Gucci Mane Digest

Now that July has officially been taken over by the 1017 July Take Over, we’ve been left with a total of six mixtapes, one collaborative album and one studio album that Gucci Mane has released this year so far. (Trap God 3 is scheduled for September 13th). For comparison’s sake, Kanye West and Drake have each released 0 albums so far this year.

So with eight releases this year averaging around forty minutes a piece, Gucci Mane has left fans with a lot of material to absorb. Your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper makes it hard for even the most fervent fan to catch up. Which is the reason for the Gucci Mane Digest: an in-depth guide to Gucci’s releases this year thus far so that you don’t miss the diamonds in the rough of his discography. (As well as the songs curated by him on the World War 3D mixtapes). This arrives just as Gucci announces yet another new project on the way, Gucci Vs. GuWop.

So with that in mind here is a breakdown of the eight releases, beginning with Young Thugga Mane LaFlare. Click through the galleries for a more detailed breakdown on each project and the highlights off it, or simply check the infographic below for the tracks you need right now. 

Young Thugga Mane La Flare and Brick Factory Vol. 1 were scheduled for April Fool’s Day, 2014, but the joke was on the fans who were up at midnight waiting to download them, because neither came out that day. It wasn’t until three weeks later on Easter Sunday that we were able to listen to Young Thugga Mane La Flare and then eat Peeps and hunt for Easter eggs.

There’s an entire complicated history with Young Thug and Gucci Mane that doesn’t need to be delved into here. For this breakdown I’m going to pretend that Young Thug and Gucci Mane recorded this album together and they were laughing and having fun while doing it. But no matter how much fun they were potentially having, it doesn’t keep this mixtape from being mostly comprised of clunkers that aren’t reflective of the heights of either artists’ prowess. There are still some songs, however, that you should hold onto.

Diamonds That Could Be Added to Your Gucci Mane Collection:

"Hot Boyz"

A great start to the project that’s mixed like Gucci and Thug are rising out of the ocean to ride ATVs on the beach in front of us, high-fiving each other.

"Bricks"

A perfect summation of the Young Thugga Mane aesthetic.

"Stoner 2 Times"

This is the song that would be played if you were at church and the apocalypse started happening.

Brick Factory Vol. 1 came out about a month after Young Thugga Mane La Flare and is a showcase of current and former Brick Squad artists. Old friends like Waka Flocka and Young Thug stop by to say hi to Gucci, but despite their best efforts, it’s the weakest of the eight projects that have come out this year. There are still two bangers on it though, both worth keeping.  

The Best of Vol.1:

"My Customer" (Feat. Yung Fresh and Jose Guapo)

Play this song for your friends.

"Mr. Serve On" (Feat. PeeWee Longway and Quavo)

Make your friends call you Mr. Serve On. I started doing it and they like it.

World War 3D: The Green Album is the Weezer album of the three-part mixtape series allowing Gucci to show off some of his favorite proteges from the Brick Squad label regardless of whether they are still signed to him. It’s unclear whether or not Migos, Young Thug, or PeeWee Longway were aware of being on these collaborative mixtapes, but let’s assume that’s the case.

The Green Album is the Migos edition and Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset get on each others shoulders metaphorically to form a Brick Squad Megatron created to rip apart every beat so that it can’t be touched again. Gucci Mane is on about ten percent of this mixtape. Despite the Migos team’s lyrical abilities, the beats presented are too lackluster to make anyone take heed of this release. There are two notable exceptions.

Songs To Take Heed Of:

"Sadam Usane" (Feat. Kourtney Money)

Listen to this Zaytoven beat. It’s one of the best beats.

"Send Me Pack" (Feat. Young Dolph)

Mike WiLL made this and it’s the sound of a monster waking up.

It’s Young Thug’s turn now for the Brick Squad Showcase. Young Thug and Gucci Mane are back again and this time Gucci Mane is only on two songs.

The Purple Album is (by far) the best of the World War 3D mixtapes. And the reason is simply because it's a mixtape featuring Young Thug on every song: Young Thug singing, Young Thug doing flows you’ve never heard on a rap song before, Young Thug skating on a DJ Mustard beat like no one else has ever been featured on one. This is Young Thug’s world and we are all just living in it. Even the features benefit from being in the presence of Young Thug, where each guest seems free to be as inventive and eccentric as star of the show.

Despite how much Young Thug there is, we still have to account for some boring production and lackluster Gucci verses. There are three standouts though, we recommend above the rest and Gucci Mane can be credited as the curator behind these songs getting to us.

Standouts:

"Clap Your Hands" (Feat. MPA Duke)

Clap your motherfucking hands for Thugger. This is a celebration.

"Donald Trump" (Feat. DK)

Donald Trump is such a banger that you could play it for anyone in any time period in history and they would say “thank you.”

"Wait Your Turn" (Feat. Young LA)

Young Thug skeets in our collective perms with this one.

The final mixtape released on June 17th was Gucci Mane’s version of the popular Beatles’ album starring 1017’s own Paul McCartney: PeeWee Longway. But, despite those aspirations, this won’t erase the legacy of the original White Album. We are not yet at the point where PeeWee is a guaranteed sell on every song. There have been glorious examples though of the opposite.(“Servin’ Lean”, “Breaking My Wrist”, “Loaded”, “Sneakin N Geekin’”) and there are a few on The White Album that could be added to that Best of PeeWee Longway collection. The White Album though suffers from mostly boring production and rarely can a good verse survive without a worthy beat.

Here are the songs to take away from this release. And like the other two World War 3D tapes, Gucci Mane serves as the curator.

Take These Away:

"Blame It On Her" (Feat. Young Thug)

PeeWee and Thug are perfect complements to each other and it makes one nostalgic for the time when they were best friends. 

"Squat"

PeeWee Longway goes in.

"Ruffless" Feat. MPA Duke

And then he goes in on this. 

Last year’s Trap House 3 was arguably the best and most consistent Gucci release since the original Trap God. We got to hear Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, and Chief Keef all partying with Gucci and there are some songs on it that will heralded as staples in Gucci’s canon (“Off The Leash”, “Trap House 3”, “Fuck With Me”). The fourth installment of the Trap House series is a more pared-down affair than its predecessor, lacking its high-profile features, but almost every song has a moment on it that will remind you why Gucci Mane is undoubtedly your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.

And whatever constitutes an album from Gucci Mane versus a mixtape becomes more recognizable while listening to Trap House 4. It seems worthy of the designation. If for some reason you are only allowed to listen to one Gucci Mane release a year, let 2014 be dedicated to Trap House 4.

Here Are the Songs to Savor:

"Top in the Trash" (Feat. Chief Keef)l

The wildest beat on the album and Gucci and Keef sound like they are Transformers attacking a city.

"Fuck Niggas"

Here is one for the Top 100 Gucci Mane Songs of All Time iTunes playlist. Listen to it loud.

"Dope Love"

Play this for your significant other.

"Nasty"

Play this for your significant other at a different time.

"Spit In Yo Face"

Another one for that iTunes playlist. Slowed-down Gucci over the slowest Zaytoven beat in history. Gucci also lets listeners know two of the most significant pieces of information in his biography in seven words: “Zaytoven’s my symphony / Young Jeezy my enemy.”

"Outro"

Gucci sits in a chair reading the story of his life to us while Honorable C.N.O.T.E. plays the piano behind him.

I don’t throw around the word classic very often when describing Gucci Mane albums as a whole and I certainly won’t say it now, but Felix Brothers is not to be missed in the flurry of Gucci Mane output this year. Again, Felix Brothers seems worthy of its designation as a studio album. Just within the first few seconds of “El’choppo (Intro)”, we realize we are in the presence of a master.

And then it doesn’t stop. The album is consistent throughout like nothing save for Trap House 4 has been. And the standouts on this album qualify as some of the best Gucci has ever put out. Let us all listen to “Lean Man” together and rejoice at the fact that Gucci Mane never fell off.

Standouts: 

"El’choppo (Intro)"

This is the song at the beginning of the film when the villain walks into town. It’s epic Gucci that anyone can enjoy.

"Lean Man"

When a Gucci song hits, it soars above almost everything in rap, at least in my humble opinion. And after hearing so many forgettable songs over the last six mixtapes, it’s so refreshing to just hear Gucci killing it again on a Dun Deal beat.

"Still Beatin’"

Dun Deal is underrated.  

"Sopranos"

It’s a little upsetting to hear The Sopranos be used in a derogatory way, but Gucci Mane over a Purps-piano beat might be the highlight of this tape. Play this for your parents.

"Cheech and Chong"

Play Cheech & Chong at my funeral.

The final release of the 1017 July Takeover has Gucci Mane working exclusively with some C4 bombs. Gucci announced The Oddfather on July 22nd and then six days later we got to hear the Gucci Vincent Gigante story. This marks the eighth project that Gucci has released this year and the last of the 1017 July Take Over.

Current and (mostly) former members of the 1017 familia make up the guest features on the album and "Oddfather Intro (From The Inside)" features a phoned-in verse from Gucci in prison, which is remarkable given that most of the verses we've been hearing over the last year were pre-recorded before his legal troubles.  

As sad as it is, the Gucci Mane Digest ends on a clunker of an album. The three songs I mention below are notable, but the rest seems hastily put together, and as showcase for C4’s production there isn’t enough variation to make waves into the consciousness of the casual rap fan.

Excerpts to Keep from the Gucci Vincent Gigante Story:

"Wednesday"

We finally get to hear what a Wednesday is like for Gucci.

"RGIII" (Feat. OJ Da Juiceman)

Both Gucci and OJ kill it on this song

"Say That Then"

This is the perfect symbiosis of C4 + Gucci Mane. A C4 bomb with Gucci saying fly shit on it. 

This has been the Gucci Mane Digest of 2014 so far. Look out for Trap God 3 coming September 13th, and Gucci Vs. Guwop coming soon. And then probably ten more releases before the end of the year.