Yo Gotti

Yo Gotti is one of the few rappers who have achieved mainstream success after many years of underground activity, and he's maintained it well into the 2020s. Ten years after the North Memphis native debuted on cassette, he first touched the Top Ten of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with Back 2 da Basics (2006), and has since strung together Top Ten pop entries including I Am (2013), The Art of Hustle (2016), I Still Am (2017), and Untrapped (2020). While no one would classify the gruff street hustler as a pop-rapper, Gotti has often achieved gold and platinum status, counting "Down in the DM," the number eight Hot 100 hit "Rake It Up," and "Put a Date on It" among his biggest RIAA-certified singles. He again hit the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 with 2022's CM10: Free Game before delivering I Showed U So, a collab with DJ Drama. Originally known as Lil Yo, Yo Gotti (born Mario Mims) made a name for himself during the '90s when he was a teenager. Performing in and around Memphis with support from Kingpin Skinny Pimp and DJ Sound, he also issued the tape Youngsta's on a Come Up, and in 1999 moved forward with his first album as Yo Gotti, From da Dope Game 2 da Rap Game, issued on his Inevitable Entertainment label. Gotti continued to expand the Inevitable catalog and struck a nationwide distribution deal with TVT, which enabled him to hit Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart for the first time with 2003's Life, an album boasting appearances from Lil Jon and Lil' Flip. After having his track "Full Time" featured in the Memphis-based film Hustle & Flow, Gotti hit the Top Ten of the R&B/hip-hop chart in 2006 with Back 2 da Basics. A series of Cocaine Muzik mixtapes, along with the gold singles "5 Star" and "Women Lie, Men Lie" (featuring Lil Wayne) carried the rapper into the early 2010s. A couple major-label deals resulted in greater commercial success during the rest of the 2010s and into the 2020s. Live from the Kitchen, Gotti's second straight Top Ten R&B/hip-hop album -- also a number 12 entry on the Billboard