to bat. The rapper from Memphis, like his namesake John Gotti, has a history of controlling the Southern underground scene with an iron grip. Yo Gotti is regarded as one of the most esteemed young rappers in the South due to his skill and grace behind the mic.
Yo Gotti, whose real name is Mario Mims, was raised in the notorious Ridge Crest Apartments in the Frazier district of North Memphis. His early years were normal for a young person growing up in a Deep South neighborhood. The Tennessee rap legend, who was raised in a household of hustlers and was constantly exposed to hardship, quickly turned to hustling—the only thing he knew would bring in money. Yo Gotti says, “Things like hustles will come your way because you’re from the hood.” “My entire family hustled in one way or another.” Ironically, Yo Gotti’s journey to rapping was eventually paved with hustle.
Following in the footsteps of legendary Memphis rappers like Eightball & MJG, Al Kapone, Gangsta Black, Triple 6 Mafia, and Kingpin Skinny Pimp—all of whom he acknowledges as influences—Yo Gotti put out his own underground tape, Youngster on the Come Up, and hustled it out of the trunk while consigning it to neighborhood mom-and-pop shops. Yo Gotti became the most popular rapper in Memphis when the tape went viral and sold out of stores. Yo Gotti’s second album, From the Dope Game to the Rap Game, sold so well that a minor deal was provided to him by Select-O-Hits, a local independent distributor. With no marketing or advertising, the Memphis rapper more than doubled his fan following. He quickly rose to the top of the city’s rapper rankings. His song From the Dope Game to the Rap Game not only made the magazine’s 2000 greatest independent record list, but it also landed him a spot on the cover with his idols, Al Kapone and Kingpin Skinny Pimp.
A few of years afterward, he signed a distribution agreement with TVT Records and launched the highly regarded album Life, achieving reasonable sales for an independent company. Yo Gotti claims, “It sold about 40 or 50,000, without any promotions or video.” “That record achieved its goals on its own.” However, as the proverb states, “when one door closes, another opens.” As word of Gotti’s status as the King of Memphis grew, he was eventually able to get a production agreement for his group the Block Burnaz with Cash Money/Universal Records. Yo Gotti brings back the gritty street flavor that his devoted fans have grown to love with his TVT sophomore album Back 2 Da Basics. However, this time around, the real king of Memphis has improved a little bit. Yo Gotti might have changed up his approach to appeal to a wider audience if his previous album hadn’t achieved the kind of huge success he had hoped for. Correct? False! For Gotti, having street cred with his underground fan base is more important to him than having a platinum or gold record.
“The most important thing to realize is that when you build a following through street products, the last thing you want to do is offend them by making changes due to pressure from record labels and other entities. You alter what made you when you act in that way. Maintaining contact with those who contributed to my independent record sales of 40,000 records is very essential to me. I named my record Back 2 Da Basics for this reason.
Back 2 Da Basics, produced by DJ Thoomp, Mannie Fresh, Carlos Brody, and up-and-comers Street Tunes, gives listeners a gritty, insider’s look at the actual streets of Memphis as seen through Yo Gotti’s eyes. This point of view is never more apparent than on the explosive lead single “Full Time,” which is also featured in the MTV Films film Hustle & Flow. With its infectious beat and booming bass, the song promotes Gotti’s secret to success: hustle full time.
Yo Gotti adds, “A lotta cats want to be street hustlers or rappers, but they don’t wanna put in the time that it takes.” “They don’t want to work hard for what they want—money, automobiles, and girls. However, you have to work hard for anything you want to succeed at. In the song “Mama We Gone Be Alright,” he becomes more reflective as he considers all of the difficult situations he and his family have faced over the years and gives her words of encouragement that are full of optimism. Two of the more intriguing tracks on Back 2 Da Basics are “Mama We Gone Be Alright” and the captivating ballad “My Story.” Back 2 Da Basics is one of the top albums of the year because of these three albums as well as club hits like “Shorty” with Baby. Look it up on Last.fm. Text submitted by users is accessible under the Creative Commons By-SA License; further conditions might be applicable.
Yo Gotti – Cold Blood ft. J. Cole, Canei Finch
