“Stick shift, M-6. B**** this a stock tip. Smoking in the cockpit. My top do a backflip. My rims do a front flip. My sports car’s a hot whip. Your girl saw my droptop, the b**** did a dropkick.” ~ Gucci Mane [“Good Money” BrrrRussia]
Welcome to Part II of my breakdown of the genius of Gucci Mane la Flare. For Part I, please visit here.
Talking sh*t is an art and a science. And the best emcees and rappers are masters of it.
Big Daddy Kane boasted “That if I fart on a record, trust me n**** it’ll sound good.” Big Boi stated that when he rhymed “you better wear a sweater cause I’m cooler than a polar bear’s toe nails.” Confidence is a required tool if you want respect on the mic.
Which brings us back to Gucci Mane. If you were a kid like me, you enjoyed going to the high school basketball games. No, I played zero sports. I am admittedly athletically challenged. But I enjoyed the games for the social aspect. And at every high school game there was THAT guy. The guy that…. maybe…. graduated a year or so ago. Nobody “knows” how he makes his money, but he shows up to every home game FRESH with the latest Jordans, a flashy outfit, and a new lady on his arm. And he’s there to be seen AND heard. He’s talking sh** from the stands the WHOLE game. He’s crackin’ on the other team’s players, fans, cheerleaders, everybody. He’ll crack on you if your shoes aren’t clean. And no one is trying to stop him…because he is hilarious. It’s who he is. It’s his role at the event. That’s Gucci Mane.
To assist with my analysis, I point you to the song “Atlanta Zoo” featuring Ludacris from the Burrprint 2 HD album. Check out the video and then continue reading for analysis.
“I’m obnoxious! I’m flowing crazy, I need to stop this
Don’t knock this, you n*****s lazy, y’all need to watch this
Preposterous If you can fathom how you can block this
My Phantom was seen on Candler, you ride the transit”
Gucci sets the tone, four bars in. He wants his competition to know they’re not seeing him lyrically or financially. He’s confident enough to ride his $300K car through Eastside Atlanta while your broke butt is on the bus.
“No options you n****s can’t act like y’all forgot this
I’m tired, but switch ya flow up it’s so monotonous
My metropolis, I’ll drop a 12 on ya so colossus!
My swag plus my drop top yellow jag why they gossip”
By now, you should be peeping his flow. It’s chaotically awkward, yet he is in supreme control. You can actually picture him bouncing while he’s delivering his lines in the booth. He’s having fun with this one. But he’s not just saying things to be saying them. The “my metropolis” he’s speaking of is Atlanta. This is a call-out to the other trap rappers in the A, namely TIP and Jeezy. He says they need to diversify their flows and that he will not be disregarded despite their national renown. He’s a juggernaut as well.
“I’m the n**** upload your twitter; b**** I’m the topic
Professin’ but Gucci didn’t graduate from college
Your girlfriend says my ear rings are erotic
My lambo doors open upward; they’re robotic… it’s Gucci!!!!”
He ends his verse with some crafty references to Twitter and his Lamborghini doors. A fun, bouncy verse, yes. It’s definitely a song to rattle your trunk but also peep that he kept the same approximate rhyme going for that whole 12-bar “colossus.” This guy kept this stanza going by rhyming stop this, watch this, monotonous, colossus, topic, college, and robotic. That’s nuts.
He kicks it up another notch to begin the second verse:
“Drop beam, offset things, color ice cream
White dreams, she can f*ck me that’s a pipe dream
X-O, poppin’ x-pills so exciting
My ex chicks, ex homeboys uninvited”
Yeah Gucci isn’t slowing down. He added more emphasis to his flow in the first four bars. All while continuing his mastery of approximate rhyme with ice cream, white dream, pipe dream, exciting, and uninvited.
“Cases of ace of spade b***h getcha wasted
The waitress I made her reload it like the matrix
I lean laid with a bad b***h black n’ Asian
On 20 headed to Buckhead I’m racing Baby
But take that fake jewelry off, that sh*t is fugazy
You think that you’re hotter than the kid you’re mistaken
Real and you n****s really, really good at fakin’
For trill, I’m a keep it real I’m back to the basics, GUCCCCCI!”
He ends his verse with more talk about partying, cars, women, and jewelry. Yes, all very standard topics of mainstream and trap rap music. But, with Gucci, just like your favorite roaster, it’s often not WHAT he says. It’s HOW he says it. Just like classic Kane Big Boi, LL or Jay-Z he performs every line with confidence and flair. And few have confidence and flair comparable to Gucci.
If I haven’t made you a believer in Gucci yet, be prepared. I’m saving the best for last. In Part 3, I tackle Gucci’s most infamous/famous hit song, “Lemonade.”
~W. Mack
williemack.blog 