It’s said that art mirrors life. In hip-hop’s case, there’s always been a deliberate entanglement of perception and reality. Fans demand their MCs be real…but never too real. Successful hip-hop is about the hint of the danger, the tease of it, the mystique. Hip-hop is about balance.
Gucci Mane is an artist striving for that balance, volatility versus musicality. Controversy, including a feud with former collaborator Young Jeezy, has grabbed the headlines, with insufficient regard paid to his considerable mic skills, raw talent, and business acumen. Gucci is looking to wrest his name from public speculation and let his own words do the talking.
“I wish everybody well who’s making money in this rap game,” the Atlanta-raised rapper says, dismissing the controversy that followed him in the past. “My own rap game is going so good, I’ve got so many things on my plate at my label, that I don’t got time for other people’s business.” With a deal with Asylum Records as the boss of his own label, So Icey Entertainment, Gucci does indeed have a full schedule with no time to dwell on the past.
“I live my life with no regrets. I just wish that a lot of things never happened, but anybody can wish,” says Gucci. Sounds like a man with his eyes on the prize. And you’d expect nothing less from an artist who ground his way to the top via the hustle of independent records. Signing to Big Cat Records in the wake of his local single “Black Tee,” he dropped his debut record, Trap House, in May 2005. The independent album moved an impressive 140,000 units, largely on the strength of the “Icy” single, featuring Jeezy. Clamor over song rights sparked dispute, and the resulting rift grew.
Controversy notwithstanding, Mane’s independence was cemented: “I was on the independent scene for about two years,” he recalls. “It’s crazy! You gotta go into your own pocket to support your craft. You need other avenues to have money coming in, to support your stuff. You might win, you might lose, and it’s a gamble out there with the independent circuit. One thing you’d better have is good music because without that, you go downhill fast in the independent game.”
Good music firmly in hand, Gucci was fast approaching stardom when more tragedy befell him. But let’s backtrack; how did the man born Radric Davis in Bessemer, Alabama, become Gucci Mane, mouthpiece for Atlanta stuntin’? Mane remembers little from his time in Alabama, just that it was rural, and that it’s changed dramatically since he left at the age of nine. “I gotta shout out Alabama though, because they holdin’ it down,” he affirms. “Every time I go there to do a show, I’m impressed with how hip-hop culture has taken root.”
Mane’s identity coalesced when he moved with his mother to Atlanta. “I lived all of my adolescent and adult life in Atlanta,” he explains. “I’m from East Atlanta Zone Six; it was hard, man, it was real rough. I grew up in the Starter jacket era: they’d take your Starter jacket, your 8Ball jacket, they’d take your hat, your shoes. It was just no holds barred on the streets, dog eat dog. If you missed the bus, you had to be crewed up or you’d get jumped. It was wild when I came up.”
It’s a bleak portrait. When asked to describe his home life more vividly, Mane offers a look into his contemplative side, a side honed as a schoolyard poet. “I was just a young dude in a single parent house most of my life. I can’t complain that much. I would guess it’s like any black child growing up in a single parent household. There are a lot of people who know how that is. I didn’t have a lot coming up; but what I did have, I appreciated. I was blessed to have a caring mother to raise me right and to help me with my business ventures; she’s been there through the whole struggle. There’s a lot that goes along with that; it made me who I am today.”
A stepfather would enter the picture during Mane’s adolescence, introducing not only a male figure, but also inspiration for Mane’s unusual moniker. “My father came in, the original Gucci Mane; that’s what people in the neighborhood called him, and that’s where I get my name from. From then on, I grew up the son of a hustler and a schoolteacher; it was the best of both worlds because I was educated twice.” Drawing inspiration from a pantheon of rappers before him –Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, the Beastie Boys, N.W.A—Mane went on to release Trap House, a lethal brew of his signature sound: “I call my music straight Gucci: going hard and whatever beats you make you for me, if I’m feeling it, if I’m rocking with it, I’m gonna crush it. When you hear me, you hear a lot of pain, a lot of hood; you hear what’s going on in the inner city in Atlanta.”
Unfortunately, Trap House was ill timed; the month of its release, Gucci was accused of murder and jailed for two days. Eventually deemed to be acting in self-defense, and without sufficient evidence to hold him, Mane was exonerated. But the ordeal left an indelible imprint on the man. “I learned to keep better company, watch where I go, and be mindful of my surroundings at all times,” he reveals. “Watch what I say, watch what I do and how I do it, just keep myself out of the wrong crowd.”
“I always stand up man,” he continues. “I’m one of the toughest guys I know. It’ll take a lot more than that to break me down.” Undeterred, Mane was back in the studio, preparing 2006’s eerily apropos Hard To Kill. The buzz from Hard To Kill vaulted Gucci Mane from regional commodity to national treasure, and major labels responded accordingly: “There was a bidding war going on, and I liked Atlantic’s approach. They made it known that they wanted me, they felt where I was going and that I could grow with them.”
Asylum/Atlantic Records welcomed Gucci Mane in early ’07, granting him his own imprint, So Icey Entertainment. With it comes an entire stable of artists, the So Icey Boyz. As the Boyz ready for their own exposure –“I got them in training; they be in the weight room, pumping iron, doing pushups, shopping at the mall, buying ice”—Gucci is focused on his magnum opus, Back to the Trap House. “I started working on the album, and by the third song, I was like ‘This is going back to the Trap House.’ I started feeling the same way I did when I made my first album. It had the same feel to it, the same freshness. And I had the same hunger and desire I had when I first started rapping.”
“Since I went major, I want everybody to know I’m still keeping it street, keeping it hood,” Gucci maintains. “I’m trying to take it back to all my fans that I had when I first started my career. And at the same time, I’m trying to open up my new album to a new fan base. So it’s a mix for everybody coming together, like my first album was.” Gucci has always prided himself on his innate ability, and his refusal to let guest appearances dictate the tone of his records. “I just want people to know I’m a great songwriter, man,” he asserts. “I’m passionate about what I do, and it’s choreographed strategically when I do it. I bring a lot of experience, creative wordplay, and a crazy style. And my albums, I record most of the songs without writing them down; it’s a God-given gift and I just get paid for it. It come from God, it’s like wondering what makes a bird fly. He made me a poet like the great poets of the past.”
But don’t mistake Gucci’s confidence for self-absorption. The vicissitudes of his career have dictated a longer view. Lyrics aside, he’s less preoccupied with visible means and more so with acting as an emissary from his under-repped block. “I’m not the one to glorify what goes on in the hood,” he insists. “We have everything there, the whole range from violence to people getting on the bus and going to work. There’s a lot more to the hood than just drugs. It’s a bigger story, there’s a big picture. I went to school in that neighborhood, I worked there, I trapped there, I hustled there, and I got my name there. I’m proud to be from East Atlanta Zone Six, and I claim there. I hold that on my back and carry that, to be the first one from there to really rock.”
And Gucci’s professional aims have matured as well. While other rappers stress platinum plaques, Gucci hasn’t forgotten the route he took to stardom. “I made a lot of CDs on my own. People fucked with me and supported me, and just made me the man I am today. That’s my blueprint right there, and I stay mindful of it. So now, my only concern is that people feel my music; at the end of the day, I do it for people to feel it. If one person feel it, two people feel it, I feel like my job’s been done.”
Fortunately for Gucci, he should be prepared to welcome an army of new fans with Back to the Trap House. But longstanding fans shouldn’t fear; they’ll recognize “Freaky Gurl,” reprised from its previous appearance from Hard To Kill. Luda, upon hearing the joint, asked for a guest spot on the remix. Said remix now appears as the lead single on Back to the Trap House, following in Gucci’s theme of mating old and new. Over a bouncing, meandering beat from Cyber Sapp, the two cook up the requisite concoction of whips, chips, and chicks. Also look out for “Bird Flu,” the album’s number two single, laced by New-York based Supa Sonics. Elsewhere, firm guest verses from Rich Boy and Pimp C of UGK round out Gucci’s regional flavor, while Bay-area producer Zaytoven (of “Icy” renown) locks down Gucci’s West Coast appeal.
Gucci Mane has something for everyone, and with the struggles of the past in his rearview, Gucci is settled in for his ride to the top. “I’m best known for controversy but I’m trying to gain respect as a songwriter and entertainer. I plan to hit them so hard with this album; who knows what the future will bring. I’ll be banging them out till I can’t bang no more.”
Bite Me
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Looked in the mirror, like I'm one rich ass nigga'
Brush my teeth with 100's, wipe my ass with these 50's
All about the Benji's, competition can't fuck with me
I woke up this morning, bussed down a swisher
I woke up this morning, bussed down a swisher
Looked in the mirror, like I'm one rich ass nigga'
Brush my teeth with 100's, wipe my ass with these 50's
Know these nigga's envy green bottle Remy fifty, in my semi
Waka Flocka Flame, I'm not friendly
I'm so motherfucking neighborhood, let's get that understood
I'm not crossing over, this ain't b-ball
Got partners behind the g-wall, 30 for a murder dog
So I gotta get it all, I pull up in a two door
Same color as some puddin'
Goddamn that car good lookin', driver good lookin'
Goddamn them rims good lookin'
I know you fuck nigga's don't like us but we don't give a fuck
Copy-Catters bite us, they swag suck
Know you bitch nigga's gone hate my guts, bite me
If you think I do re-write me, they say that imitation flattery, so bite me
I put the Tre-8 in your mouth, I make you like it
They say that mimicking is flattery, so bite me
I put the AK in your face, and I make you like me
No chit chat, hit me back
Gucci did this, Gucci Mane did that
If I did this and I didn't do that, why'd I do that, why'd I do that
Put a little of this, with a little of that
But ain't nothing little about that there, cat
Triple black, back to back
By myself, still back to back
Call me stacks, because I got them racks
Got them green bags, duffel bags, can't hold cash
Ceo, labled as, and it cost a price tag, but made me glad
I'm so jazz, I'm so class
I don't need no bronco to make me mad
Bitch ain't bad
Watch them chest and the mouth like a mad, got more bags in his stash
Oh my goodness, she sitting in pudding, feel like she shouldn't
Why she shouldn't, why mess with hundreds, ride 'round in Bentley's
I know the average block was poppalin'
Don't like me 'cause I'm fucking Icy
I know you fuck nigga's don't like us but we don't give a fuck
Copy-Catters bite us, they swag suck
Know you bitch nigga's gone hate my guts, bite me
If you think I do re-write me, they say that imitation flattery, so bite me
I put the Tre-8 in your mouth, I make you like it
They say that mimicking is flattery, so bite me
I put the AK in your face, and I make you like me
The lyrics of Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame's song "Bite Me" is about their unrelenting confidence and pride in their wealth and success. The song begins with Gucci Mane waking up in the morning, rolling a blunt with a Swisher Sweet cigar with the intent to smoke his worries away. Gucci looks in the mirror and sees a rich and successful Black man. He plays with the common phrase, "I woke up like this" to show that this is his everyday reality. He then goes on to describe how he uses money to replace otherwise ordinary items, like brushing his teeth with \$100 dollar bills and wiping his butt with \$50 bills. For Gucci Mane, it's all about the money, and he feels like no competition can touch him.
Waka Flocka's verse talks more about his gangster lifestyle and his reputation within his community. He boasts of having a gun with Remy Martin, a type of cognac, and warns others not to cross him. Waka Flocka claims that he is not changing who he is for anyone and that he is sticking to his roots. He is a real neighborhood guy, and he has partners behind the g-wall, who are willing to do whatever it takes to protect him. He then goes on to describe his car, which is the same color as pudding, and how good it looks. Moreover, he addresses haters within the music industry, who are trying to steal his swag or style. Waka Flocka tells them to bite him as a way of saying they cannot imitate or get to him.
Overall, the lyrics reflect the rappers' pride in their wealth, success, lifestyles, and reputation. They are not apologetic about their confidence, and they feel like they have earned everything through their hard work and dedication.
Line by Line Meaning
I woke up this morning, bussed down a swisher
I woke up and rolled a cheap cigar.
Looked in the mirror, like I'm one rich ass nigga'
I admired myself in the mirror and felt rich.
Brush my teeth with 100's, wipe my ass with these 50's
I use my money to brush my teeth and wipe my ass.
All about the Benji's, competition can't fuck with me
I'm all about making money and I'm untouchable by my competition.
Know these nigga's envy green bottle Remy fifty, in my semi
Others are jealous of my success, as I carry around expensive liquor in my car.
Waka Flocka Flame, I'm not friendly
I, Waka Flocka Flame, am not a friendly person.
I'm so motherfucking neighborhood, let's get that understood
I'm very connected to my neighborhood and want others to know that.
I'm not crossing over, this ain't b-ball
I'm not switching to a different style or genre of music like some may switch sports.
Got partners behind the g-wall, 30 for a murder dog
I have criminal associates who I can rely on for assistance and charge a high price for their services.
I know you fuck nigga's don't like us but we don't give a fuck
I'm aware that people don't like us, but we don't care.
Copy-Catters bite us, they swag suck
Those who try to copy us are not as good and have bad fashion sense.
Know you bitch nigga's gone hate my guts, bite me
I know some people hate me, but I don't care.
If you think I do re-write me, they say that imitation flattery, so bite me
If you think I need to change who I am, it's actually a compliment that you want to imitate me. But still, I don't care.
I put the Tre-8 in your mouth, I make you like it
I'll force you to like me with a gun in your mouth.
They say that mimicking is flattery, so bite me
Imitating me is a form of flattery, so keep doing it.
I put the AK in your face, and I make you like me
I'll make you like me by threatening you with an AK-47.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Juaquin Malphurs, Radric Davis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bobloblawlablabla
Good god, I can't believe it's been 11 years since this came out.
When I hear this, so much nostalgia and so many good memories come to mind 😁
@dantejackson2214
That's crazy I just saw yo comment before I posted I'm sitting here thinking the same thing
@bobloblawlablabla
@Dante Jackson I know bro, crazy how time flies
@clevelandkidd9255
This make me wanna do some corn ball shit and let the youngins know wassup but I gotta get them benjis fuck the competition 🤣
@KdubTraX
its a shame gucci and flocka dont make songs together no more smh.. these was the good old days.. still fans of both
@areannamitchell1851
Still will forever be on my playlist any year 😂❤🤷🏾♀️💯
@ronaldmcdonaldjunior6616
Swear to Jesus this song is so timeless
@rodjones7448
2020 and this still go hard!!!! 💯
@davonwest3853
2022 shit still banginn
@theexplorechanneluk7934
Just started