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This album was released on July 22nd this year. I’ve been putting this review off for a minute now mainly because I don’t think I’m gonna like this shit. I guess I’ll probably like at least one song on here tho. Lemme rewind a little bit and give y’all some background on my long history with Gucci’s music. I didn’t really start getting into Hip Hop until I turned 13 like 4 years ago. I didn’t know anything about Hip Hop at all. When I discovered Gucci Mane, the only artists I’d been listening to were people like Lil Wayne, Tyga, Drake, J. Cole, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Wale, and Childish Gambino interestingly enough. Now that I think about it, it’s really crazy how much my taste in Hip Hop has evolved as I’ve gotten more familiar with the genre. Those were literally the only artists I was familiar with by the way. I mean, there might’ve been a few more rappers whose shit I listened to, but this is the most I can remember. I pretty much only discovered new music from the radio. It’s actually kinda sad when you think about it. Anyway, I really wanted to get into Hip Hop more, so when I discovered that rappers released free music all the time with projects called “mixtapes,” I started going on Datpiff every day. I remember the first time I did it. It was late at night on a Friday I think. I just scrolled through the first page, and if I saw a tape from a rapper who I’d heard of before, I’d check the tape out. The first mixtape I ever listened to was I’m Up by Gucci Mane. This’ll probably sound hilarious to y’all, but I’m being deadass serious… When I first heard Gucci Mane rap, I was amazed by his flow. Hahahaha. I’m serious. His flow just seemed so obvious. I wondered why more rappers didn’t spit like him. This shit sounds absolutely insane when I write it out like this. It’s true tho. The way he emphasized his words at the end of each bar sounded incredible to me. You would think that I would’ve been more impressed with the Trap production, but nah. I mean, don’t get me wrong; the beats on songs like Cyeah & Spread The Word were fantastic, but I was really more concerned with the way he was rhyming over them. That was before I’d ever even heard of Trap music. I remember being really confused by the titles of Gucci’s other projects like Trap Back & Trap House. I ALSO remember wondering why the motherfuck DJ Holiday’s annoying ass kept yelling over each track. That was annoying enough, but it was even worse whenever he would play the first 20 or 30 seconds of the song, and then rewind the shit all the way to the beginning for no apparent reason. I also wasn’t really sure how to pronounce his name. DJ Holiday kept calling him “Gucci Man” instead of Gucci Mane. A year later some of my friends heard me say “Gucci Man” and they clowned the fuck outta me. That’s neither here nor there tho. So as you can see, I have kind of a weird relationship with Gucci. I loved his music at first, but there’s so fucking much of it, and most of it sounds the same. My tastes have obviously changed a lot over the years too. The last project that I listened to from Gucci was 1017 Mafia: Incarcerated, which I actually reviewed. Wow. My reviews used to be REALLY fuckin’ shitty. Whatever. I’m not expecting to like this bullshit. I’ll probably get at least a handful of dope tracks tho. Every song is produced by Mike WiLL Made It, except where noted.

Track 1: No Sleep (Intro) [Co-Prod. Zaytoven]

Oh shitfuck… This beat… This BEAT. YOOO this beat is dope af. I fuck with this hook. Wow. I’m actually enjoying this shit. Mike WiLL and Zay put they ASS into this beat, man. This shit sounds phenomenal. Wow. This verse is actually tolerable too. I can actually understand everything Gucci’s saying. “I can’t even sleep I got so much to say / Recovering drug addict; I used to drink a pint a day.” I guess that’s why he sounds so much more coherent. This shit is dope. There’s only one verse. I enjoyed this song tho. I’m gonna check the music video out now. Damn. There are some BAD ass chicks in this video. Lmao Young Thug just hit one of them in the head with a pillow. What the fuck… Yo… Gucci Mane has… His teeth are perfect. I’m not even joking right now he seriously has perfect teeth. Look at this shit.

It’s almost disturbing how nice his teeth are. I really wasn’t expecting them to look that good. When you hear Gucci rap he sounds like one of the nastiest motherfuckers on the planet, but he keeps that shit pristine from the looks of it. I wonder what kinda toothpaste he uses… It’s probably some super expensive shit that I can’t afford. Fuck my life. Anyway, I fuck with this song. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 2: Out Do Ya (Prod. Zaytoven)

Am I about to listen to a good Trap album? Lord please don’t let this shit be wack. Alright, this song is starting now. This beat is cool. The first verse was fine. The hook is decent. The second verse was nothing special. The song just ended. Meh. This is just another Gucci song. It sounds like every other song he’s ever made before. The only difference here is that his words are more coherent. This song is average to me. Nothing about it was super terrible, but nothing about it really stood out that much either. It has pretty much zero replay value for me personally. The music video isn’t worth watching unless you’re intentionally trying to get an erection because those models are BAD. 3/5

Track 3: Back On Road Feat. Drake (Prod. Murda Beatz)

This beat is nothing special. Man, Drake really half assed this hook. The first verse from Gucci was dope. Drake probably doesn’t have a verse. The song just ended. Yeah… Nah… I don’t really think this is that bad of a song, but it definitely isn’t good either. The hook from Drake sucked, and the beat wasn’t that good either. I like the fast pace of this track, but aside from that nothing really stands out about it. It sounds like Drake did this shit in like 5 minutes. I don’t really give a shit tho. I wasn’t really expecting much from him anyway. 3/5

Track 4: Waybach (Co-Prod. Zaytoven)

This beat is cool. It’s still not as good as the first song, but it’s definitely not bad. “I’d rather rap a Zay track than a Dre track.” I’m sure a lot of Hip Hop elitists lost their minds over this line, but I personally don’t really give a shit. I think I’d rather have Gucci over Zaytoven’s production than Dre’s production as well. I wouldn’t want Dre’s beat to be wasted. Honestly it’s almost impossible for me to enjoy a Gucci Mane song unless the beat is fucking incredible. This is another average song for me. Everything I said about the previous two music videos applies to this one as well. Gucci’s teeth are still immaculate, and I’m still thirstin’ over these video models. 3/5

Track 5: Pussy Print Feat. Kanye West (Co-Prod. Marz & Swae Lee)

This beat is dope. “I only featured Kanye ’cause we both some fuckin’ narcissists.” This first verse from Gucci is cool I guess. Hahahaha. “It’s an elephant in the room / Guess who’s the motherfuckin’ elephant; IT’S GUCCI.” I actually kinda fuck with this hook too. What the fuck? I thought that was Gucci on the second verse at first, but it’s actually Kanye. Wow. I was not expecting him to sound like that. It sounds like he’s doing his Gucci Mane impression. He was using the same flow as Gucci for the first few bars. He kinda starts sounding more like himself once the bass comes back in tho. His verse wasn’t good, but it fits in well with this track. I actually kinda fuck with this one. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 6: Pop Music (Co-Prod. Harris)

This beat is hard as FUCK. Goddamn. This shit is gangsta as fuck. This is what I was missing from this album. All the other tracks are really soft compared to this song. The “pop” that the title is referring to is the sound of a gunshot. “They know my Glocks sing my hooks and we call it pop music.” This is awesome. This is definitely my favorite song on the album so far. I love the hard ass beat with that HEAVY bass, and the hook is really dope too. I even enjoyed all the verses. “Don’t think that I don’t know they wish I was on death row / But imagine how these crackers feel that I moved next door.” This is dope af to me. 5/5

Track 7: Guwop Home Feat. Young Thug (Co-Prod. Zaytoven)

What the fuck… HAHAHAHAHA. Young Thug sounds like someone’s forcing him to sing while being burned alive. The hook is alright I guess. This beat isn’t that good to me. It’s not wack, but it doesn’t really stand out at all. The pitch of Gucci’s voice sounds like it’s been shifted up a little bit. I wasn’t feelin’ the first verse. Young Thug’s on the second verse. Nah. I wasn’t feelin’ his verse. I can’t fuck with this song. It’s not the worst shit I’ve ever heard, but I’m pretty goddamn bored right now. This was really underwhelming to me. I’m not feelin’ it. It’s wack. 2/5

Track 8: Gucci Please

This hook is awful. The beat is actually really bad too. This is easily the wackest song on the album so far. I wasn’t feelin’ the first verse. I guess this is supposed to be the love song. “Gucci please / Tell me that you love me; can I be your main squeeze? / Tell me that you love me, Gucci, Gucci, Gucci please.” This is the most narcissistic love song I’ve ever heard. He’s not talking about how he loves his girl. He’s rapping from his girl’s perspective and talking about how much she loves him. Well, to be fair he only does that on the hook. Still tho. That’s not even the problem. The beat is trash. Same goes for the hook. I’m not feelin’ this one at all. This is wack af to me. 1/5

Track 9: Robbed (Prod. Zaytoven)

I’m not really feelin’ this beat. I think I’m just not really a fan of Zaytoven. His beats always sound way too similar for me. There are obviously some exceptions, but for the most part his beats always sound really generic to me. I’m not feelin’ this hook. These bars sound like they were written by a 5 year old gang member. He’s rapping about the day he got robbed. This hook is really bad. Neither of the verses did anything for me. This is just a really underwhelming track. I didn’t like anything about this song. This is wack to me. 2/5

Track 10: Richest Nigga In The Room (Co-Prod. Zaytoven)

Oh my fuck. This beat is absolutely phenomenal. The hook is decent. I just listened to the whole song. Nah. I’m starting to get really bored. The beats are dope, but pretty much every verse on this album feels the same. I can only take so much Gucci Mane at one time. The beat was pretty much the only thing that I like about this song. It’s not really that bad of a song tho. I just wouldn’t ever have the desire to come back to it. It’s alright. The music video was nothing special. Gucci’s teeth still look amazing.
You see that shit? You know what that is? I took a screenshot of the music video and cropped his teeth out. Take another look. Feel free to zoom in on that shit.
The teeth are beautiful, but the song itself is nothing special to me. 3/5

Track 11: First Day Out Tha Feds (Co-Prod. A+)

I’ve obviously already heard this one before. Gucci dropped this on his first day out of jail. I’m pretty sure it got over a million plays on SoundCloud after only a few days. Gucci Mane was nowhere near as big as he is today before he was incarcerated. I guess people finally learned to appreciate him after he was gone for so long, even tho he’d been dropping dozens of mixtapes every year despite being locked up. Even I was kinda excited for his return. Not because I was a big Gucci Mane fan, but because I wanted to see how much he’d changed while he was in jail. The most obvious difference is that his lyrics are far more coherent than they were before. That’s pretty much the only thing I noticed in terms of his music. His attitude towards a lot of things has completely changed tho. He’s just a much more positive person than he was before, and the main reason is because he’s a recovering addict. He obviously didn’t have access to lean while he was in jail. He’s finally sober now. You can tell that he’s a much healthier person just by looking at him too. He’s lost a shit load of weight. Why am I talking about this shit? Lemme quit dickin’ around and get to the song. The beat is dope. Well, I honestly don’t really have that much to say about this track. It’s just a single verse over a dope beat. I actually like the verse tho. Gucci provided a genuinely interesting description of his time in jail. “Wake up and take a piss, I hear ’em sharpening knives / Main focus every day is make it out here alive.” I definitely prefer Gucci Mane when he’s making hard ass gangsta shit like this. “It’s a lot of people scared of me and I can’t blame ’em / They call me crazy so much I think I’m starting to believe ’em / I did some things to some people that was down right evil / Is it karma coming back to me? So much drama / My own mama turned her back on me, and that’s my mama.” I actually enjoyed this verse a lot. I kinda just wish it was longer. I think this was a great comeback song for Gucci, but it doesn’t really fit on this album to be honest. It probably should’ve been either a bonus track or the intro. It’s still dope tho. I fuck with this song a lot. It would’ve been even better if the album version had an extended verse, but the original is still pretty good. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 12: At Least A M (Co-Prod. Zaytoven)

I’m not really feelin’ this beat. I can’t tell if Gucci’s flow is off or if the beat just has a weird drum pattern. Oh. Never mind. It’s the bells in the background. I think they’re bells. They sound like they’re out of sync with the rest of the beat. I’m really not feelin’ it. This beat is SO fucking shitty. Seriously, the more I listen to this song the less I like the production. Gucci’s lyrics really just go in one ear and out the other when he’s not talking about gangsta shit. This is definitely one of the wackest songs on the album. The beat is just so fucking bad… The hook is nothing special. Same goes for each verse. This is wack af to me. 1/5

Track 13: All My Children (Prod. Drumma Boy)

I feel like it’s been forever since I heard a beat from Drumma Boy. This beat is dope. The hook’s cool too. “All of these rappers are all of my children.” It’s true. Gucci’s responsible for a lot of rapper’s careers. He helped put on people like the Migos, Future, Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Waka Flocka Flame, Rich Homie Quan, etc. I could go on and on. I’m really not feelin’ the first verse. Gucci’s singing the whole verse, and it sounds bad. REALLY bad. He thankfully stopped singing for the second verse. The song just ended. Meh. I’m not feelin’ it personally, but it’s tolerable. I just wouldn’t ever wanna listen to it again personally. It’s decent tho. 3/5

Track 14: Pick Up The Pieces (Prod. Zaytoven & Will-A-Fool)

Okay, last song; here we go. It’s starting now. This beat is really dope. I just wish it was a little more uptempo. I’ve listened to two minutes of this song already. I’m not really feelin’ it like that to be honest. It’s kinda underwhelming. The percussion just doesn’t hit hard enough for me, and Gucci’s flow seemed kinda rough. The hook is nothing special. The second verse was cool, but I’m not gonna ever come back to this song. It’s an alright track tho. 3/5

Final Thoughts:

This was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. It’s definitely not good, but I don’t think I’d call this bad either. It’s just mediocre. That’s pretty good for Gucci Mane tho. Hopefully he continues to improve from this point on. I legitimately think that Gucci Mane is capable of making a good album. He’d have to do things very differently from how he normally does tho. First of all, he needs to make more songs like First Day Out Tha Feds & Pop Music. I think he does that harder stuff really well. I believe it when Gucci says the shit he says. I wouldn’t mind if he dropped a short album with nothing but hard ass gangsta shit like that. It might get old after a while, but the average song would be better for me personally. Also, I know this’ll probably never happen, but I’d like to see Gucci Mane work with some new producers. A lot of the shit he makes sounds way too similar since he’s been working with nobody besides Zaytoven & Mike WiLL for the past 50 projects. I know there are exceptions, but most of his shit sounds like remixes of the same 5 beats. That’s all I’ve got to say. I seriously think that I’d like a Gucci Mane album if he was rapping about more gangsta shit over more varied production. This album in particular is one of the best projects I’ve ever heard from him. It just sounds like there was a lot more effort put into this project than there usually is from Gucci. If you like Trap music, I don’t see why you wouldn’t like this album. I don’t really fuck with Trap music like that personally, and even I enjoyed a handful of these tracks. I still think the overall project is mediocre, but it’s far better than I expected it to be.

Favorite Song: Pop Music

Least Favorite Song: Gucci Please

Verdict:

54%

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