After three years, multi-platinum rapper Yo Gotti released his highly-anticipated 10th studio album Untrapped last week and says it has changed his entire philosophy.
"In the beginning, it was going to be called 'Trapped,' and then a couple weeks ago I decided to change it to 'Untrapped,'" Yo Gotti, born Mario Sentell Giden Mims, told Cheddar. "I feel like one day I woke up and actually 'woke up' to seeing things different," he continued.
Since the beginning of the year, he has begun to demonstrate that philosophy by getting out of his recording contract and becoming the owner of his masters.
Many artists do not have ownership of their master recordings, a plight that hit fever pitch last year when pop star Taylor Swift set the summer on fire by calling out talent manager Scooter Braun after he acquired Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Label Group and the rights to her first six albums.
"I think it is difficult to get your masters from the major record companies because I don't feel like they really need the money to sell it to you in the first place," Yo Gotti said.
Streaming has changed the landscape of how artists share their music. H. O. E. (Heaven On Earth) from the rapper's album has already garnered over a million streams on Spotify and he says streaming changed the way he markets his music.
"I just think the whole Internet process is hitting a button and it [instantly] being worldwide. I come from an era where we used to sell CDs, physically, out of the trunk of our cars, so we had to go from city to city to break into other markets," the rapper said.
With his 'untrapped' philosophy, the artist explained that he tried to bring a new sound to his music and added motivational messaging in the album to uplift listeners. "I tried to make the music bigger and elevated by using samples," he said. "The messaging in the different songs are real messages mixed into it to capture the soul."
An Illinois attorney general's office investigation released Tuesday found that 451 Catholic clergy sexually abused nearly 2,000 children in the state over a nearly 70-year period, which was more than four times the 103 individuals the church named when the state began its review in 2018.
Paramount Global is set to absorb Showtime into Paramount+, creating a single streaming option to compete with the likes of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max. The company also plans to raise the monthly price from $9.99 to $11.99 per month after the integration.
HBO released a sneak peek of next week's series finale for 'Succession' after four seasons.
Dua Lipa is teasing her new single from the upcoming 'Barbie' movie.
Warner Bros. released the official trailer for the upcoming musical film, 'The Color Purple,' based on the novel and 1985 original film.
Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. noticed a young boy who had a sign that read he had beaten cancer. Guerrero decided to surprise the young fan.
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Cheddar's own Shannon LaNier is taking a staycation, and all week he'll be trying out different summer activities in New York and the surrounding area that will hopefully serve as an inspiration no matter where you live. On Monday, Shannon traveled to Huntington, New York to get a taste of the boating life. He spoke with Maggie Maskery, head of public relations for Discover Boating, about some of the best boat share options.
A guitar destroyed by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sold for nearly $600,000 dollars on Saturday at an auction in a Hard Rock Café in New York City.
Scores of Boston University students turned their backs on the head of one of Hollywood's biggest studios, and some shouted “pay your writers,” as he gave the school's commencement address Sunday in a stadium where protesters supporting the Hollywood writers' strike picketed outside.
