As one of the five epicenters of Southern Hip Hop, Memphis has always had a thriving underground music scene capable of producing major platinum superstars such as Eightball & MJG and Three 6 Mafia. Next to look out for is Yo Gotti, M-Town’s current rap kingping. Yo Gotti calls himself a “rapper repping reality” and it’s his “real-life storytelling”, skill and finesse on the microphone that have elevated him to become one of the South’s most respected young rappers. Born Mario Mims, Yo Gotti grew up in the infamous Ridge Crest Apartments in a North Memphis neighborhood. His childhood was typical for a poor ghetto youth in the South and he was raised in a family of hustlers and exposed to hard times 24 hours a day. “Being from the hood, things like hustling will come your way,” says Yo Gotti. “Everybody in my family hustled in some kind of way.” Ironically, hustling is what ultimately led Yo Gotti to a promising rap career. Yo Gotti followed in the footsteps of Memphis rap legends Eightball & MJG, Al Kapone, Gangsta Black, Three 6 Mafia and Kingpin Skinny Pimp – all of whom he lists as influences – and released his own underground mixtape, Youngster on the Come Up, by placing it on consignment in mom and pop record stores as well as hustling it out of his trunk. The tape sold like hot cakes on the street and made Yo Gotti the hottest rapper on the come-up in Memphis. Yo Gotti’s sophomore effort, From Da Dope Game to Da Rap Game, 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. His hardworking hustler mentality ensured that these early releases made waves throughout Memphis and beyond, landing From Da Dope Game on West Coast-based Murder Dog Magazine’s top independent records of 2000 and a cover alongside his idols Kingpin Skinny Pimp and Al Kapone, and on the “ones to watch” lists of hip hop heads nationwide. In 2003 he signed a deal with TVT Records, then home to some of the south’s hottest rappers such as Lil Jon and Ying Yang Twins, and released his first official LP called Life. The move was a turning point in Yo Gotti’s career, as he continued to hustle and make inroads into the national hip hop scene, and his reputation as the King of Memphis continued to spread. The next three years saw Yo Gotti sign a production deal with Cash Money/Universal Records for his Block Burnaz group, land a hit single “Full Time” on the soundtrack for the 2005 feature film, Hustle and Flow, and release his most well received album to date, 2006’s Back 2 Da Basics, a near classic album that showed Gotti’s versatility as a rapper and featured appearances by Lil Wayne, Bun B, and 8 Ball. If the past six years have shown us anything about Yo Gotti, it’s that he never slows down, and the upcoming release of his latest album, CM2, is sure to once again open a new chapter in Gotti’s career and build on the legacy he’s quickly establishing for himself. Today Yo Gotti is one of hottest rappers on the planet, he is always pushing himself to release new work and keep true to what he believes. It is for this reason alone he has a new album, CMT, coming out on April the 7th. But how did this rapper get so much rep, become so popular, what’s his story, where did he come from, where’s he headed? To answer all these and many more questions you need to take a look back at Yo Gotti’s life so far. So this article has been put together to teach you all there is to know about Yo Gotti, from his music to his influences, from his origins to his beliefs. Produced by DJ Thoomp, Mannie Fresh, Carlos Brody and newcomers Street Tunes, Back 2 Da Basics offers fans a gritty, insider’s view into the real streets of Memphis as seen through the eyes of Yo Gotti. Nowhere is this viewpoint more intense than on “Full Time,” the amped up lead single –and featured in the MTV Films’ Hustle & Flow movie - with a thunderous bass and intoxicating beat that espouses Gotti’s formula to success –hustle full time. “A lotta cats wanna be a rapper or a street hustler but they don’t wanna put in the time that it takes,” says Yo Gotti. “They want the money and the cars and the girls, but they don’t wanna work hard for it. But to be successful at anything you gotta grind for it.” On the song “Mama We Gone Be Alright,” he waxes introspective by reflecting on all of the hard times that he and his family have suffered through the years and offers her hope-filled words encouragement. “Mama We Gone Be Alright” along with the gripping tune “My Story” emerges as two of the most interesting songs on Back 2 Da Basics. These three titles along with club banging songs like “Shorty” featuring Baby make Back 2 Da Basics one of the best albums of the year.