BRIEF TALE OF GUCCI MANE ( RADRIC DELANTIC DAVIS)

BRIEF TALE OF GUCCI MANE ( RADRIC DELANTIC DAVIS)

Love him or hate him, He is the man of the moment, Atlanta based rapper, Radric Delantic Davis mostly known as Gucci Mane in the music world. One thing is however damn sure, there’s no denying Gucci Mane has always found ways to revitalised his music career and fame at the right time even when he gets into serious trouble.

Gucci Mane was born in the outskirts of Birmingham but was taught all he knew in the streets of Atlanta, the sweet mouthed MC with an exquisite flow has spent the better part of the past 15 years overcoming just about every obstacle thrown his way including many of those which he brought upon himself.

His realness is of fantasy proportions. He has released more mixtapes than anybody, got in more trouble with the law than anybody, spun off more protégés, recorded more regional hits. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to describe him as the talented bad boy. While growing up Gucci Mane was involved with drug related issues though he was a talented individual but couldn’t just stop himself from landing at the other side of the law.

Gucci Mane is the founder of 1017 Records. He also helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre Trap music, alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy.

As a talented dude who he is, he is also a master at going and coming out of prison, In April 2001, Davis was arrested on cocaine charges and sentenced to 90 days in county jail. On May 10, 2005, Davis was attacked by a group of men at a house in Decatur, Georgia. Davis and his companions shot at the group, killing one. The corpse of one of the attackers, Pookie Loc, was found later behind a nearby middle school. Davis turned himself in to police investigators on May 19, 2005, and was subsequently charged with murder. Davis claimed that the shots fired by him and his party were in self-defense.

 The DeKalb County district attorney's office dropped the murder charge in January 2006 due to insufficient evidence. The previous October, in an unrelated matter, Davis had pleaded no contest to a charge of aggravated assault for assaulting a nightclub promoter the previous June; at the time the murder charge was dropped, he was serving a six-month county jail sentence for this. Davis was released from jail in late January 2006.

In September 2008, Davis was arrested for a probation violation for completing only 25 out of 600 community service hours following his 2005 arrest for aggravated assault. He was sentenced to a year in the county jail but was released after six months. He was incarcerated in the Fulton County jail for probation violation and released on May 12, 2010.

When his next album failed to connect and news came that he’d been arrested again, It was assumed that was it. I thought he’d blown all of his shots and wasn’t destined to be one of the greats—that the Gucci Mane era was done. However, we should have known better. He hadn’t accepted defeat before, so why would he then? In fact, Gucci’s whole career refutes the idea that artists are either winners or losers. The lane he carved was all his own, and wide enough not just for himself, but a slew of other MCs, DJs, and producers in what would grow to be one of music’s most electric and enduring scenes.

In terms of is exploit in the music realm, in 2005, Davis released his independent debut album entitled Trap House, which featured the single "Icy" with Young Jeezy. Trap House may not have arrived with the fanfare of other LP’s from that time, but was considered a success for an independent artist. The album creeped into the top 20 of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and landing at the top spot on the Billboard Heatseekers Album chart.

Despite not having the promotional roll-out of a major label artist, Gucci was likewise ready to pull in respectable visitor stars, including Bun B, Killer Mike, Lil Scrappy, Jody Breeze and Khujo of Goodie Mobb.

The rapper would have a landmark year in 2016. His ninth studio album, Everybody Looking, arrived mere months after his release from prison. Issued on his own label, Guwop Enterprises, the LP debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and boasted high-profile guest appearances such as Drake, Kanye West, and Young Thug.

Keeping up with his prolific reputation, Gucci Mane released his tenth album just five months later. Woptober featured Rick Ross, Travis Scott, and Young Dolph. Guwop also scored his first Billboard number one single with the Rae Sremmurd hit "Black Beatles." To close out his busy 2016, he dropped his third album of the year, Return of the East Atlanta Santa, which debuted in the Billboard Top 20.

Gucci Mane's career renaissance continued into 2017. After issuing the Shawty Redd collaborative EP 3 for Free, he joined forces with another producer, Metro Boomin, for Drop Top Wop, which was issued on the one-year anniversary of his release from prison. His eighth effort -- counting the mixtapes and EPs -- to arrive in the year following his release, Drop Top Wop featured appearances by Offset, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, and Young Dolph. Later that year, Guccireleased Mr. Davis, his 11th official studio album. The effort featured guests like Migos ("I Get the Bag"), the Weeknd("Curve"), Nicki Minaj ("Make Love"), Monica ("We Ride"), and many more.

Since, Gucci has continued to release music at an astonishing proportion. His story has become a saga, touching artists and executives across generations and fans around the world. Yet even as his life has played out in public, much about Gucci Mane has remained a mystery, clouded by speculation and myth.