The Trap God is fucked. If he goes back to jail, Gucci will not recover. Not just legally, but career momentum-wise. Gucci has had musical peaks like this before - but now it's more of a Lil B, Internet underground-built type of momentum that bubbled and spilled over into the mainstream by-way-of underground "edge"-seeking celebs such as Drake. Yes, THAT Aubrey Drake Graham just dedicated an entire OVO Sound Radio podcast to the Zone 6 veteran. The same dude who just hit a BILLION VIEWS on stream networks for his latest album, 'Views'. Yes, Gucci has (re)arrived. But can he hold onto this massive amount of momentum? Guwop's work ethic points to yes. It's what's kept him in the game this long, with this many hits to the vest on his chest. Luckily, Gucci's made sure his catalog is Teflon in terms of sheer volume. Gucci Mane released about an mixtape a month while incarcerated for the past several years.
I remember just like it was yesterday when the whole BRRRReakdown occurred. I thought it was a definite wrap, for real. (Career) curtains. Gucci had (both literally and figuratively) dodged bullets before; but this time he was out here calling out mega-stars (Nicki Minaj) and claiming Minaj slept her way to the top (how original, Gucc) and actually attempting to sell-off his lucrative BSM catalog and even individual artist contacts. I'm still not sure if Young Scooter is on the roster (he is). But worse than Gucci's Twitter tirade was the simple fact that he was a felon found to be in possession of a firearm while also brandishing said firearm in an East Atlanta shopping mall. Probably high on cough syrup. And there-in lies the root of (most of) Gucci's problems. His heavy narcotic addiction.
Everyone likes to minimize using cough syrup to get loaded - those same people think that prescription painkillers can't lead to heroin. But go turn-on CNN or MSNBC lately and you'll see just how innocent those painkillers turned-out to be for our nations' young adults right now (spoiler: we're in an opiate/heroin epidemic). Cough syrup gets such a minimal amount of cautious care because, well, everyone and their mother (who's probably the one who gave you a spoonful in your youth) has used it. But we've used spoonfuls. Gucci Mane was drinking entire pints of this stuff (short answer: your not even supposed to be able to get an Rx for a pint of syrup). Plus, he was drinking them in a single day's time. It's basically heroin-type euphoria mixed with mental confusion/erratic behavior from the high levels of promethazine (no, Gucci wasn't getting white-boy-wasted on Robotussin, y'all) in a doubled-up styrofoam cup.
While Gucci was locked/up in the ATL, an amazing thing happened. An aspiring rapper that Gucci had helped foster the career of, signed to his label, and who looked/up to Gucci as the mentor and rap father-figure he was - blew the FUCK up in the mainstream. That rapper was Young Thug. Nobody could've guessed Thugger's extremely non/sequitur rap-style and garbled, mumbled lyrics would catch fire - but they did in the summer of 2014 with the monster single 'Lifestyle' by Rich Gang. Though the single was credited to Rich Gang, the obvious stars were Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan. Rich Gang is Birdman's creation, tho. And due to Young Thug's success, Birdman naturally wanted a piece of the action. But Birdman was sadly mistaken. For such is the respect that Thugger has for Gucci, that he claimed BSM at every possible chance and even claimed to call Gucci once a day in jail, at least.
Such is the mystery of Gucci Mane. The enigma. He's like a street baller that's as good as Jordan, but never got his NBA chance due to his cocaine addiction. You don't need to believe me, just look at the numbers. The history of choosing newcomer rappers on the path to success that just needed that little extra push. And Gucci provided. Time and time again. He also went to prison. Time and time again. Usually, this would be so much more than cause for alarm; jail has straight ruined lesser rappers' careers. But this isn't a lesser rapper. This is Gucci Mane. The same Gucci Mane who successfully shot his way out of a brazen armed robbery attempt on his life. Then BEAT the murder charge. The same Gucci Mane who went to war with Young Jeezy and the goddamn Black Mafia Family and lived to tell the tale. And not from a wheelchair or breathing through a freakin' tube. Gucci was able to, and continues to succeed, due to that impeccable work ethic; mixed-in with a few solid cats who assist Gucci with his internet following, mastering tracks, promotion, etc. But even a cat only has nine lives. And Gucci might be on his last. But now, in June 2016, Gucci looks better than ever. He's physically great; the Pillsbury D-Boy tummy is gone. Mentally, he seems to be in a better space as well. No erratic behavior or brandishing firearms....yet. It's only been a few days though. Obviously, we still have a few months' wait to see if this sticks. Maybe years. But as long as Gucci Mane sticks to the 12-step (and general life) mantra of one-day-at-a-time, he'll be just fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment