Gucci

“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

“I’m a neighborhood philanthropist, I’m sellin bales of cannabis. Preachin like an evangelist, but I don’t f*** with amateurs.” ~ Gucci Mane [“St. Brick Intro,” The Return of the East Atlanta Santa]

First off, let’s get some basics straight. Radric Davis aka Guwop aka Mr. Zone 6 aka The East Atlanta Santa bka Gucci Mane can spit. Forget about the ice cream face tattoo, the reality-tv wedding show, the nonsensical illegalities and even the escaped murder charge. Gucci can rap his butt off.

In the South, particularly Georgia, Gucci is legend. Not a legend in the typical hip-hop way. Gucci does not have a distinct piece of work (i.e. Only Built for Cuban Linx or 400 Degreez) one can point to validate his lore. Hehas not forced individuals to question society and its structure like 2pac. His music has not crossed genres like Jay-Z. Gucci, rather, has served as an inspiration for his fanbase in the most unique way.

Gucci’s rap style can be best described as country chaos. He has a heavy Alabama meets Georgia accent. His bars, at times, flow and stick together like servings of molasses pouring from a mason jar. He has an admitted speech impediment that causes his rhymes to sound like mutters. He relies, heavily, on bar-interrupting ad-libs (i.e. “Burr,” “Wel-dam,” “GWOP,” etc.). He loves rhyming the same word with the same word. And on top of all of that…his subject matter is pretty much limited to trappin; spendin’ money on cars, women, and jewelry; stuntin’; and regulatin’ on his many haters and enemies.

And even with these abnormalities and limitations, I still contend Gucci is a damn good rapper. I present to you…

Exhibit A: “Posted at the Store”:

“Posted…” is the song that forced me to look at Gucci in a different way. While I had enjoyed Gucci Mane la Flare since his Black Tee/So Icy days, I saw him as a one-dimensional MC. A guy I can count on for some solid Trap Music bars and little else. But after hearing his verse on this song…I changed my stance. No diss to Yung Joc (it’s his song) or featured guest Yung Ralph, but Gucci slaughters this song beginning at 3:23.

“Well the cookie cutter cuts the butter, Studder like the Duh-Duh Man

I caught the baddest woman yet they say I’m drug laundering

Whether you’re smokin on a stem, or you’re smokin on a coke can

Still got your party packed, so gone and have your party man”

Those are the first FOUR BARS. And there is so much to digest. First the internal rhyming with cutter, cuts the, butter, Duh-Duh, and I’m-drug. Not only does he perform this effortlessly, but it also comes off NATURALLY. Gucci rolls these bars off like he’s really talking to someone outside of a storefront.

Next let’s discuss the imagery. Anyone can talk about selling drugs. Yet, he starts off with the tired—but made fresh—cooking metaphor for cooking crack. He then flips a reference to the late Bill Nun’s stuttering character in New Jack City (Duh Duh Man). He then uses ANOTHER metaphor explaining he is the one-top shop for your marijuana (stem) AND crack (coke can) vices. You still think Gucci can’t rap? Okay, maybe you’re still not sold. Check this out:

“Flat Shoals and Bouldercrest, so call me the Sun Valley Man

98 Caprice and it sounding like a marching band

See I’m packing just like Pakistan, got soldiers in Afghanistan

It’s Gucci Mane, the African and I’m a black Republican”

This is country braggadocio on steroids. First, he gives you some background of his local stomping grounds. The intersection of Flat Shoals and Bouldercrest roads is located in area of Southeast Atlanta called “Sun Valley.” After giving you a great simile to describe his car’s sound system, he informs you that his reach extends from East Atlanta all the way to the Middle East and Africa. All while giving you complex rhymes galore with Pakistan, Afghanistan, African, and Republican.

Okay, I’ve given you complex rhyme schemes, imagery, storytelling, but one of Gucci’s main talents is his ability to rhyme the beat. Listen to how perfectly Gucci rides the beat during these couple of bars:

“That’s my Alabama, Atlanta, ridin in my phantom purple

In my phantom purple, smoking green marij-uana”

Much props to the producer for stripping the drums for those two bars. Gucci doesn’t just ride a beat. He rides-slow-motion-in-his-98-Caprice-with-his-elbow-out-the-window to a beat. He makes a beat his.

Now…take everything I just told you and then digest this: Gucci freestyled that verse. Want proof? Check this out:

Dude is insane.

Now tell me that any regular rapper could do what this man just did. And this is only PART 1. If you’re still not a believer, wait patiently for Part 2 coming soon.

~W. Mack

Tag: Gucci

Hip-Hop CounterPoint: Gucci Mane can Rap, Part 2

Hip-Hop CounterPoint: Gucci Mane can Rap, Part 1