Yo Gotti and Angela Simmons shared that they’re dating with Instagram posts on New Year’s Eve. Both the rapper, 41, and fashion designer, 35, shared shots of themselves dressed up nicely, and Angela showed her love for the veteran rapper with a sweet caption. “You are all I need and more,” she wrote with a heart emoji in her post.
The rapper shared that he was also very excited to be dating Angela with a pair of posts on his own. He shared a video showing off Angela’s outfit on his Instagram with a sweet caption referring to the new relationship. “Ain loss a crush since High School,” he wrote with a black heart emoji.
While the romance with the Growing Up Hip Hop star is new, Yo Gotti, whose birth name is Mario Sentell Giden Mims, has long been a public figure, making a name for himself in the rap world. Find out everything you need to know about Yo Gotti here.
1. Yo Gotti is a rapper
Yo Gotti has long been established as a musician for over two decades. He’s dropped 11 albums since he started making music, plus a wide range of mixtapes and collaborations with other major artists in the genre. He dropped his major label debut Live from the Kitchen in January 2012. Yo Gotti dropped his most recent album CM10: Free Game in February 2022 and the compilation Gangsta Art with Moneybagg Yo, and other artists in July 2022. He’s worked with tons of huge names throughout his career, appearing on collaborations with the likes of Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane, Megan Thee Stallion, and many more.
2. He started his music career as a teen
Born in Memphis, Tennessee in May 1981, Yo Gotti was inspired to pursue a career in music from a very young age. Before changing his name to Yo Gotti, he performed under the similar pseudonym Lil Yo, before changing his name for his 2000 record From Da Dope Game 2 Da Rap Game. He dropped his debut album Youngsta’s On A Come-Up in 1996, when he was just 15, but unfortunately, his early work is seemingly absent from streaming services, like Spotify and Apple Music.
3. He founded a record label
After over a decade in the game, Yo Gotti established his own label Collective Music Group in 2012 to give new artists a platform to share their music. CMG, which once stood for Cocaine Muzik Group, put out the Gangsta Art compilation in July 2022, and the label boasts tons of young talent, including GloRilla, Moneybagg Yo, and plenty of other rising stars, and they regularly share info about the rising talent on its Instagram page.
Yo Gotti spoke about what it meant to be a mentor to Moneybagg in particular in an exclusive interview with HollywoodLife in January 2020. “I believe in strength in numbers. I believe in learning information [and] passing it down. Any information I have. I give it to him. I give it to my other artists. If I help them accomplish in two or three years what it took me eight to ten years to accomplish, why not?” he said.
4. He’s been nominated for 3 B.E.T. Awards
With over 20 years of making music, Yo Gotti started receiving more critical acclaim in the more recent parts of his career. He received some of his earliest award nominations in 2014, when he received his first B.E.T. Hip Hop award nomination for Best Album for his record I Am. He received two more nominations in 2017 for his song “Rake It Up” with Nicki Minaj for Best Collab, Duo or Group and for Gotti Made It for Best Mixtape. That same year, he was also nominated for the Rhythm and Bars Award at the Soul Train Awards for “Rake It Up.”
5. He was married twice
Aside from going public with Angela, Yo Gotti has mostly kept his personal life out of the spotlight, but he has been married twice before he started dating Angela. He also reportedly has six children from previous relationships, per The Sun. He was first married to Lakeisha Mims and has two kids. He also has three kids with his second wife Jammie Moses. Despite the two marriages, not much is known about either relationship.