The Moneybagg Yo we know now isn’t the same one we met on projects like All Gas No Breaks or the Federal series. Before he penned a deal with CMG, he was already a household name among hustlers and trappers. In the past three and a half years alone, he’s reaped the benefits from his relentless hustle of high-quality mixtapes. Bagg has nabbed a #1 album on the Billboard 200 and secured several RIAA certifications, many of which have been the result of the grip he has every summer. His latest album, Speak Now, produced the Morgan Wallen-assisted country-rap banger, “Whiskey Whiskey,” which recently made it to Obama’s Summer Playlist 2024.
“I was like, ‘Damn, Barack.’ Like, he’s listening? That was a good feeling, but it was a shocking one,” Moneybagg Yo tells HotNewHipHop over Zoom. “You don't think when you’re putting these songs together and you putting this stuff out that it’s going to reach and do what it do.”
However, Moneybagg Yo’s relentless hustle throughout his career has positioned him in such a way as to land on Obama’s playlist and have a sit-down with Denzel Washington. Today, he releases the deluxe edition of his latest album titled, Speak Now Or. It’s the bridge between the June album and his forthcoming follow-up, Forever Hold Your Peace, which he said will be out before the year’s end. He explains that the key to his prolific output relates back to his conversation with Denzel Washington who told him, “With me, you gotta know how to be Shakespeare, and you gotta know how to be the man in Training Day. You gotta know how to do both of them. That’s what made me different.”
“Every project should just be viewed and looked at like a movie,” Moneybagg Yo explains. “Like, all right, what can we expect from him in this movie? Like, the actor good. We know he plays good roles, and he do his thing when the camera's on. But, what is this about that's different from last time? Like, Malcolm X and Training Day are two different things, but it's the same great actor, you know what I'm saying? So basically, that's how I'm taking the approach with just Speak Now, Speak Now Or, and Forever Hold Your Peace. It's just like you get a different movie every time.”
We recently caught up with Moneybagg yo to discuss his latest project, his immeasurable influence, and working alongside Morgan Wallen.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
HotNewHipHop: The last time, we spoke was around the time “Hard For The Next” came out and you released A Gangsta’s Pain shortly after. You’ve had a productive few years since then. What’s been the biggest difference in your life between that album coming out and now?
Moneybagg Yo: When I dropped A Gangsta’s Pain, I set the standard so high, you got to always be able to fill those shoes up when people expect you to fill them shoes over and over again. It’s just really me vs. me. I’m in a me vs. me type of situation. I’m battling me. So, that’s what I’m doing, just trying to be better than my last.
How’d you feel about the reception of Speak Now, especially after having the summer pass and still dominating?
It's cool, you know? I feel like I could do better, you know what I'm saying? But I feel like, it's just a different movie of me. It's just a different thing. Like, A Gangsta’s Pain was one thing, Hard To Love was a moment. and then, Speak Now. Even with these eight, or nine songs that I'm about to add to the deluxe, this is even different. It really could have probably been its own tape but it makes more sense to attach it to Speak Now, you know what I’m saying? Then, even the next project, Forever Hold Your Peace. The next body of work, it’s a whole other Moneybagg. You don't get the same thing every time. That’s how you get bored.
On a creative level, what’s been fulfilling you creatively? What’s been impressing you when you step out of the booth?
The Forever Hold Your Peace project, I’m impressed with that. Like, how it’s coming out, how everybody is like hearing it, listening to it. They taking a liking to it, and just really happy for me and excited for the body of work. That’s a good thing.
I think I heard you say that it’s going to be more melodic. Is that accurate?
Yeah, it’s just a whole melodic bag. You know, you probably heard a lot–well, I know you heard a lot of melodic songs from me. Songs like “Wockesha,” “Scorpio”–that type of vibe. A lot of just different ways that you can think that I probably came like that, but that's the tone.
It’s a sequel to Speak Now, right?
Yeah, it's just like a sequel. Everything ties in. Like. this right here that I'm going to drop is Speak Now Or. Like, the deluxe is like Or, you know what I’m saying? It’s like Or then Forever Hold Your Peace. We’ll drop that in another couple of weeks, a couple of months or however it might go. Whenever it’s ready, and then, that’s that. And that’s the whole attachment.
How far along are you with Forever Hold Your Peace?
Probably like 75-80% done.
I imagine we’ll probably get a single from this before the end of the year or sometime in the next few months.
Yeah, you’ll get the whole thing before that.
I was reading your interview with Billboard a few months ago where you were discussing when you met Denzel. You recalled him telling you, “With me, you gotta know how to be Shakespeare, and you gotta know how to be the man in Training Day. You gotta know how to do both of them. That’s what made me different.” I want to know, how do you think this quote applies to your approach to music?
I feel like I took that like, basically what I was telling you. You have to be like, just a different character every time. Every project should just be viewed and looked at like a movie. It should just be really looked at like a movie. Like, all right, what can we expect from him in this movie? Like, the actor good. We know he plays good roles, and he do his thing when the camera's on. But, what is this about that's different from last time? Like, Malcolm X and Training Day are two different things, but it's the same great actor, you know what I'm saying? So basically, that's how I'm taking the approach with just Speak Now, Speak Now Or, and Forever Hold Your Peace. It's just like you get a different movie every time.
Some people were feeling like Speak Now was a bit commercial or something. So Speak Now Or, they get this, I guarantee you, they ain't gonna say that. This is strictly street records, energy, street records. And then you got Forever Hold Your Peace, it’s just melodic. It's more of a vibe. It's the “woo the ladies” in and talk like it's good with that.
In that same interview, you mentioned how you don’t feel like you have much to prove because you’ve accomplished so much. Are you able to identify your influence in music and in culture at large these days?
Yep. The largest. Really, basically, to where it’s the largest. I feel like everytime I do something, people gravitate and bite onto it. Like, I'm not a person that like is meant to follow. I'm meant to lead. Every time I do something where I take the lead or take the initiative, I set the trend like that. Once I do it, everybody else does it or they try to act like they ain’t do it and then, do it [laughs]. Or try to like, see me halfway doing it and try to finesse it all the way to the T. Now, when I‘m coming me down there, I almost look like–once I finish what I'm doing, it damn-near look like they seen it before because he did it.
That's another thing too, like I don’t like posting everything before it's done. I like posting the finished product. Then I show you the behind-the-scenes of it, how I did it, instead of the other way around. Like, showing you the behind-the-scenes first, and then “this coming” and then I put it out. Because when you do that, you just opening up doors for people to be like, “Oh, he's doing it. Let me do this. But I'm gonna put a twist on it. I'm gonna do it like this, this new wave. This gotta be it.”
They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Do you feel like people are giving you your flowers when they’re biting your style?
No, not really. They don’t pay homage all the time. They need to.
You’ve been an advocate for a lot of the women in the South who are crushing it in rap right now, even with your collabs with GloRilla. How do you think the women in the South complement what you bring to hip-hop? Obviously, it’s a different perspective but they bring that energy.
Yeah, I like what all the women doing right now. I like what all the women doing. I'm excited for them, I'm happy for them. It's like a handful of them that I rock with. too. Another thing is I feel like we resonate well, the chemistry is good because of the substance and topics and like, how I come. How I come, I feel like this is just a versatility thing. Like I can do anything, you know what I’m saying? If it's a song with a girl, I can do it. Like, if it’s a song with guys, I can do it. If it's me singing like melodic, I can do it. Whatever it is, I feel like I can adjust to it whatever the case may be.
No, for sure. “Whiskey, Whiskey” is probably one of the more surprising songs that you’ve released. It just landed on Obama’s summer playlist. Can you just describe to me where you were when you first received that news, and what was your reaction to it?
I seen that yesterday. I was like, “Damn, Barack.” Like, he’s listening? That was a good feeling, but it was a shocking one. You don't think when you’re putting these songs together and you putting this stuff out that its going to reach and do what it do. You don't think that–some people do, though. Some people go in with that. I ain't saying I ain't confident, but some people go in with all the confidence. But my thing is with music today, you don't never know. Like, you don't know what's gonna be this and be that, so it's hard to say. So I just kind of like, let it do it.
Have any singles surprised you with how successful they became?
Yeah, all of them except for “Wockesha.” I kind of knew that one was like–I was so passionate about the song, I kind of knew that song was going to be like, something special in some kind of way.
You’ve previously teased a country project with Morgan Wallen. How much progress has been made with that? If there has been any.
No, no, it just was an idea, a thought. Like, something that could happen.
Has he been receptive to the idea?
Yeah, he’s with whatever. Like, I'm one of his favorite artists.
I know it’s a bit of old news but you did some work with Kanye West a couple of years ago. What the biggest takeaway from being in the studio with him?
It was a good experience for me. I learned a lot and just saw how to do things, saw how stuff went, and just soaked up the game, and applied it to my situation. So shout out to Kanye. Unfortunately, what we did didn't get used. But I understand like, as an artist, I understand it could be like that sometimes.
What was one thing that you learned from that session and started applying to your own sessions?
Just how to be creative. How to be creative with the songs, and start just making everything make sense. Like, starting from scratch, building the beats up. Already have the ideas on some of them and making the beats around them. Just different stuff.
I was recently watching Mannie Fresh explain how in the early days of Cash Money, they would take catchphrases and turn those into songs. I’ve noticed you have a similar approach to taking certain words or phrases and flipping them into hit records. How did Cash Money inspire your songwriting in that aspect? If they did at all.
I didn't even know that they looked at it like that or they were doing it like that. To be honest, when I do it I just do it because–it's gonna look like that, so it gonna be hard. But it's just like, it's a moment. I just feel like it's just a moment in life to where it's like, this is what's going on right now. This is what I'm literally experiencing. I'm going through this or like, I'm dealing with this. It all circles back to like that term or that phrase, or whatever the case may be.
So I just feel like, use it. It makes sense, and that's what's going on in the world. So that's more the more the key things is like, you gotta be relatable. That's the only way your music is gonna get off. If they can't relate to it, how they gonna play it? [laughs]
You’ve established yourself as a highly successful business person. On a business level, what would you like to tackle outside of music?
I’m doing clothing right now. I got my Loaf Brand clothing. So, that’s in the process right now.
That’s high-end streetwear, right?
Yeah.
Any last words for the HotNewHipHop audience?
Stay tuned. I got a lot in store for you. A lot, a lot, a whole lot of stuff in store for you. Stay locked in. Follow me, I won’t misguide you.
