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.”
Dollar Sign
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm so fucking paid I just bought the dollar sign
I'm so fucking paid I just bought the dollar sign
I'm so fucking paid I just bought the dollar sign
I just bought the dollar sign
I just bought the dollar sign
Please man call Obama I wanna buy the dollar sign
The dollar signs my logo and gucci's my clothing line
Put on that purple label polo and them hoes say damn he fine
Should be able to keep her so I keep her
Feed her treat her like a diva
My fetish in Costa Rica 'cause she know that I'm a cheater
What up the cost of living
I feel like a trillion bucks
Got beef with a million fuck niggas I don't give a fuck
On south beach where my house is
Any where on earth my turf but I'm so down south alligator couches
A public service announcement
Gucci so fucking paid pay 2 stacks just for a fade
Bitches surfing on my waves
[Chorus]
By the bar and I own the club
Can't own the bar 'cause I'm superstar
I'm so turned up cant turn me down
Blowing pounds that's higher than jupiter
I'm hot turning up Lucifer
At club crucial in a stoopid car
Every verse my flow gets stupider
My producer don't want to produce for ya
My bank account on steroids
My stash ain't got no room for it
New drop head paid cash for it
Ferrari 220 on the dashboard
Long rich nigga wait here his crash course
I pull up to the club in a fast porche
When I leave all the hoes give a sad voice
Got bills to pay and things to do
New hoes to screw and business moves
I'mma business man whats the business plan
Used to rip it in the band for the extra grand
I'm successful man hell yes I am
Dead fresh I am bought an extra lamb
And I don't never ask how much it cost
That's silly 'cause I don't really give a damn
[Chorus]
In the song "Dollar Sign" by Gucci Mane, the rapper boasts about his wealth and status. He repeats the phrase "I'm so fucking paid" throughout the song, implying that he has so much money and income that he can afford to purchase the dollar sign itself. This symbol represents his success and financial power. He compares himself to iconic figures such as Barack Obama and Columbine killers, suggesting that he is just as influential and notorious. He also mentions his fashion brand, Gucci, and how it contributes to his image and appeal to women. He uses profanity and derogatory terms to assert his dominance and disregard for his haters.
The chorus is repeated several times and emphasizes his wealth and the purchase of the dollar sign. He also name-drops locations and vehicles that demonstrate his upscale lifestyle. He mentions his producer and how other rappers cannot compare to his level of success. He acknowledges that he has responsibilities and obligations, such as paying bills and conducting business deals, but he also indulges in pleasure. His persona is confident and unapologetic, despite any criticism or opposition.
The theme of the song is materialism and opulence. Gucci Mane celebrates his riches and the luxuries that come with it. He portrays success as the ultimate achievement and goal. The lyrics may also reflect the rapper's past struggles with poverty and imprisonment, as he now has the means to acquire anything he desires. Gucci Mane's style and influence have made him a prominent figure in hip hop, and "Dollar Sign" is an example of his bold and extravagant personality.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm so fucking paid I just bought the dollar sign
I have so much money that I was able to purchase the symbol for currency, the dollar sign.
Please man call Obama I wanna buy the dollar sign
I have so much money that I can buy anything, including the dollar sign as a symbol of my wealth. I'm so rich that I'm asking someone to call the president to help me complete the transaction.
Just like first day of school my swag killed em like Colombine
I have a lot of swagger and style, which makes me both imposing and confident. I feel like I am standing out and making an impact with this style, just like when I first went to school. It is an analogy to make a point.
The dollar signs my logo and gucci's my clothing line
Money is a central theme in my brand, and I am taking ownership of that image. Gucci is my clothing line and my clothes are my main marketing tool.
Put on that purple label polo and them hoes say damn he fine
I have a signature style of wearing purple label polo, and women are attracted to me because of it.
Should be able to keep her so I keep her
I am able to keep women around me because of my wealth and charm.
Feed her treat her like a diva
I treat my women with luxury and extravagance.
My fetish in Costa Rica 'cause she know that I'm a cheater
I have a sexual fetish in Costa Rica, and a woman I am involved with is aware of this and stays with me even though I cheat on her.
What up the cost of living
I do not worry about the cost of living because I have so much money that I can afford to pay for anything I want.
I feel like a trillion bucks
I feel like I am worth a trillion dollars because of all the wealth and success I have acquired.
Got beef with a million fuck niggas I don't give a fuck
There are many people who dislike me or have issues with me, but I do not care about their opinions or feelings towards me.
On south beach where my house is
My home is located on South Beach, a luxurious and expensive area where many rich people reside.
Any where on earth my turf but I'm so down south alligator couches
I am successful and popular all over the world, but I am particularly comfortable and proud of my rootedness in the southern United States. I even have furniture made of alligator skin.
A public service announcement
I am making a public announcement to tell people that I am incredibly wealthy and successful, to the point where I can spend $2,000 on a haircut.
Gucci so fucking paid pay 2 stacks just for a fade
As a successful rapper and business owner, I am willing to spend $2,000 on a haircut because I can afford to do so.
Bitches surfing on my waves
Women are drawn to my wealth and success, and they want to be associated with me and enjoy the benefits that come with that.
By the bar and I own the club
I have so much money that I am able to own a nightclub and hang out there whenever I want, including by the bar area.
Can't own the bar 'cause I'm superstar
Despite the fact that I own the nightclub, I cannot serve drinks at the bar because I am too famous and popular among my fans.
I'm so turned up cant turn me down
I am incredibly energetic and full of life, and no one can stop me or bring me down from this state of mind.
Blowing pounds that's higher than jupiter
I am spending large amounts of money, much more than what is considered normal or expected, to live an extravagant and luxurious life.
I'm hot turning up Lucifer
I am in a state of high energy and excitement, to the point where I am compared to the devil himself.
At club crucial in a stoopid car
I am driving around in a ridiculous car and flaunting my wealth at a popular club called Crucial.
Every verse my flow gets stupider
I am a successful rapper, and with each new song or verse that I produce, I get even better and more popular.
My producer don't want to produce for ya
I am so successful and in demand that even my music producer is selective about who they will work with.
My bank account on steroids
My bank account is very large and filled with much more money than what is considered normal or expected. It is a metaphor to describe the enormity of my wealth.
My stash ain't got no room for it
I have so much money that I have run out of places to keep it, indicating the extent of my wealth.
New drop head paid cash for it
I bought a new luxury car, and I paid for it entirely in cash because I have so much money.
Ferrari 220 on the dashboard
I have a Ferrari with a speedometer that goes up to 220 miles per hour.
Long rich nigga wait here his crash course
Despite my wealth and success, I am still at risk of a sudden accident or setback that could hurt me financially.
I pull up to the club in a fast porche
I have a Porsche sports car that I drive to the club to show off my wealth and success.
When I leave all the hoes give a sad voice
When I leave the club, women who were attracted to my wealth and lifestyle are disappointed and sad that I am leaving.
Got bills to pay and things to do
Despite my wealth, I still have obligations and expenses that I need to take care of.
New hoes to screw and business moves
I am always attracting new women and making new business deals because of my wealth and success. It is a reference to the fact that women are drawn to my power.
I'mma business man whats the business plan
I am a successful rapper and businessman, and I am always looking for new opportunities to make money and expand my empire.
Used to rip it in the band for the extra grand
I used to be in a music group, and I would perform in local bands and groups to make some extra money.
I'm successful man hell yes I am
I am successful and wealthy, and I am proud of my achievements and accomplishments.
Dead fresh I am bought an extra lamb
I am always keeping up with the latest fashion trends and styles, and I bought an extra Lamborghini sports car because I have the money to do so.
And I don't never ask how much it cost
I am so wealthy that I do not even bother asking how much things cost because I know I can afford it.
That's silly 'cause I don't really give a damn
I do not care about how much things cost because I am so wealthy that the price is not a concern for me.
I just bought the dollar sign
This line is repeated from the chorus to emphasize the extent of my wealth and success, that I am so rich that I can purchase the symbol for money itself.
I'm so fucking paid I just bought the dollar sign
This line is repeated from the chorus to emphasize the extent of my wealth and success, that I am so rich that I can purchase the symbol for money itself.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Missing Link Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ARDEN ALTINO, LADONNIS CRUMP, RADRIC DAVIS, JERRY DUPLESSIS, JAYMS MADISON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind