Yo Gotti: The Chronicles of Cocaine Muzik

Yo Gotti was now on another level. He was now a major artist with a major label. Gotti was now shooting music videos that were shot in multiple cities, had guest celebrity features, and luxury cars such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris. His videos were also featured on different television networks that each had millions of viewers. He was touring around the country and getting over $20,000 a weekend for shows. Through all his triumphs Gotti never lost site of what catapulted him to mass stardom, his hunger to feed the streets and give them what they wanted, hot music. Gotti continued to be featured on mix-tapes, print, radio, and website interviews, and he continued to attend music networking conferences to garner more connections. One networking conference he frequented was the Southern Entertainment Awards which is the premiere dirty south music conference for unsigned artists in the mid-south. It was late January of 2008 in the Grand Casino in Tunica, MS ride outside of Memphis at the Southern Entertainment Awards (SEAs) show where all the celebrities gathered to either receive awards, spectate, or network amongst the south’s finest, weather they were up and coming actors, buzzing models, or hot rappers. In the lobby of the showroom there were wall to wall people, celebrity rappers, aspiring rappers, wack rappers, good rappers, broke rappers, rich rappers, R&B singers, entertainment companies’ booths, record label reps, models taking pictures, pimps choosing new prospects, strippers, casino gambling high rollers trying to come up, D-Boys, fans and spectators. Any and everyone was in the building, even a random fan named Jonathan. Jonathan could feel the energy of the event right from the vibrations of the music that was being played in the main showroom all the way to the energy from the neck tattooed pimp macking the former stripper turned aspiring model. Jonathan looked for Yo Gotti left and right but could not find him. All he wanted was a glimpse of the trap-star rap star. Jonathan grew tired of searching for the often dubbed “King of Memphis” so he resorted to chat with a model who was next to him dressed tastefully in smooth tight leather and comfortable tight skin. As the conversation roughly arose to him getting turned down (probably because of his nerdy geeked out voice), after failing to close the deal and being rejected from getting the model’s phone number, shouts and screams came from the other side of the room grabbing everyone’s attention, “Cocaine Muzik! Get it while you can, while supplies last! I got dat’ heat! We got what you want! We got what you need! Cocaine Muzik! Dat’ Bump for your trunk! Dat’ New Yo Gotti Cocaine Muzik!” As the proclaims became louder and nearer within the crowd, Jonathan then sees about four guys draped in all black wearing Yo Gotti Cocaine Muzik logo t-shirts holding one mix-tape CD in the air with one arm and a box of CDs in the other arm. Jonathan then chases after the lovely in leather model as he sees her exit the building. Once outside he sees the model quickly disappear into a brand new 2008 dodge charger wrapped in Yo Gotti Cocaine Muzik art. Jonathan then rushes back into the venue, only to find the lobby emptying out, with people rushing into the SEA showroom to catch Yo Gotti perform the most potent cuts from his “Cocaine Muzik” mix-tape.

Cocaine Muzik Review

Yo Gotti’s life is “Cocaine Muzik.” This classic mix-tape proves to be a musical depiction of Yo Gotti’s life. It serves as his musical autobiography.

He chose DJ Smallz to assist in compiling his memoires and philosophies about the life of a dope boy. DJ Smallz hails from the state of Florida and is no stranger to the southern rap platform. He is most known for his “Southern Smoke” mix-tape series. “Cocaine Muzik” opens with DJ Smallz leaving Yo Gotti a voicemail on his phone saying, “Yo Gotti….let’s show these streets why you are the next artist to fear!..Let’s give’em that crack…nah erase that…let’s give’em that cocaine muzik.” On the first track of the mix-tape, Gotti comes out of the gate dissing Three Six on “Talk To ‘Em.” “MJ dem’ my people/ 8Ball he treal/ Three Six I don’t f--k wit’em that’s just how it is/ no publicity stunt mane that’s just how it is/ Yeah dem n----s doing they thang/ but dem n----s ain’t real / somebody talk to’em/ fore’ I make dat’ chopper talk to’em” proclaims Gotti on the drama filled track. Gotti goes for his take on the Memphis rap producer Drumma Boy’s “Umma Do Me” track where he bolsters “This dat Cocaine Muzik!/ Homie don’t you confuse it!/ Lames gone cop it/ D-Boyz gonna abuse it!” Gotti also represents his stance on the T.I. gun situation with lyrics like “Muthafuck the law/I’m strapped right nie/ Weak a-s n----s need to free T.I./ Deez B---h a-s n----s keep snitchin’ on a n---a/ cause you p---y a-s n----s keep lettin’em slide.” DJ Smallz and Yo Gotti also laced the mix-tape with excerpts from the hit blockbuster movie Blow which starred Johnny Depp who played a successful drug smuggler. On “I like to shine” Gotti represents the young fly, fresh and foolish flamed with an H-town screwed up chorus that grumbles “Yoropiko jeans saggin on my shell toes/ everybody ask me/ where you get those?” Gotti commenced to flow through braggadocio rhymes like “..and I ain’t went platinum/ seem so weird/ to come from north Memphis to a million dollar crib.” He even pays homage to rap legends RUN-DMC in the song when he raps “fall up in the shoe store/ drop a quarter-key/ on nothin’ but shell toes/ like I’m RUN-DMC.” Another eye browsing lyric comes when he claims his association with fellow Memphis rapper Kia Shine, “True to my religion/ True King of Memphis/ I f--k wit’ Kia Shine but hell naw I ain’t Crispy!” In Gotti’s sinfully epic smash “Pure Cocaine” a remake of Prince’s “Purple Rain”, the song features Gucci Mane of east Atlanta and Duval County Jacksonville Florida’s up and coming rapper Young Cash, Gotti begins the song as if he was daydreaming and reminiscing of a beautiful woman. His testament of coke in the song’s introduction is melodically supported by the sweet and soulful voice of an Aaron Neville like crooner who sings of a white brick’s measurement as if it was a woman’s body. He continues to narrate the beginning of the song with phrases like “this is where I come from” and “I am the plant.” As the song continues, Gotti testifies as if the drug was a personal friend of his who helped him make it through the pains of poverty. On “Product of the streets”, a song originally produced for up and coming Memphis rapper Zedzilla, Gotti displays his rapid hood storytelling ability. The track labeled “My Niggaz” is a song that cries for Gotti’s old friends he grew up with who have been locked up or killed in the streets. “Aww Man” is an organ laced track produced by Zaytoven, the producer who is often a sidekick to Gucci Mane. Zaytoven is most credited for catapulting Gucci Mane’s career. The song also features Harlem New York rapper Juelz Santana from the Dipset Family. Many would call this the unlikely of collaborations but it’s understandable with the affiliation of the Dipset gang to Cash Money Records. Gotti keeps the heat coming with tracks like “Keep it on the low” and “Hoody” which features Cashville’s own All-star. Gotti’s “Nite Life” song is a Memphis classic that has deservingly found itself radio success within the Bluff City. The Memphis night life theme song starts with Yo Gotti shouting “Welcome to my city homie!” As the Issac Hayes like trombone horns powerfully sound off supporting the background tweezers that flirt with the knock of the beat track, Gotti commends to emphatically list off the Memphis club hot spots with his north Memphis drawl. “Prime Time/Club Senses/ in the booth throwing money like I’m gone senseless! / Plush Club/ Level 2/ Fire n Ice/ You know what it do!” goes Gotti as he rambles the chorus of the flamed track. The song describes the night life of a trap-star in Gotti on how he rolls 100 deep to club hop in trunk beating whips with doors that lift up like the bat mobile. He also describes how he slides through to the strip club “Pure Passion” on boxing Mondays and asks his listeners “Have you ever seen naked h--s straight jacking?!?” Gotti fails to be shy to push the envelope on his raw and uncut delivery. He sends a shout out to all DJs within the clubs but specifically sends a special shout out to DJ Lil’ Larry with the Affiliates (the DJ group headed by DJ Drama best known for his Gangsta Grillz series). Gotti features the Birdman himself from Cash money records on “We Gangsta.” On “Back in the Hood”, Gotti flows through the constructive pitty-patt beat, which is supported by a simple rhythmic guitar loop, with recalls of coming up back in the hood. He raps of posting up in the hallways of school serving customers with a by-any-means attitude. He also addresses how foolish rappers are when they post up in front of video cameras with dope and guns. He calls it foolishness. Gotti also exudes his disapproval on how rappers have people in their entourage who take charges for them instead of the rappers themselves standing up and taking the fall. Gotti also sends a clever shout out to a fellow north Memphis rapper saying, “I’m from dat’ North North/ I done heard it first from Project PaT/ But I’m Yo Gotti Dog/ I got da M-town on my back.” He continues his claims by rapping, “I’m from a city/ where I’m the only rapper I seen/ on the block selling rocks/ f-----g wit’ trappers/ I mean/ they prolly was/ or they prolly wasn’t/ but I ain’t see’em though/don’t know nobody who seen’em so I can’t say they done it.” There Yo Gotti leaves hints of yet another Three Six Mafia diss. Another interesting lyric point in the song is Gotti’s tale of when he was 17 years old with over $100,000 in his pocket wilding out while he was living in Ridgecrest apartments, and how his mother found a quarter-key of blow, flushes it down the toilet and tells Gotti how he will be in jail soon. His response to his Mom was him implicating on worst scenario terms, “he was just a juvenile” and his charges would be kibbles of the charges to an adult, indicating his willingness to threaten his freedom for a better life. As “Back in the hood” continues, Gotti speaks to his Mom saying “from that juvenile to a man Ma’ look at me now” as if to tell his mom that he had it figured all out from the beginning. “Cocaine Muzik” continues with bangers like “Hello” which was a remake of Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo’s “Dey Know”, and “Keep it Gangsta” featuring Lil’ Boosie and Weebie. On “Let’s Vibe” which features Pleasure P formerly of the R&B group Pretty Rickey, Gotti borrows a beat from L.L. Cool J’s platinum hit “I need love” which was one of the first pop-rap songs ever. Gotti reveals his romantic side to the ladies as he describes how he wines and dines his significant other showing how D-boys get down. On “Givin’ up” Gotti gives his listeners a blueprint of how he made it to where he is today. He describes how poor he was down to the careless attitude he had about the next man. He describes of how he jumped off the porch at 12 years old to get into the dangerous and unpredictable dope game. Describing his hard struggles as a rapper starting out, he shows that it was many times to where he ran into a brick wall with his career but he kept grinding with faith. “Givin’ Up” is a great depiction of Gotti’s evolution and his tenacious approach to life. He ends the song with saying, “N---a I’ll go against an army.” On the next track Gotti follows the lead of Cher in remaking the Marc Cohn hit “Walking in Memphis.” Within the song he claims the throne of being the real king of Memphis with supporting lyrics like “I didn’t luck up in this grind spot/ labels ain’t promoted s--t/ Yo Gotti got Yo Gotti hot.” In this song he continues to take his stance on other certain rappers out of Memphis, “These n----s represent my city wrong/ that’s the reason for years we’ve been gettin’ shitted on.” On the last track of “Cocaine Muzik” Gotti brings the energy on “What it is” which features Atlanta rapper Bohagon. It almost seems that Gotti brings the horns in the song straight from the old Stax that housed the likes of the late Issac Hayes and Rufus Thomas. As the horns bellow out, Gotti brings his gangster-crunk swag with slick rhymes that warn challengers to do their homework before they step up to the full time hustler himself.

“Cocaine Muzik” is a product from Lil’ Yo. Lil’ Yo is a product of the streets of Memphis. Memphis is apart of the great country we know as the United States of America where dreams are born and dreams are fulfilled. Survival comes with a face with some of the faces being pretty and others ugly. Lil’ Yo climbed his way out the gutter with “Cocaine Muzik” by walking his walk in Memphis and never giving up. Now he’s known as your boy Yo Gotti.