By NailzBuck50

There seems to be a strong climate in main stream hip-hop that is about gimmicks, repetitiveness and lyrics that make absolutely no damn sense and while we are not big supporters of rappers that take this approach there is one that we kind of gave a pass to just because of his grind and his back ground and what he has been though. We are not here to hate but merely to explain why we can’t knock Gucci Manes Hustle.

I can’t knock a person for failing, but I will harass them for not trying. Radric “Gucci Mane” Davis has been trying his entire career. I remember when I heard “Black Tee” and “So Icy” I said “ok…..cool…….not bad…not good….let’s wait and see”.

The response in the street was mixed. Some people liked his music, and some didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, when 2 things came on in certain spots, the street cats lost their minds. I think numerous people felt dude wouldn’t last 2 years, but the streets were starting to take sides with him. Especially after his 2005 murder charge (yeah I know it’s silly but all it did was send his street credibility through the roof) which was dropped by the D.A. later on.

Just as everyone though his music career was pretty much done (including myself) “Pills” came out and it rocked in the clubs throughout the southeastern region and spread like wildfire from there on out. After “Hard to Kill” his follow-up to “Trap House” The critics were saying the same, but every now and then in the streets I’d hear “Aye, Gucci’s new album isn’t bad”. So I pushed the critics to the side, and listened to all of Gucci’s music, including the mixtapes. The result: cool music. Not good, not bad, could be better, but once again we’ll see.

Then one night I was at a club back home, and “Freaky Gurl” came on I saw the reaction and all I could say was…”Dude is going to be a star, I don’t know for how long, but he’ll be one”.

The next day, I went to the record store and purchased “Back to the Traphouse“, and I couldn’t pretend at all about this album. The production had improved immensely. The quality of the songs had gotten better. Not a lot, but just enough. You could tell that his fan base was growing. Every other car that passed by my house that day was playing BTTT. No Matter what it was, the internet, a cell phone, or an ipod, something to do with Gucci Mane was going to be on it.

So we come to now, with his new song “Wasted” which right now is at #3 on the Billboard Hip-Hop charts. He’s one of the most sought after artist as far as features. At the end of the day the dude has done two things a lot of artist aren’t able to do right now: remain relevant, and build a loyal fan base. A lot of the people who supported Gucci Mane are still around, and actually BUYING his albums. Yeah he doesn’t have record breaking soundscans, and yeah he doesn’t make amazing breathtaking songs, but one thing I can say is this. He said at the BET hip-hop awards that he is taking his sobriety very seriously, He’s trying…….