NEW YORK — In 2021, you heard: Yo money bag ‘Wokesha’ playing in cars and corner stores – an undeniable song of the summer that helped turn the Memphis rapper into a No. 1 artist. His fourth studio album, “A Gangsta’s Pain” topped the Billboard 200 that year, practically confirming his place at the top of the trap throne. Now, three years and one mixtape later, he’s releasing his fifth studio album, “Speak Now.”
For an artist accustomed to releasing a new album every year, in addition to countless mixtapes, it’s easy to wonder – why the break?
“I was just dealing with personal life,” he told The Associated Press over Zoom. “Sometimes you have to take a step back and just analyze, get it right, and come back a lot harder and figure out how to do things next time.”
“Every time you drop something, it has to be like a new movie. You know what I’m saying? No one wants to see the same movie, like, go to the theater and see the same movie. So you have to give something to They’re different every time.”
“Speak Now” strives to do just that with all the hallmarks of a Moneybagg Yo banger – trap and drill bolstered by the Memphis twang of its flow.
As for the delay, Moneybagg Yo does not reveal details of what exactly is going on. “You have to give them bits and pieces,” he says, “You can’t give them too much.”
Some difficulties have been documented: Nuskie, another Memphis rapper signed to Moneybagg Yo’s Bread Gang record label, was shot and killed in 2022. He was 26 years old. Three 6 Mafia Gangsta BooBig Scarr Snootie Wild among them – as all eyes continue to see the southern city as a hot birthplace for the next generation of trappers.
“I’m not the only one that goes through things, like everyone else around the world, they go through things and you know what I’m saying? So I can be here to help you by speaking and putting my talents into practice. I can be…how to help others.”
“Speak Now” works that way, but mainly in the sense that they are all “turned up, club” records, he says.
“’Speak Now’ is like the energy, the vibe of summer. Like, the current kind of music,” he adds, “dedicated to my fans. They are killing me.”
The release is packed with collaborations, from Lil Durk and Kevo Muney to an unexpected Morgan Wallen resource.
It is a controversial choice to include the country musician, who was arrested in April after police say he threw a chair from the roof of a six-story bar in downtown Nashville. In 2021, Wallen was suspended indefinitely from his record label after video emerged of him shouting a racial slur. In 2020, he was arrested on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct after being kicked out of the Kid Rock bar in downtown Nashville. He’s also one of the biggest names in contemporary country, with his third studio album, 2023’s “One Thing at a Time,” becoming the most consumed album in the US last year.
“I’m his fan, of course,” he says, “but I’m his favorite — let him tell.” They are both from Tennessee and, as the rapper says, they had instant creative chemistry. “I had music for a year and a half, two years. He was always telling me, ‘Bro, release the music, when our music comes out,’ and so that was the perfect time.”
And speaking of timing, after the release of “Speak Now”, Moneybagg Yo will release another collaborative album later this year. He says the film “is for women”. They are “melodic vibrations. Not just strictly for women, but with melodic vibes, like ‘Wokesha’.”
For an artist who may have lingered between his fourth and fifth albums, he laughs: “He’s still here,” he says in the third person. “He didn’t go anywhere. He’s still doing it.”
Message received.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
