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.”
Let's Get Faded
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hell yeah, get wasted
We can have a little fun
But you ain't my lady
She got a pretty little girl
But it ain't my baby
When I see her in the club
The girl drive me crazy
She bounced back like Magic
Pass the ball like Magic
She see my flying through traffic
It's Gucci Mane, you bastard
And I'm a known shoe-addict
Got em fallin out the attic
I'm a real hood classic
Zaythoven is nasty
Teamed up with V-Nasty
Came in a V-12
You ain't even gotta ask me
Hundreds falling out my safe
Hundreds falling out the case
? on the case
Half a mil on the bracelet
Quarter-mil for the anklet
Got her fixing on her famous
Money flying out the anus
My swag near Uranus
But he ain't my baby
But she swag something crazy
Yeah she got a little something
But it ain't my baby
Baby, let's get faded
Hell yeah, get wasted
We can have a little fun
But you ain't my lady
[Hook]
[V-Nasty]
Rosay By The Case & We Poppin Bands
I See A Lot Of Bad Bitchs And They All My Fans
Girl You Coming With Me, Just Cancel Your Plans
I Got Brick Squad With Me, Bring All Of Your Friends
Where The Bitchs At? Let’s All Get Wasted
Hella Lights Flashing, They Know I’m Famous
Bitchs Bringing Money And All Them Hoes Nameless
Ask A Bitch Who I Am, Look Who I Came With
Got Jaws Dropping, These Suckas Speechless
Cheerleaders Popping Ass More Hoes In The Bleachers
Got A Ho Paying Rent, One Pays For My Sneakers
You Know The Other Bitch In The Store, She Selling Vises
Get The Bitch On Me, Gucci Tell Her Come Here
Baytl The Hottest Product This Year
White Girls, They Say Bring More Bread
I Can't Leave A Bitch Alone, So Im All In The Heard
[Hook]
In the song "Let's Get Faded," Gucci Mane suggests that he and his female companion should get intoxicated and have some fun, but he clarifies that she is not his lady, and the girl in the club he is attracted to is not his baby. He admits that he is a shoe-addict and a real hood classic while Zaythoven's beats are nasty. V-Nasty also adds her flavor to the chorus as she raps about partying and having fun. She speaks about how people recognize her through flashing lights and how she brings money home. She talks about working with Gucci Mane, and how people are always amazed by her.
The central theme of the song is the desire to have a good time and enjoy life. Gucci Mane suggests that partying and getting drunk can help to alleviate stress and pressures of life. The song highlights the importance of living life to the fullest, embracing life's moments and enjoying yourself. The lyrics contain a lot of slang and casual language, reflecting the song's fun and informal nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby, let's get faded
Let's get high, baby
Hell yeah, get wasted
Let's get drunk too
We can have a little fun
We can party together
But you ain't my lady
You're not my girlfriend
She got a pretty little girl
He's talking about another girl with a child
But it ain't my baby
He's not responsible for that child
When I see her in the club
When he sees her at a party
The girl drive me crazy
He is attracted to her
Man this shit get drastic
His situation is getting serious
She bounced back like Magic
She recovered from something fast like Magic Johnson
Pass the ball like Magic
She can pass the ball like Magic Johnson
She see my flying through traffic
She knows he's driving fast
It's Gucci Mane, you bastard
He's introducing himself
And I'm a known shoe-addict
He likes buying shoes
Got em fallin out the attic
He has so many shoes they are falling out of the attic
I'm a real hood classic
He's a classic hood personality
Zaythoven is nasty
Zaythoven (a producer) is talented
Teamed up with V-Nasty
He and V-Nasty (a rapper) are working together
Came in a V-12
They arrived in a fancy car
You ain't even gotta ask me
She doesn't have to ask him anything
Hundreds falling out my safe
He has hundreds of dollars in his safe
Hundreds falling out the case
He has money falling out of his suitcase
? on the case
Unclear meaning
Half a mil on the bracelet
His bracelet is worth $500,000
Quarter-mil for the anklet
His ankle bracelet is worth $250,000
Got her fixing on her famous
He's making her famous
Money flying out the anus
He's spending a lot of money
My swag near Uranus
His style is out of this world
But he ain't my baby
He's not responsible for that child
But she swag something crazy
She has an impressive sense of style
Yeah she got a little something
She has something he likes
Rosay By The Case & We Poppin Bands
They're drinking a lot of Rosé wine and spending money
I See A Lot Of Bad Bitchs And They All My Fans
He sees a lot of attractive women who are his fans
Girl You Coming With Me, Just Cancel Your Plans
He's asking a girl to party with him
I Got Brick Squad With Me, Bring All Of Your Friends
He's with his group and wants her to bring her friends
Where The Bitchs At? Let’s All Get Wasted
He wants to party with more women
Hella Lights Flashing, They Know I’m Famous
People are taking photos of him because he's famous
Bitchs Bringing Money And All Them Hoes Nameless
He's with women who have money but he doesn't know their names
Ask A Bitch Who I Am, Look Who I Came With
He's with people who are recognizable
Got Jaws Dropping, These Suckas Speechless
He's impressing everyone
Cheerleaders Popping Ass More Hoes In The Bleachers
He's with people dancing and having fun
Got A Ho Paying Rent, One Pays For My Sneakers
He has women who support him financially
You Know The Other Bitch In The Store, She Selling Vises
He's talking about a woman in a store who sells vices
Get The Bitch On Me, Gucci Tell Her Come Here
He wants Gucci Mane to help him get a girl's attention
Baytl The Hottest Product This Year
He's promoting his latest album
White Girls, They Say Bring More Bread
White women like money
I Can't Leave A Bitch Alone, So Im All In The Heard
He can't resist women and is always around them
Lyrics © Ultra Tunes, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RADRIC DAVIS, XAVIER DOTSON, VANESSA REECE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Benchineveryday200
Gucci can make any song sound great
Its Jbunny
Loved this song and that whole mixtape
Serena Lamadrid
BayTL
Lynn Williams
Gucci is such a versatile artist fr. He can rap on any type of hip hop/rap beat
P_Pokh
I hate this song but love it at the same time. Even after all these years I was writing a physics exam in college and this song randomly came up in my head so I’m listening to it after so long.
A Magi Called Quest
I listen to this when I need to be cheered up...because it just makes me laugh so hard
Rolley Wirtz
I agree, I like these two together, they should do another album, V Nasty got a lot better now too.
Rolley Wirtz
This is a great album, V Nasty killed it and hung in there right with Gucci.
Tehgziz Lauw
That whole album would've been fire if vnasty wasn't on it lol, production was fire but it's automatically classified as trash because vnasty ruined it
jossky reyna
2023 y aca seguimos desde el dia que salio este tema desde Mexico😈😈😈😈