Itβs said that art mirrors life. In hip-hopβs case, thereβs always been a deliberate entanglement of perception and reality. Fans demand their MCs be realβ¦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.
βI wish everybody well whoβs making money in this rap game,β the Atlanta-raised rapper says, dismissing the controversy that followed him in the past. βMy own rap game is going so good, Iβve got so many things on my plate at my label, that I donβt got time for other peopleβs business.β 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.
βI live my life with no regrets. I just wish that a lot of things never happened, but anybody can wish,β says Gucci. Sounds like a man with his eyes on the prize. And youβd 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 βBlack Tee,β 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 βIcyβ single, featuring Jeezy. Clamor over song rights sparked dispute, and the resulting rift grew.
Controversy notwithstanding, Maneβs independence was cemented: βI was on the independent scene for about two years,β he recalls. βItβs 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 itβs a gamble out there with the independent circuit. One thing youβd better have is good music because without that, you go downhill fast in the independent game.β
Good music firmly in hand, Gucci was fast approaching stardom when more tragedy befell him. But letβs backtrack; how did the man born Radric Davis in Bessemer, Alabama, become Gucci Mane, mouthpiece for Atlanta stuntinβ? Mane remembers little from his time in Alabama, just that it was rural, and that itβs changed dramatically since he left at the age of nine. βI gotta shout out Alabama though, because they holdinβ it down,β he affirms. βEvery time I go there to do a show, Iβm impressed with how hip-hop culture has taken root.β
Maneβs identity coalesced when he moved with his mother to Atlanta. βI lived all of my adolescent and adult life in Atlanta,β he explains. βIβm from East Atlanta Zone Six; it was hard, man, it was real rough. I grew up in the Starter jacket era: theyβd take your Starter jacket, your 8Ball jacket, theyβd 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 youβd get jumped. It was wild when I came up.β
Itβs 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. βI was just a young dude in a single parent house most of my life. I canβt complain that much. I would guess itβs like any black child growing up in a single parent household. There are a lot of people who know how that is. I didnβt 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; sheβs been there through the whole struggle. Thereβs a lot that goes along with that; it made me who I am today.β
A stepfather would enter the picture during Maneβs adolescence, introducing not only a male figure, but also inspiration for Maneβs unusual moniker. βMy father came in, the original Gucci Mane; thatβs what people in the neighborhood called him, and thatβs 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.β Drawing inspiration from a pantheon of rappers before him βBig Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, the Beastie Boys, N.W.AβMane went on to release Trap House, a lethal brew of his signature sound: βI call my music straight Gucci: going hard and whatever beats you make you for me, if Iβm feeling it, if Iβm rocking with it, Iβm gonna crush it. When you hear me, you hear a lot of pain, a lot of hood; you hear whatβs going on in the inner city in Atlanta.β
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. βI learned to keep better company, watch where I go, and be mindful of my surroundings at all times,β he reveals. βWatch what I say, watch what I do and how I do it, just keep myself out of the wrong crowd.β
βI always stand up man,β he continues. βIβm one of the toughest guys I know. Itβll take a lot more than that to break me down.β Undeterred, Mane was back in the studio, preparing 2006βs 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: βThere was a bidding war going on, and I liked Atlanticβs approach. They made it known that they wanted me, they felt where I was going and that I could grow with them.β
Asylum/Atlantic Records welcomed Gucci Mane in early β07, 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 ββI got them in training; they be in the weight room, pumping iron, doing pushups, shopping at the mall, buying iceββGucci is focused on his magnum opus, Back to the Trap House. βI started working on the album, and by the third song, I was like βThis is going back to the Trap House.β 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.β
βSince I went major, I want everybody to know Iβm still keeping it street, keeping it hood,β Gucci maintains. βIβm trying to take it back to all my fans that I had when I first started my career. And at the same time, Iβm trying to open up my new album to a new fan base. So itβs a mix for everybody coming together, like my first album was.β Gucci has always prided himself on his innate ability, and his refusal to let guest appearances dictate the tone of his records. βI just want people to know Iβm a great songwriter, man,β he asserts. βIβm passionate about what I do, and itβs 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; itβs a God-given gift and I just get paid for it. It come from God, itβs like wondering what makes a bird fly. He made me a poet like the great poets of the past.β
But donβt mistake Gucciβs confidence for self-absorption. The vicissitudes of his career have dictated a longer view. Lyrics aside, heβs less preoccupied with visible means and more so with acting as an emissary from his under-repped block. βIβm not the one to glorify what goes on in the hood,β he insists. βWe have everything there, the whole range from violence to people getting on the bus and going to work. Thereβs a lot more to the hood than just drugs. Itβs a bigger story, thereβs 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. Iβm 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.β
And Gucciβs professional aims have matured as well. While other rappers stress platinum plaques, Gucci hasnβt forgotten the route he took to stardom. βI made a lot of CDs on my own. People fucked with me and supported me, and just made me the man I am today. Thatβs 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 jobβs been done.β
Fortunately for Gucci, he should be prepared to welcome an army of new fans with Back to the Trap House. But longstanding fans shouldnβt fear; theyβll recognize βFreaky Gurl,β 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 Gucciβs 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 βBird Flu,β the albumβs number two single, laced by New-York based Supa Sonics. Elsewhere, firm guest verses from Rich Boy and Pimp C of UGK round out Gucciβs regional flavor, while Bay-area producer Zaytoven (of βIcyβ renown) locks down Gucciβs 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. βIβm best known for controversy but Iβm 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. Iβll be banging them out till I canβt bang no more.β
I'm A Dog
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog,
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I'm a treat her like a dog
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
See I'm in all ferry don
And my girlfriend 21, and I know that's kinda young and I only feed her crumbs
My Jacob rides the short bus, man that's special ed
Cause the girls be droolin', every time they see the VVS
Got a drop top 'vette and that thang so stupid
The rims are off the set
Girls be jumping bed
I'm a a dog, I say Bernard
And that dick get hard as hell
We can leave the bed made up
I can fuck you on the chair
A boss bro, with dogs, man I don't fuck hoes with flees
Hundred fifty thousand dollar dog collars for the team
I'm a a boss bro, run with dogs, and I don't fuck hoes with flees (Go)
Hundred fifty thousand dollar dog collars for the team
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
A, I got every kind of bitches droolin'
On a nigga style
Cause my pockets fat, I smoke the tracks, while they blow Black n Milds
I hit the club with Zay, we in the front
All these niggaz bitches chosen
Gucci got em rollin' so I know they down to shoot a movie
niggaz balla blockin' hatin' on a killa movement
Out the bed to grits and eggs head and sum booty
I'm young doing numbers
And all the women love me
Just because I'm dark black, got a bank and I'm thuggin'
I neva love a broad cause I'm a mothafuckin' dog
You can ask a couple about me bet they tell you I'm off the wall
I got doctors, lawyers, dealers, even strippers, on my team
An' I never show favoritism everyone's treated the same
I'm a boss of all bitches, so they neva complain
They respect this gangsta shit, 'cause I got so much game
You ain't gotta ask about me, nigga you know who I be
I'm a mothafuckin' dog, can you understand me
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
Chasin' cats, chasin' rats
Gucci got them power packs
Got to them straight from the 6
East Atlanta, proud of that
This fine broads looking at me
Damn I see ha puddy cat
And I like them freaky girls (Very freaky girl)
They know how to throw it back
Push or shine, I throw it back
Throw back please roll up the thrax
Throw back get sum jaw while I'm killin' this hoe from da back
Fo sho shine I throw it back
Throw back please roll up the thrax
Throw back get sum jaw while I'm killin' this hoe from da back
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
The lyrics of Gucci Mane's "I'm A Dog" are sexually charged and boastful, with the rapper referring to himself as a dog and talking about how he treats women like dogs, passing them around to his friends. He brags about his wealth and status, including owning a $150,000 dog collar for his team, and describes his female companions in objectifying and degrading terms. He also mentions his girlfriend, who he acknowledges is young, and how he only feeds her crumbs. The song is explicit and unapologetic in its misogyny and objectification of women, which has been a common theme in hip hop music.
Interestingly, the song has been the subject of numerous controversies and criticisms since its release in 2005. Many have criticized the lyrics for their objectification and dehumanization of women, while others have objected to the glorification of the dog metaphor, which can be viewed as promoting aggressive and abusive behavior towards women. In addition, the song has been cited as an example of how hip hop music perpetuates sexism and misogyny, and is often used in discussions about the ethics and morality of rap lyrics.
Despite the criticisms and controversies surrounding the song, it remains popular among Gucci Mane's fan base and has become one of his signature songs. It has been performed at numerous concerts and shows, and has been remixed and covered by other artists. It is also widely recognized as one of the defining songs of the "trap" music subgenre, which is characterized by its hard-hitting beats, aggressive lyrics, and focus on street life and drug culture. Overall, "I'm A Dog" is a controversial but influential hip hop song that continues to be a topic of discussion and debate in the music industry and beyond.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog
I am a wild, dominant, and free spirit who lives life on my own terms.
(I'm a dog) Then pass her to my dogs
I am so confident in my abilities that I am willing to share my conquests with my friends.
See I'm in all ferry don
I am highly successful and well-known in the underground rap community.
And my girlfriend 21, and I know that's kinda young and I only feed her crumbs
I have a young, inexperienced partner who I do not treat very well and only give the bare minimum in terms of attention and affection.
My Jacob rides the short bus, man that's special ed, Cause the girls be droolin', every time they see the VVS
My expensive, flashy jewelry is a status symbol that attracts women who are impressed by wealth and material possessions.
Got a drop top 'vette and that thang so stupid, The rims are off the set, Girls be jumping bed
My extravagant and flamboyant lifestyle is a magnet for attention and sexual partners.
I'm a a dog, I say Bernard, And that dick get hard as hell, We can leave the bed made up, I can fuck you on the chair
I am highly sexual and confident in my abilities to attract and satisfy sexual partners, regardless of the situation or location.
A boss bro, with dogs, man I don't fuck hoes with flees, Hundred fifty thousand dollar dog collars for the team
I am a respected and influential leader in my social circle and do not associate with low-class or low-quality individuals.
A, I got every kind of bitches droolin', On a nigga style, Cause my pockets fat, I smoke the tracks, while they blow Black n Milds
My wealth, power, and swagger are highly attractive to women who love a confident and successful man.
I'm young doing numbers, And all the women love me, Just because I'm dark black, got a bank and I'm thuggin'
My youth, success, and dangerous attitude make me irresistible to women who are attracted to the 'bad boy' image.
I'm a boss of all bitches, so they neva complain, They respect this gangsta shit, 'cause I got so much game
I am in charge of a large group of women who are loyal and obedient to me because of my power, charisma, and street smarts.
Chasin' cats, chasin' rats, Gucci got them power packs, Got to them straight from the 6, East Atlanta, proud of that
I am a powerful and influential figure in the drug trade, operating out of East Atlanta and distributing drugs and other contraband.
This fine broads looking at me, Damn I see ha puddy cat, And I like them freaky girls (Very freaky girl), They know how to throw it back
I am highly attracted to sexually adventurous women who are not afraid to take control and enjoy the experience.
Push or shine, I throw it back, Throw back please roll up the thrax, Throw back get sum jaw while I'm killin' this hoe from da back
I am sexually dominant and enjoy taking charge during intimate encounters, often incorporating drugs and other substances into the experience.
Lyrics Β© Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: XAVIER DOTSON, RADRIC DELANTIC DAVIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Will Martinez
When you randomly remember about this song and it goes just as hard as when you first heard it . Still listening in 2021
Stampitis D.P.
I think this song came out in 2006, it's STILL A BANGER.
Aniyah White
I am a dog
STREETZ CERTIFIED
Big facts π―
April Banks
True.
Don chido
Gucci was and still is one of coldest rappers ever his beats & flow is better then most today.
Clarise Harrington
Facts
Yung Nebula
lol I remember putting this song on my mom's phone so everytime they called her from work they would hear this song while it rings π
Christian Holban
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JOHNSON DAILY SPORTS
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