Gucci Mane: Trap God

Trap music is a style of rap that glorifies the raw reality of the scene in most urban areas. “Trapping” is a slang term that resembles drug dealing and the lifestyle that comes with it. Most trap music has lyrics that put a spotlight on violence, drugs, guns, cars, poverty, struggle, money, etc. There are many pioneers of this sub-genre of rap, such as: T.I., DJ Screw, Three 6 Mafia, Young Jeezy, and Waka Flocka Flame. None of these names however had the cultural impact in the streets like Radric Davis, better known as Gucci Mane.

Despite Gucci always repping Atlanta, he was actually born in Bessemer, Alabama. He lived there for nine years before moving to Georgia due to family issues. His family bounced around Atlanta constantly moving due to their financial instability and Davis was moving around from one neighborhood in poverty to the next.

Due to the lack of income in their household, Gucci and his older brother started dealing drugs in the Atlanta area. After awhile of gaining both positive and negative attention, people began to recognize him as the guy to contact if you needed any type of drugs. Violence tends to grow when somebody sells long enough and after Gucci was robbed the first time, he never went anywhere without a gun on his waist.

Despite Gucci’s rugged lifestyle, he was a bright kid that ended up graduating high school with a 3.0 grade point average and was granted a scholarship to attend Georgia Perimeter College. Davis’ time at college was cut short as he was arrested for possession of crack cocaine in his sophomore year. He was kicked out of school and went to jail on a sentence of 90 days.

After being kicked out of school and doing time in county jail, Gucci was put on probation and started taking music more seriously. Davis already had a known name in the Atlantic area and distributing his music was as effortless it was selling drugs. He had natural skills in communicating and selling products to people. As his following grew in Atlanta he began collaborating with local artists such as Zaytoven and Young Jeezy.

In 2006, Gucci released his debut album, Trap House and followed up the next year with his second album, Hard to Kill. Both of these albums had positive reviews and put Gucci on the map beyond Atlanta. His debut album made it into the top 20 on the Billboard charts for hip-hop/rap albums. On his second album, his hit song, “Freaky Gurl,” placed at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100. One year later, “Freaky Gurl,” was remixed with features by Ludacris and Lil Kim.

As Gucci Mane’s clout and following continued to sky rocket, so did his issues with substance abuse. Besides the use of weed and cocaine, he also suffered a severe addiction with sipping on codeine. Due to the thick and heavy consistency of the cough syrup he was drinking, his health issues became apparent.

Over the next few years Gucci Mane spent most of his time in the studio. He constantly recorded music and had a vault of unreleased verses and uncompleted songs. Davis spent a decent amount of time in jail due to different cases of unregistered weapons and drug possession. While Gucci was in prison, he had mixtapes and albums dropping left and right because they were already recorded. She even while he was locked up, his popularity only grew. This gave him a chance to reflect on his life and come out of jail a better, cleaner person. Gucci has been sober ever since coming out of jail and has dealt with no reports of relapse.