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. 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. 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.

Originally known as Lil Yo, Yo Gotti (born Mario Mims) made a name for himself during the '90s when he was a teenager. He released his 11th LP, CM10: Free Game, in early 2022.

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.

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). Yo Gotti is one of the few rappers who has achieved mainstream success after many years of underground activity and has maintained it well into the 2020s.

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