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.”
Classical
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, Gucci, Gucci, ah
Nothing's gonna stop my reign, ah, ah
Nothing's gonna stop my reign, ah, ah (go)
Hurdle my opponents, run through problems
Unstoppable, I jump over obstacles
Stop my grind like stop sunshine, so improbable
I say it two times, nigga, nigga, stop lying (nigga)
Bullshit you selling, I am just not buying (no)
Flow so nice, but the kid's not kind
Swear its sicker than a new flu they got called swine (ugh)
Staying on point like a unicorn, strapped with a uni-bomb
Everday's a workday, but don't wear uniform
Gucci Mane a dapper don, cap 'em like a Capricorn
Trapper man goin' on a money makin' marathon
You're a joker, I be robbin'
And the riddle is the Batman's throne
Try not to fuck my money up and rap career like Pacman Jones (damn)
Thumbprint me, fingerprint me
But can we agree to disagree?
I'm from East Atlanta 6 where the boys dump bricks
But we don't bump the Blueprint 3
Wanna box me just like Max B
But you can't fuck me like Raz-B
Like Ali, I'mma float like a butterfly
Sting like a bee 'cause its big Gucci, Gucci
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, Gucci, Gu-u-u-cci
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, Gucci, Gucci, ah
Nothing's gonna stop my reign, ah, ah
Nothing's gonna stop my reign, ah, ah (go)
Streets derailed me, but God didn't fail me
Opportunity knocked but it just emailed me
DA nailed me, watch them jail me
Take it like a champ while the whole world mail me
Young don't like me, Jay outsells me
Nothing in the world Kanye could tell me (no)
You can beat anyone but Gucci
Job so hard, I can hardly do it (yeah)
'Cause it's nothin' that I heard, it's the lead that moves me
Bet if you had the chance to you'd mute me
Convicted felon, my left wrist yelling
My stash, here you go and my bones done swellin'
Crazy, so I need prozac really
My home kept skep and my folks so eerie
So hardworkin' that my foes still weary
Fall in the club and the hoes start cheerin'
So hear me, hear me, I know y'all hear me
I don't like life too much, not really
High like Britney, stoned like Jimmy
Got a second chance like Vick in Philly (yeah)
This ain't snap music, this is trap music
New Boyz in Cali, yeah, they got a jerk movement
Brick Squad niggas, we rep the block
Gucci Mane, I work forks and pots (skkrrt)
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, Gucci, Gu-u-u-cci
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, Gucci, Gucci, ah
Nothing's gonna stop my reign, ah, ah
Nothing's gonna stop my reign, ah
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, Gucci, Gu-u-u-cci
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, Gucci, Gucci, ah
Nothing's gonna stop my reign, ah, ah
Nothing's gonna stop my reign, ah, ah
In this song, Gucci Mane talks about his unstoppable reign and how he overcomes obstacles in his path. He uses vivid imagery and powerful metaphors to express his determination and unyielding attitude towards his success. He starts with the line "Nothings gonna to stop my reign" - this is the chorus and the most repeated line in the song. He further elaborates his unstoppable energy by saying "Hurdle my opponents run through problems, Stoppable I jump over obstacles, Stop my grind like stop sunshine, So improbable probable mission impossible". These lines suggest his courage to overcome any obstacle in his way and a strong belief in his abilities that make him unstoppable.
He talks about the competition he faces and the challenges he has to go through to maintain his position in the industry. Gucci Mane asserts that he is the boss, and nobody can stop him. He paints a vivid picture of where he comes from and the kind of life he leads. He also takes a shot at the legal system, which has convicted him in the past, and asserts that he will overcome whatever is thrown at him.
Overall, Gucci Mane uses powerful lyrics to express his unstoppable nature and the confidence he has in his abilities. He is determined to maintain his position in the industry despite any obstacles he faces.
Line by Line Meaning
Gucci, Gucci
Repeats the artist's name
Nothings gonna to stop my reign
I am in control and unstoppable
Hurdle my opponents run through problems
I overcome obstacles in my way
Stoppable I jump over obstacles
I am unstoppable and can jump over any obstacle
Stop my grind like stop sunshine
It is impossible to stop my work ethic
So improbable probable mission impossible
What I am achieving seems impossible to some, but I make it happen
I said it two times nigga, nigga stop lying
I am emphasizing the point that I am making and calling out anyone who may be lying
Bullshit you sellin' now I'm just not buying
I do not believe what you are saying
Flow so nice but the kid's not kind
My flow is good, but I am not nice
Swear its sicker than a new flu they got called swine
My music is even sicker than the swine flu
Standing on point like a unicorn
I am focused and sharp like a mythical creature
Strapped with a uni-bomb
I am armed with something powerful and capable of destruction
Every day's a workday but don't wear uniform
I work hard every day, but I do not conform to societal norms
Gucci mane a dubadun
I am Gucci Mane, a reference to my nickname
Trouble like a Capricorn
I am capable of causing trouble, like a zodiac sign known for its mischievousness
Trapper month goin' on a money makin' marathon
I am hustling hard to make money constantly
You the jocker I be robin
You are the lesser part of a duo, and I am the stronger one, like Batman and Robin
And the riddle is the Batman's throne
I am like a riddle to you, and I hold power like Batman holds his throne
Try not to fuck my money up and rap career like Pacman Jones
I am cautious about anything that can jeopardize my financial stability or music career, like how Pacman Jones' off-field behavior damaged his football career
Thumb print me, finger print me
I am leaving evidence behind, but it won't affect me
But can we agree to disagree
We may have different opinions, and that's okay
I'm from east Atlanta 6 where the boys dump bricks
I am from a neighborhood in Atlanta known for drug trafficking
But we don't bump the blueprint 3
We don't listen to Jay-Z's album Blueprint 3 because it's not our style
Wanna box me jus' like Max B
People want to challenge me like they did to rapper Max B
But you cant fuck me like resh p
You cannot handle me like you think you can, like how it's impossible to win in a game of rock-paper-scissors if your opponent throws resh (scissors)
Like Ali I'm a float like a butterfly sting like a bee cause its big Gucci, Gucci!
I am a skilled fighter and can move around with ease, just like Muhammad Ali. I am big and powerful, like my name implies
Streets de-railed me
Growing up in my neighborhood impacted my life negatively
But God didn't fail me
Despite the challenges I've faced, I still have faith in God
Opportunity knocked but it just emailed me
I am not waiting for opportunities to come to me, I am making them happen through modern technology
D.A nailed me, watch them jail me
I have been arrested for my actions and am expecting to go to jail
Take it like a champ while the whole world mail me
I am accepting my fate without complaint, while the world watches and judges me
Young don't like me, jay outsells me
Young people do not appreciate my music, while Jay-Z is more successful than me
Nothing in the world Kanye couldn't tell me
Kanye West is someone I look up to, and I would listen to his advice
You can beat anyone but Gucci
No one can surpass me and what I bring to the table
Jaw so hard I can hardly do me
My life is difficult, so it's hard to focus on myself
Cause whatever that I heard use to let that
I used to let what I heard affect me, but I have learned not to do that anymore
Bet if you had the chance to you'd mute me
If you could, you would silence me and stop me from doing what I do best
Convicted felon my lil' friends jailin'
I have been convicted of a felony, and my friends are also in jail
My stash here you go and my bones done swellin'
I have money and my injuries have healed
Crazy so I need Prozac really
I am going through a tough time and need medication to help me cope
My home kept skep n' my folks so eary
My home is suspicious, and my family is always on edge
So hard workin' that my bones still weary
I work so hard that I am always tired and worn out
Fall in the club then the hoes start cheerin'
When I enter the club, women start cheering for me
So hear me, hear me, I know y'all hear me
I am making myself heard and I know people are listening
I don't like life to much not really
I am not a fan of the life I lead
High like Britney, stoned like Jimmy
I am under the influence of drugs and alcohol, like Britney Spears and Jimi Hendrix
Got a second chance like Vick in Philly
I have been given another chance to succeed, like football player Michael Vick when he played for the Philadelphia Eagles
This ain't snap music, this is trap music
My music is not a popular genre known as Snap music, it is Trap music that represents my upbringing
New boyz in Cali yea they got a jerk movement
A new group of artists in California are creating a new music movement called Jerk
Bricksquad niggas we rep the block
My crew and I represent our neighborhood
Gucci mane I will fuck the cops
I have a controversial attitude toward law enforcement, and I am not afraid to express it
Gucci, Gucci
Repeats the artist's name
Nothings gonna to stop my reign
I am in control and unstoppable
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Christopher James Gholson, Radric Delantic Davis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TheJesusChristOfficial
This is the greatest Classical song of All time.
@kingkevin442
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@Nbk_Bigo
One of the hardest album intros ever
@luisochoa2436
Easy top 5
@antwannefludd8931
Who still bumpin this fire in 2020!!!
@kingprince5780
Antwanne Fludd me
@timgunna6733
Always oms🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
@dbzfanart1
Me
@jamesangus1517
Who gives a fuck clown
@dbzfanart1
@James Hawk obviously you give a fuck lol