Moneybagg Yo caught up with Music R&B/hip-hop reporter Neena Rouhani ahead of the arrival of his upcoming 22-track album, Hard to Love. The Memphis rapper says that his project title is personal, considering he finds himself hard to love.

“At the end of the day to love me, you have to understand me,” he says.

The artist and entrepreneur, who has had his fair share of Music Hot 100 moments, also dished on his social media influencer era, supported by girlfriend Ari Fletcher. On TikTok, Moneybagg Yo boasts more than one million followers, with nearly 10 million views on a single vlog video. Other videos show his push-up form and stretch routine, with a fan commenting, “you betta eat love pray!”

“I’m a creative person,” he says. “I tapped into [TikTok] because they don’t know enough about me, but I also don’t want to give them all of me.” The 31-year-old even walked the Music team through his push-up form at the studio, although he pointed out that the practice push-ups didn’t count toward his daily goal.

Coming off of his last album, A Gangsta’s Pain, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Music 200 and 88 weeks total on the chart, Moneybagg Yo is feeling prepared for the next chapter. Although it was his ninth solo project, he says that many look at A Gangsta’s Pain as his first, since it was home to so many of his breakout hits, including “Wockesha,” “Time Today” and “Scorpio.”

“I just wanted to put something out there feeding the fans and it went somewhere else,” he says. “It’s bigger than life.”

Moneybagg Yo attributes the successes to his honesty and finger on the pulse of the culture. “I keep up with the culture and I ain’t afraid to say certain things,” he shared. When asked if Fletcher is OK with the things he raps about, Moneybagg Yo plainly noted, “She has to be — that’s what makes the money.”