When the opening track of your 10th studio album is titled “Intro: Fuck 12,” you could be one of two types of people:
1. A SoundCloud rapper with 11 followers and a whole lot more rage toward authority despite an in-school suspension being the leading bullet point on your disciplinary profile.
2. Gucci Mane.
Thankfully, or disappointingly if you were actually hoping for a review of the latest single from an unknown lyricist named “CopK!ll@,” Gucci Mane is today’s subject. With 13 bangers running just under 45 minutes, Atlanta’s most potent producer of rhyming offspring continues his post-incarceration hot-streak on Woptober.
On the aforementioned “Intro: Fuck 12,” Gucci establishes himself as the rap game’s realist player.
“These n—– say they getting money, I can’t really tell,” says a skeptical Mane. “I made more money than them and I was in a jail cell.”
Released from prison May 26, 2016, Gucci served three years in federal prison on weapon and drug charges. Having walked the walked, Gucci spends much of Woptober talking the talk of being harder than your favorite rapper.
In refreshing Gucci Mane form, his power is validated through goofy-punchline claims. He explains to fiends “I don’t know Redman, but I know who got meth” on “The Left.” The Rick Ross featured “Money Machine” shows Gucci listing every single form of machinery he has ever come in counter with, including (but not limited to) irrigation machines, washing machines, vending machines, and, of course, money machines.
Responding to all the internet weirdos convinced that current Gucci is actually a replacement version different from the man named Radric Davis imprisoned in 2013, Mr. Mane preaches his diamond-dressed mortality on the Young Dolph-featured “Bling Blaww Blurr.”
“You know Guwop been iced out but I got new jewels now,” Gucci brags in a powerful statement of bling-game longevity. “Think I’m a clone but if they cut me this sauce gon’ ooze out.”
However, the same hard-crime life that transformed Gucci into an East Atlanta idol doubles as the source of his pain. On the eye opening, Metro Boomin-produced “Dirty Lil N—-,” Gucci highlights the insurmountable reality of life in the hood.
“Hard head mama can’t do nothing with him,” says a lamenting Gucci. “But get on her knees and pray the skreets don’t kill him. The skreets don’t kill him, then the law gon’ get him.”
Gucci’s struggles are a product of this unwinnable situation. Forced to find solace in contraband, Gucci explains his many vices on the standout “Addicted.” It’s also the most exemplary use of the “My name is” based anaphora since late 90’s Eminem.
“Hi my name is Gucci Mane, I’m addicted to everything,” confesses Mane. “Bad Bitches, fast cars, weed and promethazine. Hi my name is Gucci Mane, I’m addicted to everything. Diamond chains, assault rifles, skrip clubs and gambling.”
He may be forever cemented as a legend of southern rap music, but on Woptober Gucci begs the question of whether or not the road traveled was ultimately worth it. A lovable, eccentric cult figure, Gucci’s story brings joy and entertainment to all through the musical channeling of his own personal strife. So, if for some unexplainable reason you still lack respect for the East Atlanta Santa, Metro Boomin and Gucci use “Hi-Five” to let the haters know they will receive no dap.
“High five, low five,” says Gucci as he addresses the non-understanding losers of the world. “I left them n—– hangin’, they get no five.”
Mic drop.
3/4 Shells
