Yo Gotti: Live From The Kitchen

By Carlos Matias

Cocaine has always had a place in rap music. For one, both possess a similar skillset of hustle and self-marketing and a sort of ruthlessness to stay on top of the competition. A fucked up deal in the rap game is akin to doing a bid so the danger of losing your freedom is just one shitty-ass contract or package away (Though often times rap artists see themselves facing the same consequences as their hustling counterparts. See: Weezy, T.I., Gucci Mane and Lil' Boosie). And like in rap, you can't serve the streets forever (See: Yo Gotti). The southern D-boy rapper has been sprinkling his rhymes with cold, unforgiving tales of of serving his Ridgecrest Housing Projects since his 2000 debut, From the Dope Game to the Rap Game. Although he is numerous albums and mixtapes into his decade-long

career, for Gotti, those stories are long (though not too far) gone.

This year he has flooded the streets with parts two and three off his Cocaine Muzik mixtape series and the instructional street single/video “Standing in the Kitchen” where he raps, “City kinda dry so this the time to hustle up/ baking soda, beaken cup, stretch it out, whip it up/ 2 to 4, 4 to 8, I can make it double up.” It was this true hustler ethic that allowed Gotti to use some of that pre-rap money and buy himself out of a four-hundred thousand dollar contract from the now defunct TVT label. Now with Cash Money/Universal, his major label debut, Live From the Kitchen is slated for an early 2010 release, his biggest song to date, “5 Star Chick” is seeing commercial success and a recently leaked heatrock featuring the mixtape Weezy can be found all over the 'net. The Memphis, Ten-a-key resident is back in the kitchen, this time cooking up something that won't see him in the position as that of his southern rap peers.

YRB: Your album, From the Dope Game to the Rap Game is about your transition from one hustle to another. Was it your deal with TVT that enabled you to do that?

Yo Gotti: TVT gave me what I call “reel” paper. “Reel” paper means it was enough paper to get me another package and flip that. My real break came when I got my production deal with Cash Money/Universal. Baby and Slim gave me a check big enough that it allowed me to just fuck with rap. Before then I was hustling the whole time I was doing music. When I did that album I was hustling 85 percent of the time. Three CDs after that I was still hustling and doing the same thing. It wasn't until recently where I started making enough money off rap to take care of my family.

YRB: Did your deal with TVT change how you viewed the industry?

Yo Gotti: When I was with TVT it was like I was locked up so when they went bankrupt I was popping bottles and shit like I had made parole. I learned everything from my deal with TVT. I learned what you want in your deal, what you have to do on your own, what the label should do and what you shouldn't rely on a label to do. When I was able to start over I knew how to do shit right.

YRB: How do you feel about the Memphis music scene?

Yo Gotti: There's a couple of artists that I'm working with and trying to open up doors for so that they have a better way 'cause ain't nobody open up shit for me. There are other artists in Memphis that did their thing and put some light on the city in general, but there's no one who helped me out particularly.

YRB: You call yourself “The King of Memphis” and there was a situation with Eightball because of that. Don't you think that a strong title?

Yo Gotti: Nah, I didn't do it to bother anyone. What people don't understand is that I represent the name because the city wants me to. They gave me that name. I walk the streets and people be like, “Gotti, you the king” so it's like, I'm going to be what they want me to be and they want me to be the king. I'm still in these Memphis streets, shit, I ain't got nowhere else to go.

YRB: The south has been hot for a minute and now a lot of southern artists are getting locked up. Does that leave more on the shoulders of everyone else to carry the south?

Yo Gotti: I think that everyone that's locked up is going to continue to do their thing. I'm sure they all have enough music to put out while they are locked up so people don't really miss them. All of them work hard so the south as a whole is going to do their thing.

YRB: Did you talk to Gucci Mane before he went in?

Yo Gotti: We spoke the day before he went in but we wasn't talking about that whole situation. We spoke about music in general. We spoke about what we gon' do and what songs we gon' do. We were actually going to get started on a couple of things but I didn't know he was going to go in. I don't think he knew either.

YRB: What makes a “5 Star Chick”?

Yo Gotti: She gotta be mentally in control of her life, first of all. Second, she gotta look right and have her shit together. Also, her performance game has to be on point and she gotta satisfy a nigga. I have a couple five star chicks in my life so I can cancel one and move for a couple more.

YRB: “Five Star Chick” blew up and “Woman Lie, Men Lie” featuring Wayne hit the internet, is it safe to say you are moving away from all the trap talk?

Yo Gotti: No, but it's safe to say that I'm trying to make a classic album. I only live one life and I'm a hustler but I know not to drown the situation. When you live this shit for real, you don't have to talk about selling drugs all the time. You have to make sure people see everything not just what you sold or what you served. I make my music based on all avenues not just the fact that I was serving everyone.

YRB: What about your fans that want to hear that hard shit on your album?

Yo Gotti: Don't get it twisted, the album ain't getting softer, I guarantee it. My life is raw so the album is going to be raw.

YRB: How does it feel going from being independent and hustling at the same time to changing your whole lifestyle and signing with a major label?

Yo Gotti: I'm a business man and the reason I linked up with a major was because I understand they have that reach that I can't get no matter how hot I get in the streets. It's not always about money because I been had money. I want to be on TV and win awards. I want to be number one. You need a label to get through some of those barriers.

YRB: How do your past experiences in the kitchen relate to your album?

Yo Gotti: The kitchen is where you put all the ingredients together. It's the recipe; its where you cook it up and serve it to the world. The kitchen is where you prepare the plan and put your recipe together. No matter what you do in life you have to have a plan and put it together. And besides, the kitchen is my favorite part of the house… I've spent a lot of time there. (laughs)