Why Gucci Mane called Takeoff his favourite rapper

Since the 1990s, Atlanta has had a tight-knit hip-hop scene, and it remains that way until this day. Unlike New York, which has always been fragmented with beefs between its stars such as Jay-Z, Nas, 50 Cent and Ja Rule, Atlanta has been a collaborative city, and Gucci Mane has supported artists from his city.

In the 2010s, Gucci Mane consistently declared that he had a love for the Migos and the work they were doing. In a 2013 interview with VladTV, Quavo explained how Gucci mane connected with them, disclosing, “I was just riding down the street one day, and I got a phone call, and he said he had seen us on YouTube and called us real! We grew up to listening to him.”

Gucci Mane (real name Radic Davis) had been a fan since the group’s early days on the Atlanta underground. Still, he mainly took a liking to the late lyricist Takeoff. In 2018, ahead of the release of the collective’s third studio album, Culture II, Gucci took to Instagram and insisted that the project would be “historic.”

The 2018 body of work featured guest appearances from 21 Savage, Drake, Travis Scott and even Davis himself. Culture II  was released on January 26th and set the internet on fire, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and going double platinum.

However, after listening to the project in its entirety, Gucci took to social media to express how he loved Takeoff’s performance on the album, writing, “Culture 2 out @yrntakeoff my fav rapper now!!!”

Although Gucci Mane had a love for Takeoff, his attitude towards the Migos began to change when he invited them to the studio, and they began to question why Davis had other people in the session with them. According to the Atlanta rapper, once the Migos left the studio, he gave them each a chain to show them love but told the world, leading to them cutting him off.

Irrespective of their minor, short-lived friction when Takeoff died, Mane was so moved he took to the studio to record his tribute track ‘Letter To Takeoff’, during which he raps, “We lost my friend, we lost my dawg, I lost my little brother.” However, following his performance on Culture II Davis was in love with Takeoff’s style.