Yo Gotti and his CMG team are changing lives. Gotti’s label has helped mold Memphis rapper Blac Youngsta into a household name. After a releasing a host of mixtapes, the Heavy Camp CEO has finally released his debut album, 223 (Epic Records).
The 14-song effort isn’t the comical Blac Youngsta that we’ve grown accustomed to. 223 finds the “Booty” rapper going back to his roots by rapping about serious issues such as poverty, and losing family members and friends to sickness and murder. The 26-year-old rapper also touches on social issues that are plaguing cities like Detroit, and Houston, as well as sharing his thoughts on Donal Trump, among other topics.
When Blac Youngsta spoke to VIBE after the release of his 2015 mixtape, I Swear to God, he talked candidly about his tumultuous upbringing in Memphis.
“I went to jail for dope charges, gun charges, lot of sh*t. The longest I did was probably like a year. I never did no real time. I was slangin’ dope so a nigga made bond. I went to HTC. It was grown folks in there. They had people in there that killed a lot of little kids, you know how people be shooting up schools and shit!”
Blac also spoke about the death of his brother.
“I don’t want to get too deep on it. But my little brother had passed. And, I thought about doing it,” says Blac with honesty while talking about suicide. “I’ll keep it one hundred. My little brother wasn’t in the streets, period, and he was dead. I was in the streets, period. So I felt like I should’ve been dead.”
“I put my life on the line for him to grow up and go to the military. I did so much sh*t. Stole out stores, stole clothes from people, all type of things for my little brother to live. [For] a nigga to kill him and he ain’t never did shit. [That] was touching me. So yes, I thought about doing it. But I had my kids to live for — that’s all I’m talk about on that. I don’t like talking about it. I never really spoke on that sh*t.”
223 features the likes of Yo Gotti, Lil Yachty, French Montana, Travi$ Scott and Lunchmoney Lewis.
Stream the album below.