Memphis rapper Yo Gotti doubles down with new set
Memphis rap veteran and CMG label head Yo Gotti is capping a triumphant 2021 with the release of a double album. The two-disc set titled “CM10: Free Game” will be out Nov. 26.
On Tuesday, Gotti took to Instagram and his 5.6 million followers, confirming the news of the impending record release with a video that traced his 20plus-year career from drug dealer to Memphis underground mixtape rapper to the heights of his current commercial success as a hip-hop entrepreneur.
In an accompanying post Gotti, noted that “Free Game” “was made for a purpose … it's to give u messages & tell u da experience of a young hustla dat come from da hood but ended up in a position no one expected him to be in, him being me. From cutting 2dollars off a dime bag of weed from touching 6 figures at 16. I'm from North Memphis, Ridgecrest Apts. Dam a lot done changed.”
Gotti also noted that the ambitious double album release was “going against what everybody told me. Dropping 2 albums on the same day DON'T MAKE SENSE.”
Last month, Gotti dropped a new video for the track “For the Record” off “CM10: Free Game.”
“CM10: Free Game” comes nearly two years after the release of 2020's “Untrapped,” which included high-profile collaborations with Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, Rick Ross, Ty Dolla $ign and Moneybagg Yo, among others.
Since his mainstream breakthrough eight years ago, Gotti has enjoyed four consecutive Top 10 debuts on the Billboard albums charts, including 2013's “I Am” and 2016's “The Art of Hustle” — which are both gold certified — as well as 2017's “I Still Am,” and last year's “Untrapped.”
In addition to his own career, Gotti's CMG label has enjoyed a massive 2021. In June, CMG and Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) confirmed a deal “where both organizations will collaborate to continue developing the careers of CMG'S successful roster of artists.”
The formal announcement of the deal with IGA followed a series of major successes for Gotti's CMG artists.
In April, Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo earned his first-career No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with “A Gangsta's Pain.” The record debuted at the top of album charts, spent another week in the top spot, and continued to be lodged in the Top 5, more than a month after its release.
In June, another CMG artist, Detroit's 42 Dugg, made his Billboard chart debut with “Free Dem Boyz,” which hit No. 8 on the Top 200.
In September, it was announced that Gotti had become a co-owner of D.C. United, one of Major League Soccer's top franchises.