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.”
Spit In Yo Face
Gucci Mane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What the fuck they gone do with me
Talking bout what he gone do to me
Guwap
Wap
Do to me
Yo girl she wanna do me
Wap
This fuck nigga keep on textin my phone
Saying what he gone do to me
I keep 2 pistols usually
These fuck niggas better bring 4 or 3
Bricksquad thats my faculty
Always keep the trap with me
Always keep the strap with me
Give a fuck if you dont do a song with me
Smoking on strong all day my nigga
Sippen on lean not evenly
Fuck nigga test the Gucci Man have blood all on my Timberlands
Aye there go the Gucci Man
Do all yall remember him
My mom nigga has Sicilian but I naw I ain't never been to Italy
458 from Italy
86 came from Germany
Zaytoven's my symphony
Young Jeezy my enemy
Some people say Im crazy and I might need to take some Ritalin
Sign black Migos Scooter so that makes Gucci a Mexican
Spit in yo face
Fuck nigga I might spit in yo face
Gucci Mane Ima real nasty nigga I just might just spit in yo face
Gucci Mane the type to spit in yo face
Gucci Mane Im a nasty nigga nigga I might spit in yo face
Im the type of nigga to spit in yo face
Gucci Mane a nasty nigga nigga I might just spit in yo face
Spit in yo face
Gucci Mane a nasty nigga fuck nigga I might spit in yo face
In "Spit In Yo Face," Gucci Mane talks about his reputation, how people see him and how he deals with his haters. The chorus is repetitive, driving home the point that Gucci is a "nasty" person, and if you mess with him, he might just spit in your face. He talks about his enemies who keep texting him but warns them that he carries not two, but three or four pistols with him. He also mentions Bricksquad, his crew, and how they always have his back. They have his back not only in the streets but also in the studio, where he invites people to collaborate with him, but he really does not care if they do not want to work with him. It's clear from the lyrics that Gucci is proud of his Italian heritage, but he has never been to Italy despite the fact that he has an Italian mom. He contrasts this with the fact that he owns a high-end Italian sports car.
Overall, "Spit In Yo Face" is a song about how tough and dangerous Gucci Mane is. He is not afraid of anyone, and he makes sure people know that. He boasts about his wealth, his crew, and his arsenal of weapons. The song is meant to be provocative, and it created controversy when it was released. Some people criticized the song for promoting violence and disrespect, while others praised it for its raw energy and honesty.
Line by Line Meaning
Han
Gucci Mane's adlib
What the fuck they gone do with me
I am wondering what my enemies are planning against me
Talking bout what he gone do to me
My enemy keeps threatening me
Guwap
Gucci Mane's adlib
Wap
Gucci Mane's adlib
Do to me
Repeating the threat his enemy is making
Yo girl she wanna do me
Many ladies are desiring me
Wap
Gucci Mane's adlib
This fuck nigga keep on textin my phone
My enemy keeps messaging me
Saying what he gone do to me
Repeating the threat his enemy is making
I keep 2 pistols usually
I always carry two guns for my self-protection
These fuck niggas better bring 4 or 3
My enemies should bring more people if they plan to attack me
Bricksquad thats my faculty
My team is Bricksquad and we're family-like
Always keep the trap with me
I always have my drug-dealing equipment with me
Always keep the strap with me
I always have my gun with me
Give a fuck if you dont do a song with me
I don't care if you don't want to collaborate with me musically
Smoking on strong all day my nigga
I'm smoking strong marijuana all day
Sippen on lean not evenly
I am not measuring how much cough syrup mixed with soda (lean) I drink
Fuck nigga test the Gucci Man have blood all on my Timberlands
If my enemy tries to fight me, I will make him bleed and get my shoes dirty
Aye there go the Gucci Man
People can recognize me because of my fame
Do all yall remember him
Asking if people remember who I am
My mom nigga has Sicilian but I naw I ain't never been to Italy
My mother's partner is of Italian descent, but I've never been to Italy myself
458 from Italy
I drive a Ferrari 458 which is made in Italy
86 came from Germany
My car 86 is made in Germany
Zaytoven's my symphony
My producer Zaytoven creates great music for me
Young Jeezy my enemy
I have a beef with rapper Young Jeezy
Some people say Im crazy and I might need to take some Ritalin
Some people believe I'm insane and might require medication
Sign black Migos Scooter so that makes Gucci a Mexican
As a record executive, I signed black Migos and Scooter, which makes me become like a Mexican drug lord
Spit in yo face
Threatening to spit in an enemy's face
Fuck nigga I might spit in yo face
Threatening to spit in an enemy's face
Gucci Mane Ima real nasty nigga I just might just spit in yo face
Claiming to be a nasty person who might spit in an enemy's face
Gucci Mane the type to spit in yo face
Saying that he is the person who would spit in an enemy's face
Gucci Mane Im a nasty nigga nigga I might spit in yo face
Claiming to be a nasty person who might spit in an enemy's face
Im the type of nigga to spit in yo face
Saying that he is the person who would spit in an enemy's face
Gucci Mane a nasty nigga fuck nigga I might spit in yo face
Claiming to be a nasty person who might spit in an enemy's face
Spit in yo face
Threatening to spit in an enemy's face
Contributed by Zoe Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Bigpappywang
This song is way too underrated, this shit been slapping consistently for years
@izzymang9015
This the jam he shoulda played on verzuz 🤦♂️
@braxtonkennel7393
On god
@tyrenthegoat
NoCapppp 💯
@jimaripearson1759
😂😂😂😂😂
@Tekwan24
I said this about so many songs that weren't played during the versus. When I heard the you can't tell me I ain't fly song or w.e it's called I was pissed off. Could have bodied him with mad mixtape tracks. I feel all music is valid since alot of stuff he dropped while locked up. Already making him the winner by default.
@dunker888
Young jeezy my enemy 😂😂😂
@sugarfactorybsc
This joint is a classic 🔥🔥🔥
@andrepeters4661
My girlfriend hates when i put this on😂😂
@dunker888
This song is hilarious lol