The one thing Gucci Mane thinks he doesn’t get credit for: “I’m one of the coldest”
Gucci Mane is a legendary figure within trap music, an artist without whom the subgenre wouldn’t be what it is today. His legacy, in this regard, is widely appreciated, but there are elements of his career that Gucci himself feels go overlooked.
Speaking to XXL in 2017, Gucci was explicitly asked if he felt that there was anything he didn’t receive enough recognition for—and he most certainly did. “I don’t think I get enough recognition for being a lyricist,” he replied.
When he first started breaking out in the early ’00s, Gucci’s lyrics were notable for their focus on street life and the extravagant ways of high-earning drug-dealers. His braggadocious manner was often apparent, but he mixed it with a sense of humour that helped him to stand out.
“My pockets so heavy that I can’t walk steady,” he rapped on ‘Icy,’ the lead single from his first album Trap House, released in 2005.
As he got a bit older, and as his struggles began to pile up, Gucci’s lyrical concerns began to shift. More of his songs took on a more serious tone, as he attempted to deal with his personal and many legal issues.
“The DA bring up lyrics in the court,” he rapped on ‘All Dz Chains,’ released in 2022, “may not be even true (huh?)” That’s a reference to the fact that his lyrics were used in a court case against him.
Aside from the specific thematic concerns of his lyrics, Gucci has always treasured his ability to freestyle, as he made clear in that XXL interview. It is core to who he is as a rapper.
“I feel like I’m one of the coldest, as far as putting songs together ’cause it was four or five years where I just freestyled,” he said. “I was so high, I just freestyled all them songs, ‘Lemonade,’ ‘Photoshoot,’ ‘Wasted’—I would make these songs all in one night.”
Gucci also highlighted his prolific nature, too. At the time of writing he has released an astonishing 17 studio albums, 80 mixtapes, and eight EPs, which is to say nothing of his collaborative albums, compilations and soundtracks.
His output has slowed somewhat in recent years, but during the earlier days of his career he was releasing new music so frequently. It was this period that he was referring to in his XXL feature, noting, “And I would make 30 tapes a year. I’ve never seen anybody do that but me.”