The 30-year-old artist, whose last album topped the Billboard album chart, has grown into the biggest rap star to emerge from Memphis in a generation. His fifth LP, ‘Gangsta Art,’ a collective released last fall as a smooth trap music paradise. The beats are extreme and trappish yet filled with lots of that Memphis storytelling, 808s, and club vibes. Since Moneybagg’s songs are already blasted in strip clubs and bars; you might be surprised by the other lyricists that contributed on A Gangsta’s Pain including Yo Gotti, Tay Keith, CMG The Label, TripStar and Kodak Black.
Beyond Memphis
The active father of 8, Yo doesn’t get back to his Memphis hometown as much as he’d like anymore, over the past few years, Bagg — born DeMario DeWayne White Jr. — has been steadily reaching audiences well beyond Memphis. His last album, “A Gangsta’s Pain” from 2021, opened at the top of the Billboard album chart, his first No. 1, following two debuts in the Top 5. He placed five consecutive singles in the Top 20 of the Billboard rap chart, two of which, “Said Sum” and “Wockesha,” became pop hits, reaching the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
He’s a lyrical rapper — his flow is syrupy, reminiscent of DJ Quik or Sugar Free often in a conversational tone that make some of his best lyrics sound like a griot sharing gems. Even though he lives and records in Atlanta most days, his music and collaborations are deep in Memphis hometown roots.
Bagg has been releasing music for a decade — first, mixtapes that gained him renown locally, then beginning with “Federal” in 2015, ones that garnered much wider attention. His first major label album came in 2018. (His music is released by Interscope in partnership with Yo Gotti’s CMG Records and N-Less Entertainment.)