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Collective Music Group

A Memphis label that became one of the most effective talent operations of the 2020s.

Founded	2012, Memphis, Tennessee
Founder	Yo Gotti
Key artists	Yo Gotti, GloRilla, Moneybagg Yo, Blac Youngsta, 42 Dugg, EST Gee, Mozzy

Founding

Yo Gotti founded the label in 2012 as Cocaine Muzik Group, later renaming it Collective Music Group. Its president is his cousin Brandon Mims, and it distributes through Interscope.

Memphis first

The early roster was built around Memphis artists — Moneybagg Yo, Blac Youngsta — at a point when the city's national profile had faded considerably since Three 6 Mafia.

Expanding beyond Tennessee

Signing Detroit's 42 Dugg, Louisville's EST Gee and Sacramento's Mozzy turned CMG from a regional imprint into a national scouting operation, and Gotti's ability to identify artists across scenes became the label's defining characteristic.

GloRilla

Signing GloRilla in 2022, immediately after "F.N.F. (Let's Go)" broke, turned out to be the label's biggest win. Her 2024 run — "Yeah Glo!", Ehhthang Ehhthang and the debut album Glorious — made her its most commercially significant artist. Her profile is here.

Gotti as an executive

His run as a label head may ultimately be more significant than his own recording career, which is a rarer outcome in rap than the number of artist-owned labels would suggest.

From Cocaine Muzik to Collective Music

The renaming reflected a genuine change in scope. The original imprint was a vehicle for Yo Gotti's own mixtape series; the current one is a national operation with a president, an Interscope deal and artists from four states.

Memphis after Three 6 Mafia

Memphis had produced one of the most influential catalogues in rap and then largely dropped out of national view. CMG's early roster rebuilt that presence, and the current Memphis wave — GloRilla, Moneybagg Yo, Key Glock through other routes — exists in a landscape the label helped restore.

Signing across regions

42 Dugg from Detroit, EST Gee from Louisville, Mozzy from Sacramento. Each came from a scene with its own established sound, and CMG signed them without trying to make them sound like Memphis. That restraint is unusual.

The 2022 GloRilla signing

"F.N.F. (Let's Go)" broke independently, and Gotti signed her almost immediately afterwards. Two years later she had the largest opening week of any female rap album of 2024. Moving that fast on an unproven viral artist is the single best decision in the label's history.