HIP-HOP'S HOTTEST HUSTLER

The Memphis rap star runs one of the biggest music labels, owns a piece of an MLS team and is looking to expand his empire like his billionaire mentor Jay-Z. But first, he's going to business school.

- Jabari Young

Kicking back in his 10,000-square-foot Tuscan-style mansion in Westlake Village, California, just north of Malibu, Yo Gotti, the 42-year-old founder and CEO of the Memphis-based Collective Music Group (CMG), is trying to relax. "Certain things validate the hard work," Gotti says, overlooking his infinity pool with its pristine views of L.A. sunsets. "This is one of them."

Gotti has been doing the work for decades, having emerged from the Memphis rap scene in the late 1990s and breaking through with his 2016 album, The Art of the Hustle, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart and featured the single "Down in the DM," which has been heard in ads for the sports betting site FanDuel.

Along the way, in 2012, Gotti formed his own music label, Cocaine Muzik Group, which largely features Tennessee-based hip-hop artists, including Blac Youngsta and Moneybagg Yo. A few years later, Gotti met Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, who advised him to drop "cocaine" from CMG's name and rebrand the label with something more corporate-sounding. "If you know 50," Gotti says, "he'll volunteer information if he likes you."

His has been a long climb in the music business, and Gotti celebrates with the trappings of success. He has an impressive watch collection that he claims is worth about $10 million and includes timepieces by Patek Philippe, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin. He also owns a fleet of luxury cars, including an armored Hummer truck, a 2023 lime green Rolls-Royce Cullinan and a Tesla Model S, a gift from his girlfriend, Angela Simmons, daughter of rap legend Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons of Run-DMC.