Yo Gotti is among the many hardcore rappers who came out of hip-hop's Dirty South school in the late '90s. He is also one of the hip-hoppers who derive part of their stage names from the late New York Mafioso John Gotti; others have included Big Gotti, Don Gotti, and Juan Gotti, among others. Not all Dirty South recordings are gangsta rap, but Yo Gotti has favored this thugged-out gangsta style, and he gets his inspiration from both Southern and non-Southern rappers. Master P and his New Orleans-based No Limit posse are an influence; so are N.W.A., Dr. Dre, and the late Tupac Shakur. Gotti's more sexually explicit lyrics also owe something to Oakland native Too Short, who was never a gangsta rapper but did a lot to popularize X-rated rap lyrics. Yo Gotti, however, isn't from the West Coast any more than he is from New Orleans; his stomping ground is Memphis, the city that gave us the Three 6 Mafia, Gangsta Blac, Eightball & MJG, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, and quite a few other Dirty South artists. When Gotti boasts that he is "straight from the North," he doesn't mean the northern part of the United States; he means the northern part of Memphis, where he lived in the infamous, crime-ridden Ridge Crest housing projects. And Memphis' more dangerous neighborhoods have inspired many of Gotti's lyrics, which often describe the dangers of life in the 'hood. Gotti, however, doesn't always rap about crime and inner-city thug life; he also raps about sex quite a bit. After performing around Memphis in the '90s, Gotti started building a catalog in the early 2000s. His first album, From da Dope Game 2 da Rap Game, came out on the Inevitable label in 2000; his subsequent Inevitable releases included 2001's Self Explanatory and 2002's Block Burnin', Vol. 1. After that, Gotti signed with TVT and recorded Life, which came out in 2003. TVT released "Dirty South Soldiers" (a duet with Atlanta crunk star Lil' Jon) as Life's first single. After having his track "Full Time" featured in the film Hustle & Flow, he released Back 2 da Basics in 2006. A series of Cocaine Muzik mixtapes carried the rapper to 2012 when his first major-label release, Live from the Kitchen, landed on RCA. The album I Am followed in 2013 and featured the singles "Act Right" with YG and Jeezy, plus "King Shit" featuring T.I. In 2015, he returned with the single "Errrbody" plus the mixtape Chapter One, both of them promotional tools for his fifth studio effort, The Art of the Hustle. ~ Alex Henderson
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Transferring the reflective style of rappers like Drake to the genre of gangsta rap, Louisiana-based MC Kevin Gates spent five-plus years on the mixtape circuit before climbing into the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 album chart with his 2013 release, Stranger Than Fiction. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Gates made his mixtape debut in 2007 with Pick of da Litter. Mixtapes with titles like All In and I Don't Know What to Call It, Vol. 1 appeared over the next few years, but in 2013 he dropped the popular The Luca Brasi Story mixtape and things changed quickly. After appearing on high-profile mixtapes from Pusha T and Gudda Gudda, Gates signed a contract with major-label Atlantic. He completed his contract with the indie imprint Breadwinners Association by releasing Stranger Than Fiction that same year. The album featured guest spots from Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J, and Starlito, and debuted at number 37 on the Billboard 200 chart. Plies, 2 Chainz, and Doe B helped deliver his 2014, Atlantic-released mixtape By Any Means, and the next year saw the single "Kno One" preview his 2016 LP, Islah. ~ David Jeffries
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William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), better known by his stage name Rick Ross, is an American rapper. In 2009, Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group, on which he released his studio albums Deeper Than Rap (2009), Teflon Don (2010), God Forgives, I Don't (2012), Mastermind and Hood Billionaire (2014). Ross was also the first artist signed to Diddy's management company Ciroc Entertainment. In early 2012, MTV named Ross as the Hottest MC in the Game.
Rick Ross' album, "BLACK MARKET" will be available online and in a store near you on December 4th.
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