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.”
Dope Boys
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All I Need Is One Mic All I Need Is One Stove
Homie Got A Nice Flow But Gucci Got That White Coke
You Ain't Gettin The Right Dope, You Knockin On The Wrong Door
Last Nigga Tried Me Let's Just Callem John Doe
And Since You Short A Dime Homie Then Park Me A Old School
I Fronted You, You Ran Off That's Not What You're Supposed To Do
I'm Gettin My Tip Fade Cut Pour The Chris And Flat Show
Yeaaaaa
Gucci Mans A Live Wire
Try Me Like I'm Yung Berg And Imma Make Yo Eyes Cry
Gucci Like To Drank And Gucci Like To Smoke
And Gucci On A Rise While Ya'll Niggas Goin Broke
Gucci! Gucci Mans A G, Tell Me Sumthin I Don't Know
I Got Court In Early Mornin I Don't Really Wanna Go
I Do This For The People Cause I'm My Brothers Keeper
I Don't Fear You Cause I'm Parrapalegic, Wheres My Parralegal
Chorus
See That House Right There Yea Make A Lot A Money
Whos That Knockin At The Door
Probably A Couple Junkies
That Coupe Ova There Yea Cost A Couple Hundreds
See My Neighborhood Is Buckin Tell My Plug To Keep It Comin
Dopeboys, Dopeboys With The Dopeboys X2
What You Wanna Get Homie Hurry Up And Buy It
Dopeboys don't Die Homie We Just Multiply
Verse 2
I'm In My M6 Beemer
This Is No 645
Like A Pigeon In The Sky, I Just Shitted On Your Ride
So Much Weight Off In My House, You Would Think It Was A Gym
Plus My Nikes Match My Necklace And My Necklace Match My Rims
I Got Court In Early Mornin I Don't Really Wana Go
Say I Violated Probation Just Because I Blew My Nose
Blew 300 On My Rolce
200 More On The Lamb
Million Dollars On The Crib
Car Note, Don't Know What That Is
Gucci, You Don't Know Who That Is
Mama That's Just Gucci Man That's My Boy That's My Partna
I'm Gucci Man Biggest Fan
Plus She Don't Know What That Is
I'm With That I Don't Give A Damn
If You Think I Give A Fuck You Must Do Not Know Who I am, Gucci
Chorus
Verse 3
Mirror Mirror Mirror
Whos The Realest In The Game
Why You Ask That Stupid Question
Boy You Know That's Gucci Mane
East Atlanta 6
You Know How We Roll
I Just Bought Anotha Chevy Got It Right Back Out The Bowl
Tall Stacks Up In My Closet I Can't Even See My Clothes
And My Belly Get So Big I Can Hardly See My Toes
Got A Car In My Garage I Have Never Ever Drove
It's A Door Black On Black Phantom I Call That Bitch Dorrough
If She Going To The Ladies Room I Guess I'll Let Her Know
I Got Powder In My Living Room, So She Don't Have To Stroll
A Year Ago Today, I Was Sitting In My Cell
Where You See Yoself In 5 Years
A So Icey Billionare
Gucci
Chorus
In Gucci Mane's song "Dope Boys", the Atlanta rapper talks about the life of a drug dealer. The opening line, "All I need is one mic, all I need is one stove" sets the tone for the rest of the song. Gucci Mane is boasting about his drug-dealing skills and success in the dope game.
Throughout the song, he raps about his competition's inferior quality of drugs, their lack of success, and the consequences of crossing him. He uses metaphors to describe his wealth and power, such as "So much weight off in my house, you would think it was a gym" and "My belly get so big I can hardly see my toes."
The chorus emphasizes the profitable nature of drug dealing and the constant need to keep the supply coming. Gucci Mane's confidence exudes in the verses, he raps about his legal troubles and the amount of money he is making despite them. He mentions his mother's lack of knowledge about his lifestyle but says he does not care what anyone thinks about him.
Overall, "Dope Boys" is a typical drug-dealer anthem with Gucci Mane's signature style of flow and braggadocio. He doesn't shy away from the realities of his lifestyle but rather glorifies it.
Line by Line Meaning
All I Need Is One Mic All I Need Is One Stove
Gucci Mane only needs a microphone and a stove to succeed in his music and drug dealing careers.
Homie Got A Nice Flow But Gucci Got That White Coke
Although his friend is talented in rapping, Gucci is better at producing high-quality cocaine.
You Ain't Gettin The Right Dope, You Knockin On The Wrong Door
If you're not getting the quality of drugs you're looking for, it means you're at the wrong house.
Last Nigga Tried Me Let's Just Callem John Doe
If someone tries to cross Gucci, they might end up dead and unidentified.
And Since You Short A Dime Homie Then Park Me A Old School
If you owe him money, Gucci suggests you leave a classic car as collateral until you can pay him back.
I Fronted You, You Ran Off That's Not What You're Supposed To Do
If Gucci gave you drugs and you ran away without paying him back, you're breaking an unwritten rule of the streets.
I'm Gettin My Tip Fade Cut Pour The Chris And Flat Show
Gucci is getting a new haircut and preparing for a party with expensive champagne.
Wish A Nigga Would Run Up On Me Like I'm Bristol
Gucci is ready to fight anyone who tries to mess around with him, like the Bristol Palin incident.
Gucci Mans A Live Wire
Gucci is a restless, unpredictable person.
Try Me Like I'm Yung Berg And Imma Make Yo Eyes Cry
If someone tries to challenge Gucci, he'll make them regret it and probably hurt them badly.
Gucci Like To Drank And Gucci Like To Smoke
Gucci enjoys consuming alcohol and drugs regularly.
And Gucci On A Rise While Ya'll Niggas Goin Broke
While others are struggling financially, Gucci is continuing to accumulate wealth and power.
Gucci! Gucci Mans A G, Tell Me Sumthin I Don't Know
Gucci is a respected figure in his community and has a lot of knowledge and experience in street life.
I Got Court In Early Mornin I Don't Really Wanna Go
Gucci is not looking forward to his upcoming court appearance.
I Do This For The People Cause I'm My Brothers Keeper
Gucci feels a sense of responsibility for his community and wants to help them succeed.
I Don't Fear You Cause I'm Parrapalegic, Wheres My Parralegal
Gucci is not scared of anyone because he is a tough and resilient person. He also needs a lawyer to represent him in court.
See That House Right There Yea Make A Lot A Money
Gucci is pointing to a rich person's house that he is going to rob.
Whos That Knockin At The Door Probably A Couple Junkies
The people knocking at the door are probably drug addicts looking to buy more drugs from Gucci.
That Coupe Ova There Yea Cost A Couple Hundreds
Gucci is admiring an expensive car that he wants to own one day.
Dopeboys, Dopeboys With The Dopeboys X2
Gucci is surrounded by fellow drug dealers who are all making money together.
What You Wanna Get Homie Hurry Up And Buy It
Gucci is urging his customers to hurry up and purchase drugs from him before he runs out.
Dopeboys don't Die Homie We Just Multiply
Drug dealers continue to make more money and recruit more people despite the dangers of the business.
I'm In My M6 Beemer This Is No 645
Gucci is driving a fancy BMW sports car and correcting anyone who mistakes it for a cheaper model.
Like A Pigeon In The Sky, I Just Shitted On Your Ride
Gucci is insulting someone's car by saying that a bird pooped on it because it's not as nice as his own car.
So Much Weight Off In My House, You Would Think It Was A Gym
Gucci has a lot of cocaine and other drugs in his house, and it feels like a gym because he's lifting and moving so much weight.
Plus My Nikes Match My Necklace And My Necklace Match My Rims
Gucci's fashion sense is impressive and he coordinates all aspects of his outfit, from his shoes to his jewelry to his car rims.
Say I Violated Probation Just Because I Blew My Nose
Gucci is frustrated that he is being accused of violating his probation for something harmless like blowing his nose.
Blew 300 On My Rolce, 200 More On The Lamb
Gucci spent a lot of money on luxury cars.
Million Dollars On The Crib, Car Note, Don't Know What That Is
Gucci has a million-dollar house but doesn't worry about paying off his car loan because he has so much wealth.
Gucci, You Don't Know Who That Is
Someone is surprised that they don't recognize Gucci's name or reputation.
Mama That's Just Gucci Man That's My Boy That's My Partna
Gucci's mother is proud of him and considers him a good friend.
I'm Gucci Man Biggest Fan, Plus She Don't Know What That Is
Gucci's mother is supporting him even though she doesn't really understand his lifestyle or music career.
If You Think I Give A Fuck You Must Do Not Know Who I am, Gucci
Gucci doesn't care about negative opinions or threats because of his confidence and power in his community.
Mirror Mirror Mirror Whos The Realest In The Game
Gucci is acknowledging his own success and influence in the music industry.
Why You Ask That Stupid Question Boy You Know That's Gucci Mane
Gucci is annoyed that someone would question his status in the game when it's so obvious who he is.
East Atlanta 6 You Know How We Roll
Gucci is proud of his neighborhood and their shared way of life.
I Just Bought Anotha Chevy Got It Right Back Out The Bowl
Gucci is so wealthy that he can buy a new Chevy car and sell it immediately for profit.
Tall Stacks Up In My Closet I Can't Even See My Clothes
Gucci has so many stacks of money in his closet that he can't even find his clothing.
And My Belly Get So Big I Can Hardly See My Toes
Gucci is getting overweight and unhealthy because of his luxurious lifestyle.
Got A Car In My Garage I Have Never Ever Drove
Gucci has so many expensive cars that he hasn't even driven them all.
It's A Door Black On Black Phantom I Call That Bitch Dorrough
Gucci names his favorite car after the rapper Dorrough because they both represent luxury and success.
If She Going To The Ladies Room I Guess I'll Let Her Know
Even though he has drugs in his living room, Gucci is hospitable and offers to show a woman where the bathroom is.
I Got Powder In My Living Room, So She Don't Have To Stroll
Women don't have to leave his house to find cocaine because Gucci has it readily available in his living room.
A Year Ago Today, I Was Sitting In My Cell
Gucci is reflecting on how much his life has changed since he was in jail.
Where You See Yoself In 5 Years A So Icey Billionare
Gucci is confident that he will continue to be successful and wealthy in the future.
Contributed by Riley O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Connor V
Still feel like this gotta be one of Guccis best songs. Its got everything I love about him in this one song the Great flows, Funny ass lines, raw lyrics, sick instrumental, the DJ hype and tags, and the extravagant cover art. Gucci the GOAT
Kiyn Team
2020 still my shitt. imma be old n gray still banging this 😭
Michael
Going out to the hood to buy od"s at 17 in 2009 🤣
Rennie Richardson
STG!
Derron Hart
Shit still hot late 2021.
#YEAHHHH
#BRRRR
Phill Thr33 Timez
Gucci + Shawty Redd, Mike Will, Lex Luger, Zaytoven = Timeless
damo
and fatboi and drumma boi
Phill Thr33 Timez
@damo Ah yeah, most definitely. How the fuk I forget THEM?! 😂
Deena Brown
I was a freshman when this came out. This is my shit
Dart93 Ojore
Used to be blastin this when it came out 😂😂