Months after Memphis legend Yo Gotti launched his label CMG — putting together a widely talented palette of emerging stars — the street-centric imprint has finally revealed the Gangsta Art they’ve designed.
Following their lead single “Steppers” on July 7, the newfound collective shared their inaugural compilation album on Friday (July 15). With this roster of talent hand-picked by Gotti, Gangsta Art contains appearances from CMG’s best and brightest in Moneybagg Yo, 42 Dugg, Blac Youngsta, Mozzy, EST Gee and their latest signee GloRilla — including guest appearances from “Super Gremlin” rapper Kodak Black and Coi Leray.
Totaling in at 27 tracks, Gangsta Art strongly showcases the chemistry between each of CMG’s artists. Hyping up the album on a recent Instagram live, Gotti shared that “now” is the perfect opportunity to give fans this body of work. Capitalizing on the momentum they’ve built, Gotti continues to make all the right moves at the right time.
“On the real, I think it’s about time… Everybody keeps asking for it, like, you know, ‘When we gon’ do a tour? When we gon’ do a project together?… I think it’s about time, man. All the songs we’ve been recording together. All the late nights. We got crazy, crazy, like, crazy songs, so I think we should just gon’ drop the whole CMG project on these people, man.”
Yo Gotti via Instagram live stream
“Gangsta Art” serves as not only the album’s title, but also its lead track. With the exception of GloRilla, Lil Poppa, Big Boogie, and 10Percent, this song features everyone on the label, including CEO Gotti. The constant voice changes and personalities on the record give it an overall flair not found in any other discography. Its posse cut after posse cut with endless energy to match, as Moneybagg, Mozzy, Dugg and EST Gee all turn in impeccable performances in their respective tracks.
“Days been cold just like my wrist
I’ll be used to, I
Every picture I paint must be vivid (Paint these words just like my wrist)
Blood, sweat and tears on the canvas (What you know ’bout gangsters’ art?)”
Moneybagg Yo and Lehla Samia – “Gangsta Art”
Of CMG’s stars, its latest signee GloRilla is taking the game by storm. Accumulating over 20 millions views on YouTube since the release of her hit single “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” (April 29), she’s bringing the potent, hard-hitting female energy hip-hop needs right now. “GloRilla is a natural born star,” Gotti said — bringing a fresh sound that is authentic and is redefining what means to be a female rapper in the process.
“I’ve put in years of hard work to get this point and I’m blessed to sign with the hottest label in music with CMG… manifested this moment and trusted my talent even when others didn’t. I’m grateful for Gotti for believing in me and I’m not gonna let up. Trust that I have more new heat on the way.”
GloRilla via Billboard
To counter their collective success, under the Interscope umbrella, CMG’s combined roster boasts 50 Hot 100 hits and 12 Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. Rising as one of the top new labels in the game, it won’t be before long until CMG ends up in your playlist one way or another.
Listen to ‘Gangsta Art’ below!
