Yo Gotti parents were involved in an unlawful act to raise him; ‘I grew up in incarcerated family’

In an exclusive interview with The Clarion-Ledger, Yo Gotti discussed his upbringing and said that his whole family, including his parents, served in prison.

Stating ‘I grew up in a family that was incarcerated,’ he further elaborated, “My brother was in prison, my aunties served time in prison, my father served time in prison over and over again.” He also said that that’s the reason why he takes incarceration as a personal matter.

Growing up in such a background, it’s evident that Gotti has had a difficult upbringing. As stated, he had to bear the family’s responsibility, becoming the man of the house from the age of 14.

Around that age, Yo Gotti began his music career, releasing his first album, Youngsta’s On a Come Up, in 1996, and since then, he has never had to look back again. With each year passing, his career is only rising, amassing him $100 million in worth as of 2024, Forbes reports.

Sometimes back, on Mother’s Day, he gifted his mother Geraldine Jerri Mims one of the best restaurants in Memphis. Now, she operates the restaurant herself as the chef.

Key Takeaways

• Yo Gotti’s parents have done several unlawful acts in their past lives. His mom used to sell drugs, and his dad was imprisoned several times while he was growing up.
• Gotti began his music career at 14, and in his 40s, he is already a multi-millionaire.
• He gifted his mom Geraldine a restaurant in Memphis in which she is is now a owner and chef.
• Yo Gotti credits his dad for raising him like a hustler.

Once a drug seller, Yo Gotti’s mother, Geraldine Mims, is an operator of Prive Restaurant in Memphis

While shedding light on his upbringing with Forbes, Yo Gotti revealed that his mom, Geraldine, and her sisters used to sell drugs to bear everyday life expenses.

But now Geraldine owns one of the best restaurants, Prive, a soul food restaurant in Memphis, where she serves as the chef. Her son Gotti gave her the restaurant as a Mother’s Day gift.

As reviewed by the hungry black man, Prive is an incredible bar that serves dishes that honor the recipe of the Black American grandmother.

“Prive was an amazing experience from dining to their incredible bar. Oh, forgot about their off the chain bar. I even had the privilege of making Ms. Mims and Robin one of my cocktails. Can’t wait for our next visit in covering their dinner weekday menu.”

But back in 2023, the shooting occurred at Geraldine’s restaurant, Prive. In the incident, two people lost their lives, and another five got injured.

Though the restaurant owner was said to be devastated by what happened, Geraldine’s lawyer later released a statement saying, “On behalf of Prive, they’ve been in business for ten years, and nothing like this has ever happened at their establishment. It happened out in the parking lot, and it ended up in a shootout. Nothing happened inside the restaurant.”

Yo Gotti credits both his mom and dad for raising him like a hustler

The mini-documentary Born Hustler, which introduced Yo Gotti and his other family members, including his mom and aunt, shed light on how hustling changed their lives.

Further, in the documentary, his older brother Anthony talked highly of their mom Geraldine and said, “My mom real big, she real known in North Memphis. She like our John Gotti really, in our neighborhood. She supplied a lot of people in our apartments so it was like she had that respect.”

Well, of course, Gotti’s mom has always been the driving force of his life who raised him and his siblings at any cost.

But Yo Gotti also credits his dad, who is reportedly a gym instructor, raising him like a hustler. On March 19, 2018, he uploaded his picture with his son on Facebook and captioned it, “My Father Raised A Hustler, I’m Raising An Even BIGGER One 💯 #GenerationOfHustlers.”

Looking at this, it’s evident that Yo Gotti credited his parents for whatever he has achieved.

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