ARTIST: Yo Gotti
TITLE: Back 2 Da Basics
LABEL: TVT Records
GENRE: Hip-Hop
BITRATE: 208kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 13min total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-05-23
RIP DATE: 2006-05-19

Track List

01. That's What's Up (Intro)        4:14
02. I Got Them (Feat. Lil' Wayne &  4:53
Baby)
03. Full Time                       4:41
04. Where I'm At                    3:51
05. U A Gangsta Rite?               4:07
06. Spend It Cuz U Got It (Feat.    4:37
Allstar)
07. Cold Game                       4:34
08. Gangsta Party (Feat. Bun B &    4:56
8Ball)
09. That's What They Made It Foe    4:20
(Feat. Pooh Bear)
10. 25 To Life                      3:51
11. That's Not Yo Bitch             4:15
12. Shawty Violating (Wup That      4:48
Hoe) (Feat. La Chat)
13. I'm A Thug (Feat. D'Nero From   4:30
Blockburnaz)
14. We Gonna Be Alright             4:57
15. A Part OF Thugs (Feat. Jazze    3:30
Pha)
16. Warrior                         3:51
17. Shawty (Feat. D'Nero From       3:59
Blockburnaz)

Release Notes:

As one of the five epicenters of Southern hip hop, Memphis has always had a thriving
underground capable of producing major platinum superstars such as Eightball & MJG,
3-6 Mafia and Project Pat. All of the above-mentioned artists at one point in time
literally dominated the city’s underground rap scene before going on to become
national superstars. Next up to bat is Yo Gotti, M-Town’s current underground rap
kingpin.

Like his namesake John Gotti, the Memphis based rapper has been running the Southern
underground scene with an iron fist for the past. Known and respected throughout the
South for his skill and finesse on the microphone, Yo Gotti is one 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 called Frazier. His childhood was typical for a poor ghetto
youth in the Deep South. Raised in a family of hustlers and exposed to hard times 24
hours a day the Tennessee rap titan soon turned to the only thing that he knew could
get him paid, hustling. “Being from the hood things like hustling will come your
way,” says Yo Gotti.
“Everybody in my family hustled in some kinda way.” Ironically, hustling is what
ultimately led Yo Gotti to rapping.

Taking his cue from Memphis rap legends such as Eightball & MJG, Al Kapone, Gangsta
Black, Triple 6 Mafia and Kingpin Skinny Pimp, all of whom he lists as influences,
Yo Gotti released his own underground tape entitled, Youngster on the Come Up and
placed it on consignment at local mom & pop record stores as well as hustling it out
the trunk. The tape sold like hotcakes on the street and made Yo Gotti the hottest
rapper on the streets of Memphis.

From the Dope Game to the Rap Game, Yo Gotti’s sophomore effort 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. Soon he found himself ranked among the city’s top rappers. In addition
to being featured on the cover of Murderdog Magazine along side his idols Kingpin
Skinny Pimp and Al Kapone his record From the Dope Game to the Rap Game made the
list for the magazine’s top independent record for the year 2000.

Two years later he inked a distribution deal with TVT Records and released the
critically acclaimed album Life, which did respectable numbers for an independent
label. “It sold about 40 or 50,000, with no promotions or video,” says Yo Gotti.
“That record did what it did on its own.” But as the old saying goes when one door
is closed another opened. Gotti’s reputation as the king of Memphis continued to
spread and that eventually led him to a production deal with Cash Money/Universal
records for his group the Block Burnaz. With his TVT sophomore album entitled Back
2 Da Basics, Yo Gotti returns with the same hardcore street flavor that his
die-hard fans have come to know and love, only this time around the true king of
Memphis has elevated his game a bit. Given the fact that his last record didn’t do
the type of big number he’d hope for you’d think that Yo Gotti would switch up his
style to reach a larger audience. Right? Wrong! According to Gotti his street
credibility with his underground fans means more to him than gold or platinum
status.

“The one thing that you have to understand is that when you create a fan base off
of street product the last thing you wanna do is disrespect them by changing
because of the record companies and stuff like that. When you do that you change
what created you. To me it is very important that I keep in tune with the people
that helped to sell 40,000 records independently. That’s why I call my record Back
2 Da Basics.”