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.”
Get It Back
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Get it back, get it back
Bitch, I know I get it back
Give a fuck bout that little paper
'Cause I know I get it back
I got cash, cash on fire
Cash on hand, cash on deck
And all 12's up off that rack
Wash my stash with Ajax
Me and Tit, back to back
And we ridin' around, smoking Kush by the pound
Like how it ride but we love how it sound
Drop-top Lam so low to the ground
Just like a snail, I'm close to the earth
Waves on my temp, so a ho gotta surf
Hollering rock when you're scared, go to church
Me and Slim Dunk in the club throwing racks
Go into the trap and I get it right back
Want 10 bricks? You can get it right now
Pull to the trap house, come to the back
Riding domestic with the trunk in the back
Riding in a foreign, so the trunk in the front
Sixty thousand cash just for me to roll blunts
Standing in front, blowing kush through her dress
Five grand just to see her dance
Ten grand just to see her tats
Jump in the corner and he smoking on her clit
Waiting on you, so he get it right back
[Chorus]
In the club, throwin' money
I done run through me some racks
Give a fuck bout that little paper
I know I get it back
Get it back, get it back
Bitch, I know I get it back
Give a fuck bout that little paper
'Cause I know I get it back
Get it back, get it back
Yeah, you know I get it back
Shorty say she want my name
So I bought that bitch a tat
I walk in this bitch with racks
Tell them, come and get this paper
Yeah, my bitch is made in Asia
And I'm icy like a glacier
Get your baby momma
Take her then make her
You date her, then fuck her
I fuck her, then date her
Everything is on the up
Like a elevator
Gucci Mane and Tity Boi
College Park and Decatur
Now I do it for the haters
Started with a Buick LeSabre
Ended with that Ferrari
Tell me, meet me up out in Vegas
Got so many acres
I don't ever see my neighbors
Niggas say they want a mil
I put money on the table
[Chorus]
In the club, throwin' money
I done run through me some racks
Give a fuck bout that little paper
I know I get it back
Get it back, get it back
Bitch, I know I get it back
Give a fuck bout that little paper
'Cause I know I get it back
In "Get It Back," Gucci Mane and 2 Chainz showcase their lavish lifestyle and their ability to always make more money. The chorus emphasizes their confidence in their financial success and their ability to bounce back from any financial loss. They are not concerned with small amounts of money because they know they'll make it back eventually. They boast about their wealth from owning multiple cars and having a lot of cash on hand. They even mention how much they spend on luxury items such as tattoos and dancing by the thousands.
2 Chainz's verse includes him bragging about his success and love for Asian-made luxury cars. He mentions how he can take any girl he wants, even someone else's baby mama, and his ability to constantly elevate his wealth. Gucci Mane discusses his flashy lifestyle with the same confidence and boastfulness as 2 Chainz. He mentions his assets such as acres of property and the different cars he owns. Overall, the song serves as a display of their success and assertion that they will always find a way to get their money back.
Line by Line Meaning
Get it back, get it back
Going after what was once lost or taken
Bitch, I know I get it back
Confident in the ability to regain what was lost
Give a fuck bout that little paper
Not concerned with insignificant amounts of money
'Cause I know I get it back
Belief in the ability to recover lost funds
I got cash, cash on fire
Having a significant amount of money
Cash on hand, cash on deck
Plenty of cash available
Give me everything 3 X
Ask for more and want it in multiples
And all 12's up off that rack
Taking all available shoes in size 12
Wash my stash with Ajax
Cleaning and protecting one's drug supply
Me and Tit, back to back
Joined with fellow artist, 2 Chainz
And we ridin' around, smoking Kush by the pound
Driving and smoking a lot of high-quality marijuana
Like how it ride but we love how it sound
Enjoying the music in the car as much as the car itself
Drop-top Lam so low to the ground
Driving a Lamborghini convertible that is low and sleek
Just like a snail, I'm close to the earth
Feeling grounded and connected to the world
Waves on my temp, so a ho gotta surf
Wavy hair that is so attractive it makes women want to hook up
Hollering rock when you're scared, go to church
Suggesting that those who are afraid should seek comfort in religion
Me and Slim Dunk in the club throwing racks
Spending a lot of money in the nightclub with another rapper, Slim Dunk
Go into the trap and I get it right back
Returning to the drug dealing place and making more money
Want 10 bricks? You can get it right now
Offering to sell ten bags of drugs to anyone who wants them
Pull to the trap house, come to the back
Arriving at the drug dealer's house and going to the back for business
Riding domestic with the trunk in the back
Driving a car made in the US with the drugs in the trunk
Riding in a foreign, so the trunk in the front
Driving a foreign-made car with the drugs in the front trunk
Sixty thousand cash just for me to roll blunts
Having a large amount of money just to buy and roll marijuana cigarettes
Standing in front, blowing kush through her dress
In a strip club, blowing marijuana smoke under a woman's dress
Five grand just to see her dance
Spending a large amount of money to watch a stripper dance
Ten grand just to see her tats
Spending even more money to see a stripper's tattoos
Jump in the corner and he smoking on her clit
Vulgarly describing drug use in a strip club
Waiting on you, so he get it right back
Ready to make more money from a customer
In the club, throwin' money
Throwing large amounts of money in a nightclub
I done run through me some racks
Already spent a lot of money
Get it back, get it back
Determined to make more money
Shorty say she want my name
Girl wants to be with the rapper
So I bought that bitch a tat
Purchased a tattoo for her as a way to show affection
I walk in this bitch with racks
Entering a place with a lot of money
Tell them, come and get this paper
Letting others know he has a lot of money to spend
Yeah, my bitch is made in Asia
His girlfriend is Asian
And I'm icy like a glacier
Wearing a lot of jewelry that sparkles like ice
Get your baby momma
Taking someone else's girlfriend
Take her then make her
Convincing her to be with him instead
You date her, then fuck her
Talking about having sex with someone else's girlfriend
I fuck her, then date her
Preferring to have sex first before being in a relationship
Everything is on the up
Everything is going well financially
Like a elevator
Comparing the success to an elevator going up
Gucci Mane and Tity Boi
Artistic collaboration between two rappers
College Park and Decatur
Referring to the areas of Atlanta where the rappers are from
Now I do it for the haters
Making music to spite those who doubted the rapper's success
Started with a Buick LeSabre
Began with very little money
Ended with that Ferrari
Now has a luxurious sports car
Tell me, meet me up out in Vegas
Inviting someone to meet in Las Vegas
Got so many acres
Having a lot of land
I don't ever see my neighbors
Having enough space to not see or interact with neighbors
Niggas say they want a mil
Others claim to want to make a million dollars
I put money on the table
Backing up his claim of making a lot of money
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alonso Jackson
Who ever made this beat and produce this record was in they bag 🎒 facts 💯 👏
Mu7mmad 03
it’s mike will
SugarFactoryBsc - Hybrid DeFi & NFTs Platform
Bruh this whole Mixtape is a classic
chris255N
Gucci and Mike will together is a deadly duo 🔥🔥🔥
Mr.Infumus
I just want this instrumental 😩
242stubbo
Flow is immaculate
Bb Bb
Wow from mixtapes to albums and finding nee artist helping them get albums.
I used to download his mixtapes from livemixtapes along with 2 chainz. Crazy how time flew
mmgmcnatt
That kick drum be boooomin!!! #2019 guuuuwoooopppp
JP
Real hustler !!! Who's still here in 2019?!!
2020 Nothing's changed innit bruv
Jabarr
Already bro👊🏾👊🏾