Yo Gotti wants fans to look deeper into his soul, so the Memphis rapper will focus on autobiographical lyrics in his forthcoming album, The Art of Hustle.
Due sometime this winter, The Art will give listeners a new dimension of Gotti.
"I wanna get deeper, you know, let people know where I come from," he told XXL in a lengthy interview (via HipHopDX). "What it was like growing up, the house, the women that was there, my aunties and everybody being in the streets, the downfall to it, them going through their prison time, federal prison time, getting back out and being hustlers in different forms. And all the valuable lessons and s--- I learned from watching them and being in the streets myself and going through my own [situation].
"So I want it to be a story on this album...I think on this album I'm just entering a point where I'm willing to go in-depth with it. I feel like if you follow my projects before this one I speak on it a little bit here and there, but I never really go in details and in-depth and give you too much of it. You know what I'm saying? And I feel like this is the album where I'm going to get into it."
Growing up down the river from St. Louis, Gotti has been filled with compassion for the Ferguson activists since Mike Brown's death this summer.
"I just understand it," he said. "I understand what they're going through, I understand what they're feeling, because if it happened in Memphis we'd probably be doing the same thing they was doing in St. Louis, you know what I'm saying? So I'm gonna definitely understand it close. The actual city of St. Louis, I feel like I'm close to it, 'cause I've been through there a lot, I know a lot of people up there. My manager was from there in the beginning of my career, so I met a lot of people and I know a lot of people in St. Louis. You know, I actually went to the funeral and everything, even though people didn't really know that. But, you know, I've just got a lot of ties to St. Louis."
Gotti also played a supporting role in this summer's biggest pure hip-hop tour, Drake Vs. Lil Wayne.
"I mean, it was most definitely a big stage, you know what I'm saying? The shows, you have 20-25,000 people out there in the crowd, so it was most definitely a big stage to be on," Gotti said. "I've known Wayne for a long time, so being able to watch him grow from Carter I to this point, seeing it with your own eyes is different from hearing about it or reading about it, you know what I'm saying?"
YG's most recent release, I Am, came out about year ago, in November 2013.
