Gucci Mane

Gucci Mane, the Atlanta rapper who leads the New 1017 imprint, helped shape trap music from its earliest days by flooding the market with albums and mixtapes in rapid succession until a prison term altered the course of his story. While locked up he kept supporters engaged by dropping more than two dozen mixtapes, then reappeared as a revered figure in the genre and committed himself to constructive choices. He sustained that momentum by issuing over a dozen projects within a few short years, among them the post-release standouts Everybody Looking in 2016, Mr. Davis in 2017, and Woptober II in 2019, each of which reached the Top Ten on the album charts. In the opening years of the 2020s the executive unveiled his fifteenth solo album Ice Daddy and his sixteenth Breath of Fresh Air, plus the New 1017 group releases So Icy Boyz, So Icy Gang: The ReUp, and So Icy Boyz 22.

Radric Davis entered the world in Bessemer, Alabama, and began crafting rhymes and poems while still in elementary school. He relocated to Atlanta with his mother during fourth grade, and by the start of high school he had already stepped inside a recording studio. The flashy style and image of artists such as Big Daddy Kane inspired him to set his lyrics to beats. His first single, “Black Tee,” gained traction locally and secured a deal with Big Cat Records. Trap House, his debut album, arrived via that label in May 2005 and topped Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. The track “Icy” crossed over nationally, yet a dispute with collaborator Young Jeezy led to murder charges in Georgia. That clash launched the lengthy saga that would come to define his public persona.

The disagreement with Young Jeezy centered on ownership of the song and produced multiple diss records exchanged by the pair. In the same month Trap House came out, Mane faced arrest for murder after firing at five men who entered a friend’s home and threatened his life. One of the deceased assailants had ties to Young Jeezy, who denied any role in the episode. In court Mane maintained he acted in self-defense, and Georgia prosecutors dismissed the charges for insufficient evidence by January 2006. Still, his encounters with the legal system persisted for another decade.

Freed that same month on unrelated matters, he returned immediately to the studio and completed his second album Hard to Kill, issued in October. He repurposed “Go Head” from the first project as the lead single to compensate for lost promotion time on Trap House. December 2009 brought The State vs. Radric Davis, his second proper studio album, after a flood of mixtapes. The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted appeared in 2010 and featured Estelle, Nicki Minaj, and Wyclef. The 2011 “street album” The Return of Mr. Zone 6 included the single “Mouth Full of Gold” with Birdman, while two joint projects—1017 Bricksquad Presents...Ferrari Boyz with Waka Flocka Flame and Baytl with V-Nasty—also surfaced that year. A second installment of the mixtape series, The State vs. Radric Davis II: The Caged Bird Sings, arrived in 2013 and carried verses from Migos, Young Scooter, Peewee Longway, Verse Simmonds, Young Dolph, Rocko, and Young Thug.

Late in 2013 his legal troubles reached a climax when he accepted a plea on a firearms charge, remaining incarcerated until May 2016. Nearly thirty mixtapes emerged during those two years.

The year 2016 proved pivotal. His ninth studio album Everybody Looking dropped mere months after his release on Guwop Enterprises, entered the Billboard 200 at number two, and showcased Drake, Kanye West, and Young Thug. Five months later he followed with his tenth album Woptober, which brought Rick Ross, Travis Scott, and Young Dolph. He also claimed his first Billboard number-one single as a featured artist on Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles.” Return of the East Atlanta Santa, his third project of the year, closed 2016 and landed inside the Billboard Top 20.

Momentum carried into 2017. After the Shawty Redd EP 3 for Free, he teamed with Metro Boomin for Drop Top Wop, released on the anniversary of his freedom and featuring Offset, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, and Young Dolph. Later that year Mr. Davis, his eleventh studio album, arrived with contributions from Migos on “I Get the Bag,” the Weeknd on “Curve,” Nicki Minaj on “Make Love,” Monica on “We Ride,” and additional guests; it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. El Gato: The Human Glacier, his third official album of 2017 and eighteenth project to reach the Top Ten on the rap chart, was produced by Southside and peaked inside the overall Top 30.

Gucci Mane appeared on Migos’ “CC” and OSBS’ “I Know” in 2018 before ending the year with his thirteenth album Evil Genius, which recruited Quavo, 21 Savage, Kevin Gates, Migos, Lil Yachty, and Bruno Mars. Delusions of Grandeur, his fourteenth effort, became his fifth Billboard 200 Top Ten album in 2019 and included Justin Bieber, Anuel AA, Meek Mill, and others. October brought Woptober II, the sequel to the 2016 mixtape, along with singles “Richer Than Errybody” and “Big Booty” plus DaBaby, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. He finished 2019 with the third volume of his holiday series, East Atlanta Santa 3.

He began 2020 by signing Ola Runt and joining the Atlanta rapper on the mixtape Beggin for a Body. That summer the compilation So Icy Summer showcased Foogiano and Pooh Shiesty alongside Future, Young Thug, Lil Baby, and more. Months afterward So Icy Gang, Vol. 1 spotlighted his New 1017 roster; both compilations reached the Top 50.

Gucci Mane resumed solo work in 2021 with the single “Shit Crazy” featuring BIG30, which appeared on his fifteenth album Ice Daddy. The project also contained “Like 34 & 8” with Pooh Shiesty, whose mixtape Shiesty Season debuted at number three and burnished the 1017 label’s reputation. October 2021 delivered another New 1017 compilation that introduced Hotboy Wes, BiC Fizzle, and Enchanting while highlighting Foogiano and Pooh Shiesty. The joint release So Icy Boyz arrived the same month and included Quavo on “Sno Cone” and Lil Baby on “Whole Lotta Ice.” Additional tracks in 2022—“Rumors” with Lil Durk, “Publicity Stunt,” and “Blood All on It” with Key Glock and Young Dolph—landed on So Icy Gang: The ReUp. So Icy Boyz 22 followed in 2022, carrying “Break Out Dat Cake” with Sett and “Gucci Flow” with Finesse2tymes. In 2023 “King Snipe” featuring Kodak Black reached number 39 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. That same year he issued his sixteenth album Breath of Fresh Air, which charted at number 141 on the Billboard 200. Reflecting on the losses of Young Dolph and Takeoff as well as the legal difficulties facing Pooh Shiesty and Foogiano, he deliberately shifted toward introspective themes centered on ordinary life’s positives. By year’s end he also collaborated with B.G. on the album Choppers & Bricks.