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
My Plug
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My nose up like the police told my gunners to freeze
I'm in a chevy its 100 degrees, but with these grown Giovanni's its a 100 degrees
I stack money like it grow off a tree
My nose up like the police told my gunners to freeze
I stack money like it grow off a tree
My nose up like the police told my gunners to freeze
My nose up like the police told my gunners to freeze
Freeze!
Music Please!
I stack money like it grow off a tree
My nose up like the police told my gunners to freeze
I'm in a Chevy its 100 degrees, but with these grown Giovanni's its a 100 degrees
Got money stashed in a box keep a hundred at least
Four old school verts cost a hundred a piece
100 bricks in the six it ain't easy to breathe
The way these snitches telling on me its so hard to believe
I'm shitting on the industry retarded with me
I should have rolled the short bus cause it's retarded on me
I stank the booth up like a nigga just farted you see
I'm in a quarter mil car, but in the passenger's seat
I keep a top notch rev on to push the beat and it's chinchilla pink where she resting her feet
And it's straight interior as far you see
I got the whole Boulder Crest and East Atlanta with me
I think my plug from Outer space man (Space man)
I think my plug is an Alien (An Alien)
I beat the dope like a cavemen (A Caveman)
I got more whips than a slave man (A Slave Man)
I'm rock on chains like a sleigh man (A Sleigh Man)
I think my plug from Outer space man (Space man)
I think my plug is an Alien (An Alien)
Because his number is so crazy man (Crazy Man)
I'm too high, with two twins, and no top with two Glocks
Outside of my trap spot like a Benz lot
Inside of this Benz coupe, look like soup
Terminator, all red, all said, nough said, top's back, seat back, im back, Zay track
71 air dawg and still got that 8 track
Old 8 vette and its squatting like a red (?)
Red rag on me so every day a hair day
Sixteen five every time I hear my ringtone
Money on my mind and my phone is a payphone
One stop, sell more birds than a pet shop
Glock on my hip so I guess I'm not with hip-hop
I got stones on my neck like I went home from bedrock
Push that ganja out like a hood boy with dreadlocks
Jumped in the shower, but my dunk get his rims washed
Open the brain and I got my whole hood high
Went to the mall and I got my whole hood fly
Went to the mall and I got my whole hood fly
I think my plug from Outer space man (Space man)
I think my plug is an Alien (An Alien)
I beat the dope like a cavemen (A Caveman)
I rock more whips than a slave man (A Slave Man)
I'm rocking chains like a sleigh man ( A Sleigh Man)
I think my plug from Outer space man (Space man)
I think my plug is an Alien (An Alien)
Because his number is so crazy man (Crazy Man)
In Gucci Mane's song "My Plug," the rapper talks about his wealth and success through his drug operations, comparing money to a tree that grows endlessly. He references the police telling his "gunners" to freeze, indicating that he is running an illegal operation and is constantly avoiding getting caught. The lyric "I'm in a chevy its 100 degrees, but with these grown Giovanni's its a 100 degrees" shows that despite the heat, he keeps cool with his expensive clothes.
Throughout the song, Gucci Mane boasts about his riches, talking about keeping at least a hundred dollars in a hidden box, owning four old school cars that cost a hundred thousand dollars each, and having a hundred bricks in a six. He also mentions the challenges he faces, such as snitches and the industry, but asserts his dominance over them by "shitting on the industry retarded."
Overall, "My Plug" shows Gucci Mane's confidence in his success running an illegal operation, but also highlights the risks and challenges he faces in his lifestyle.
Line by Line Meaning
I stack money like it grow off a tree
I make a lot of money easily, almost as if it grows on trees.
My nose up like the police told my gunners to freeze
I am alert and ready for anything to happen, like when the police ordered my team to freeze.
I'm in a Chevy its 100 degrees, but with these grown Giovanni's its a 100 degrees
I'm driving in my Chevy even though it's 100 degrees outside, but my Italian shoes make me feel cooler and fresh.
I think my plug from Outer space man (Space man)
I believe my supplier of drugs is so good that he must be from outer space.
I think my plug is an Alien (An Alien)
I believe my supplier is not human due to his superior products and service.
Because his number is so crazy man (Crazy Man)
I can't believe how many drugs my supplier is able to provide and I find it almost unbelievable.
Lyrics Β© Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RADRIC DAVIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Moe Lew
This shit used to knock with some 12βs in the trunk
Sherman Hall Jr
Real Gucci fans know this one
ZerooTwooZerooTwoo
Sometimes I canβt help but miss the old Gucciβ¦ Tell Justin Timberlake Iβm bringing gangsta back π
BeeZie S
CLASSIC
jacob lay
he did go hard then a bicth
Bearsandstuff
song straight rocks off.
ICE WATA
J's knocking cuz they know I whip the hardest crack!!!
Brian T.
still dat shit
trezz18
This used to be my shit!
DroTooNutty
Dis a fuckin classic