Gucci Mane & Future's Top 5 Collabs

Unlike many of Gucci's other former protegés, Future didn't seem to be in any rush to collaborate with the East Atlanta legend after he was released from prison this May. Almost five months came and went with no new music from the pair (who put out joint tape Free Bricks in 2011), while Young Thug, Migos, Peewee Longway, and even outsiders from Drake to Desiigner, released tracks with Wop. But at long last, and out of basically nowhere, the Astronaut and the Trap God reunited earlier this week on an EP-length sequel to their first collab tape. 

While the slapdash Free Bricks 2 doesn't fully live up to the duo's potential, in my opinion, it is a nice addition to their collab history, of which the tape's first volume is only but a piece. From Future's massive Streetz Calling, to Gucci's Trap God, to Mike Will Made It's Est. In 1989 series, this partnership has stayed alive for almost six years of successful mixtapes. 

They've left behind a trail of indelible under-the-radar gems, and today we're tracking down the five best. Honorable mentions are below. 

The first of several tracks to have Future handling hook duties and Zaytoven on the beat, the typical-but-catchy "The Way It Go" is the first collab that I can find evidence of. Fittingly, the rookie at the time, Future, gets washed by the veteran. Gucci's verse completely blows the roof off of this track:

I rock red diamonds like a maxi pad
And yellow diamonds like a taxi cab
My closet look like a smash and grab
My driveway look like a launching pad
My English broke, so I'm slurring words
Imma zoo keeper, I'm holdin' birds
My swag absurd, can't be put in words
You old rappers, kicked to the curb

But Future holds his own in his second verse, setting up closer matches to come. 

The only track from the new tape to make the cut, Free Bricks 2 opener is pretty clearly the standout. Gucci's opening couplet, "Gucci Mane La Flare and to diss me is risky, Future pourin' lean like it's motherfuckin' whiskey," is enough to hook you from the get-go, but Southside's stately beat provides quite a different backdrop than they usually favor, and both rise to the occasion. Future's five-year progression from "The Way It Go" is illustrated perfectly by the way he seamlessly lets melody flow over from the hook to his verse, much less choppy in his switch-ups than he used to be.

One of the several dozen songs Guwop dropped for his one day World War III extravaganza, "Confused" has both guys taking a perfectly ordinary Zay beat and elevating it higher than any other artist could hope to. They play off of each others' flows, and Future's hook melody, and it all culminates in a shared third verse where their chemistry has never been more apparent. 

The only track on the list with a Gucci hook, "On Some Other Shit" is simple and straightforward enough to demand it-- Future even ditches melody entirely on his verse. With some retro synths, bottom-scraping bass, and in-your-face percussion, this is the closest Fewtch and Wop got to their very own Clipse track. As a bonus, we get another shared third verse.

This duo's best track is also their most unconventional. "Fuck Da World" is a cold, Mike Will Made It-produced track that finds Future and Gucci fluctuating between nihilism and emotion, mourning the loss of various friends while turning a middle finger to everyone else. Future's verse is probably the most depressed-sounding thing he had rapped to date, and paved the way for his post-Ciara 2015 streak:

My uncle Ronnie died from smoking cane
My cousin suicidal, he blowed out his brain
They gave my n*gga 30 years, he in a chain gang
I just had to drop a 40 racks up on my ring