With another segment of his "Cocaine Muzik" mixtape series, Memphis' Yo Gotti releases a solid offering with "CM7" featuring Wale, French Montana and Future.
Yo Gotti has been in the rap game for well
over a decade. Though he has been popular in his hometown since the beginning,
Yo Gotti tirelessly worked the mixtape and underground circuit, steadily
building a buzz by collaborating with various artists such as Lil Wayne, Nicki
Minaj, Gucci Mane, Birdman, Bun B, 8Ball and Jadakiss. His studio debut suffered
a series of delays but Live From The
Kitchen was finally released at the top of 2012. Its lackluster sales have
been blamed on poor promotions, but that has not deterred Yo Gotti one bit. The
Memphis, TN native went back to his roots by releasing another installment of
his widely popular Cocaine Muzik
mixtape series.
Yo Gotti picks up right where he left off. Known
for his street-laced and hard-hitting rhymes over thumping beats, Yo Gotti starts
CM7: The World Is Yours with
“Bulletproof,” a high-energetic declaration warning rappers he’s ready to bring
the realness back into the game, a theme he touches on in other songs. In
“CPR,” Yo Gotti blames the current state of rap on artists keeping it less than
authentic: “Niggas instagraming cars they know ain’t theirs. You could be a
fake rapper nowadays; no one cares.”Yo Gotti raps about what he knows best and
fans of his music can expect more of the same on CM7. While other rappers may exaggerate or embellish for the sake
of a song, Yo Gotti professes he is a “real dope boy and I spit real nigga
poetry.” The seventh installment of his mixtape series is heavy on drug game
references; Yo Gotti feeds the streets with “Drug Money,” “Purple Flowers,” and
“Buy Out.”A one-dimensional rapper Yo Gotti is not.
He vents about the frustrations and disappointments he felt while battling the
record label executives over his studio album in “Smilin Faces.” CM7 is not without its laughs; in
“Disqualified,” Yo Gotti, calls out a certain type of woman: “Them your
friend’s clothes. Talking about you got it hard. In the club every week but you
ain’t got no job.”In an era where mixtapes and albums are
loaded with guest features, Yo Gotti bucks the trend and keeps it light. Wale,
Future, French Montana, Sylver Karatz and Zed Zilla snag spots, giving CM7 the right balance. Yo Gotti borrows
the beats from Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools”,
but much of the production on the 20-track project was provided by Drumma Boy,
T-Minus, Jahlil Beats, DJ Spinz and Lil Lody among others.Yo Gotti continues to stick to the formula
that has earned him the respect of the streets and rap veterans alike. A solid
mixtape, CM7 follows the path of its
predecessors, further solidifying Yo Gotti’s status. Like he says, he may not
be the biggest rapper, but Yo Gotti can be counted among the realest.
