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Yo Gotti was slammed with a $6.6 million judgment after taking an initial $20,000 payout for a feature for a North Carolina artist and then allegedly attempting to pull the artist away from his management team for $150,000. After not signing a release to allow Young Fletcher to release the collaboration on his own, a judge has found Gotti’s actions heinous enough to triple an initial $2.2 million judgment.
Local outlet Winston-Salem Journal reports:
In a written order, Judge Todd Burke found that Mario Mims, who performs as Yo Gotti, engaged in “unfair and deceptive trade practices” in getting Michael Terry to pay him $20,000 for the verse on a song by Terry’s artist, Lamont Fletcher, who is known as Young Fletcher. Burke found that the actual damages were $2.2 million and tripled that amount to $6.6 million based on the finding that Yo Gotti engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices.
Memphis-born Yo Gotti, 38, has been putting out music since the 1990s and his latest project, “I Still Am,” was released in 2017. He is preparing for the release of his next album, “Trapped,” and has been on tour.
Burke presided over a nonjury trial Tuesday morning in Forsyth Superior Court. Yo Gotti did not attend the hearing and he and his company, Collective Music Group (also known as Cocaine Muzik Group) did not send any attorneys for the hearing. Yo Gotti and his company have not answered the lawsuit. Yo Gotti is signed under Epic Records. A representative of that company did not respond to an email message seeking comment.
A victorious Terry has said that he isn’t done dealing with Yo Gotti financially, and says he’s going after the rapper’s cars and Bel-Air mansion to settle the debt if needed.
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