Last week, Atlanta’s Future dropped Hndrxx, his sixth studio album and the follow-up to his self-titled album that was released only a week prior. With his third release in three weeks rumoured to be coming this Friday, and with his last two albums getting extremely mixed reviews, it raises the question: quality or quantity?

There’s certainly a sweet spot when it comes to the consistency of releases. While releasing too much music devalues the final product, can not releasing enough be just as damaging? Think back to the hype that Frank Ocean’s Blonde generated solely through vague announcements over four years. Sure it became painful at times but Blonde’s eventual release was met with critical acclaim, not because of it’s long lead up, but it’s undoubtable quality.

Can this be said for any of Future’s solo projects?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT1KCigshPs

There’s definitely a point where this ‘sweet spot’ can run it’s course and cause problems. Take Jay Electronica’s elusive Act II: Patents Of Nobility (The Turn) for example. Fans have been waiting almost ten years for this release, and it’s almost getting to the point where its relevance has passed, yet you can’t say that that’s something which has devalued Jay as an emcee. His sparsely distributed guest verses are continuously praised and are what keep him relevant and a point of discussion despite his solo silence.

There is a strong argument against constantly releasing music, the work ethic of say Gucci Mane for example. Gucci has now released a whopping 67 mixtapes, 3 of which were released last year alongside two more full-length studio albums and three EPs. Was this in any way wise? If he was to have picked the most relevant and heavy hitting of the singles and compiled them into one release, would it have been more widely praised and have enjoyed longer relevance? Sure these albums did score sales, but with his eleventh studio album Drop Top Wop already announced, are any of these past releases even going to maintain any relevance once the next Gucci project drops?

On the other hand, this quality approach is something that has worked for countless artists even on the small, independent scale. The now Grammy award winning Chance The Rapper had his first claim to fame with his debut mixtape 10 Days, similarly Joey Badass’ 1999, ASAP Rocky’s Live. Love. A$AP or even J.Cole’s first ever tape The Come Up; these were projects which were given at least a year of space and helped embellish the status of these artists as cutting edge emcees.

That being said, there’s a definite argument for the quantity approach too. Yet another Southern emcee, the infamous Young Thug, released three mixtapes last year, all of which managed to garner positive praise. This was especially true with the last of the trio Jeffery, which was named among the best releases of the year by several publications. And it’s not just Thugger either, 2016’s man of the year Anderson .Paak released two studio albums (one solo and one as half of NxWorries), and appeared on eleven guest features in 2016 alone. Despite what could be seen as flooding the market, he was celebrated as one of the year’s most influential artists across multiple genres.

German composer Hans Zimmer put it interestingly, saying, “we have a McDonald’s generation of music consumers,” in the sense that listeners want something quick, simple, and easily digestible. This is what the quantity approach preys on; why have a six-month marketing campaign teasing a handful of singles, when you can release two full-length albums and have a constant turnover of music.

The problem with this discussion is that ‘quality’ is subjective and is entirely a matter of opinion. You might love Future’s new albums, and love the fact that your favourite artist has released two hours of music in two weeks alone. Therefore perhaps ‘quantity’ as a synonym for substandard quality isn’t quite true; after all, through quantity comes quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9L3j-lVLwk

Image: Billboard

Gucci Mane is an unstoppable force. Despite only being out of prison for about six months, he’s dropped an album, multiple projects, and is already working on more. Overnight he also proposed to his girlfriend on the kiss cam at an Atlanta Hawks game!

Yesterday it was revealed that he and Lil Uzi Vert were to release a collaborative mixtape titled 1017 vs The World, and the seven track release is now upon us. The tracks feature production from a diverse range of helping hands, including C Note, Manny Fresh, Zaytoven, DP Beatz and GloHan Beats.

The mixtape marks Gucci’s fourth release this year, and Uzi’s third. Gucci dropped another collaborative mixtape just two weeks ago, a collaboration with Future entitled Free Bricks 2K16, which was reportedly written and recorded in a single day.

It’s unclear whether 1017 Vs The World was just as quick or if it took a little longer to flesh out, but judging by his manic work ethic, and the late announcement coming via social media, it’s likely that this happened pretty quickly too.

In any case, check it out below:

Read more: Gucci Mane makes Highest Chart Appearance on Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles”

Read more: “I was numb” – Gucci Mane Swaps Lean for Clean

Surprise! Atlanta kings Gucci Mane and Future have reignited their fruitful collaborative relationship, dropping the heavily anticipated sequel to their 2011 joint tape Free Bricks completely unannounced. Titled Free Bricks 2K16: Zone 6 Edition, this features six new tracks, recorded in one single day. It doesn’t get much fresher than that.

Free Bricks 2K16 is Gucci and Future’s first collaboration since 2013’s Confused, and features the pair’s signature styles gloriously paired with only the freshest producers, Metro Boomin‘, Southside, and Zaytoven.

Speaking to Miss Info, Gucci explained how the pair linked up once again, and just how new this tape really is.

“Last night, me and Future met up in Atlanta. We ditched our entourages, we didn’t book my usual studio, or his usual studio… it’s like we knew we wanted to fly under the radar. There was like this positive competition in the room. I’d hear him go in on a verse, and I knew I had to step up.”

“He would say, the same back, and we knocked out 6 songs so crazy that I knew we couldn’t just sit on it. We talked about recording some more, adding more songs. But I didn’t want to over think it or over plan things. Even Future didn’t think we were dropping this tonight. This is the freshest it can get. These joints ain’t even 24 hours old. That’s like bringing you in the studio with us.”

There’s no doubt this really is Guwop’s time. After being released from prison five months early back in May, he’s already released 3 projects and just received first ever number 1 single with a feature on Rae Sremmurd’s Black Beatles. Thought he was done for the year? Think again, Gucci Mane is already gearing up to release his solo album The Return Of  East Atlanta Santa due December 17, a project which he said might feature 21 Savage, Young M.A., Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty, and “anything that’s hot”.

https://soundcloud.com/gucci-mane-official-1/sets/free-bricks_zone-6-edition_fbg1017

Image: Soundcloud – Gucci Mane

If you’ve heard of the viral Mannequin Challenge, you’ve likely heard Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane on Black Beatles. It’s the track that all the best mannequin videos have in the background, and it’s a pretty big hit. So much of a hit that it has entered the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10. Sitting at number 9, it’s Gucci Mane’s highest appearance on the charts.

If you are unaware of what the mannequin challenge actually is (or you’re just sick of these damn kids and their internet memes), here’s the rundown. Basically, it’s a “challenge” where a group of people all pose in completely still, looking as if time has frozen. The camera person pans around and shows everyone who’s frozen, and it looks really cool. If done well, it should looks like a scene from The Matrix, albeit with less leather.

https://twitter.com/98diggs/status/794303810952986624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane have both gotten in on the trend as well, tweeting a video of them doing the challenge on tour.

The track is an absolute banger, and it’s a great high for Gucci Mane. Prior to Black Beatles, Gucci’s top chart appearance was No Type, which peaked at 16. Rae Srummurd’s track has also claimed the number 5 spot in the Billboard streaming tracks chart, and with the attachment of the meme, it shows no signs of slowing soon.

Image: ShakeAMix

Some people really have a knack for turning situations to account, but few people succeed in really making incarceration work for them. Gucci Mane has not only reportedly made a cool $1 million while he was incarcerated, he also seems to have transformed his personal life. The 36 year old rapper made no secret of his addictions to alcohol and drugs in the past, in fact he was more likely to extol the lean lifestyle. These days he is preaching sobriety and self help.

Having moved from a federal prison to house arrest at the end of May this year, Gucci is serving the final months of a sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon. He’s also been working hard on his music, and today has come the release of his new album Everybody Looking, which was recorded in just six days. In a new interview with the New York Times, it becomes apparent that he is aware of exactly how lucky he’s been to serve just three and half years; “I knew that these people was trying to give me 20 years, 30 years… I dodged a life-shattering moment, damn near a career-ending injury.”

Gucci Mane in 2013. Image: John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated Press

In the same interview, it also seems that Gucci’s stint in prison was a lucky – if unpleasant – break from his addictions. Describing how he attempted rehab previously, it was only at the start of his recent incarceration that he finally decided to truly kick the habit. Speaking of the initial withdrawal, Gucci likens it to “Death.” Continuing that “It feel like death. Your body just craving lean bad. Stomach tore up, can’t think straight. Just mad at the world. Temper so short, so violent, so aggressive. So just rude and toxic.”

Smoking weed and drinking alcohol was at the centre of Gucci’s formative years, add in lean (a drink with with prescription-strength cough syrup) since the age of 21 with the occasional pill or dose of ecstasy. He tells how he felt like he “couldn’t make music sober… I associated everything with being high…. In hindsight I see it for what it was: I was a drug addict. I was naïve to the fact that I was numb.”

Turning to exercise and prayer, the Bible and Deepak Chopra in prison, Gucci appears to have turned his physical and mental health around. Despite constantly referencing his wealth and success, his newfound appreciation for sobriety could well spell even further growth for the influential rapper. Todd Moscowitz, of his management team, comments how “Every single time that he was about to break through is exactly when he went back to jail.”

His transformation is accompanied by a decent amount of self realisation, talking about how it’s not only “tough to be a Gucci fan,” but that “It’s been tough to be a Gucci friend, a Gucci sibling, a Gucci girlfriend or a Gucci partner. I done took people through a lot, man.” Now on his way to freedom, he’s intent on focusing on himself and his music.

Image via New York Times

Image: Damon Winter / New York Times

He’s already laid down and released tracks since commencing house arrest, featuring artists like Kanye West and Drake, and the fifteen track Everybody Looking is available now – you can stream it below. With a room in his house papered with lyrics written in prison, Gucci holds a reminder to himself. “I made like a pact to myself: When I get out, no matter what happens, I must record these songs,” he said “It was so real when I wrote it.”

Image: Damon Winter/The New York Times

 

Gucci Mane has wasted no time at all since getting out of prison last month. We already know that his first album in half a decade, Everybody Looking, is set to drop on 22nd July, and now the video for his single First Day Out Tha Feds has been released. You can watch the video exclusively on World Star Hip Hop here.

The Video God-directed clip features multiple Gucci doppelgangers roaming around his luxe pad, and is probably both a reference to that clone theory and a reflection of how it must feel for him to be stuck on house arrest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUdNdTcQ9iI

Immediately following his early release, the Trap God headed straight to the studio where he bunkered down for six days to record the album. Everybody Looking enlists the help of major star producers Mike WiLL Made-It (you might be familiar with his work on Formation and We Can’t Stop), Zaytoven, and Drumma Boy, as is set to feature Kanye West and Young Thug among others. Other singles All My Children and Back On Road (Feat. Drake) are already available for your listening pleasure.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0NkO7GtMQ4]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ArjARANRD8]

As if all of that wasn’t enough, Mane will celebrate the release of his long-awaited album with Gucci & Friends. The event will be his first full scale live show since his release (he recently sold out his Welcome Home Party at Atlanta’s Mansion Elan) and will see him joined on-stage by a bunch of huge, as yet unannounced, names.

Image: World Star Hip Hop

Gucci Mane has got to be one of the prolific people in the entire game. Seriously, love him or hate him, you can’t deny the incredible hustle: in just a few weeks since his release from prison, he’s released new music and numerous collaborations, announced a huge comeback concert, performed live, and has now shared the news that he’ll be dropping an entire new album titled Everybody Looking in under a month from now.

It’s currently unclear whether the album will feature entirely new music, or if it will contain tracks recorded before, or during his latest prison sentence. Gucci released a number of projects while incarcerated, the vast majority of which was written before he entered. To consider that he’d be able to write, produce and record an entire album in a month is hardly far-fetched – he’s been known to write and record up to 13 songs a day.

So far, the only information revealed has been the album name, Everybody Looking, and the artwork which you can see below.

This what ya’ll been askin for. So here it come “Everybody Looking” JULY 22!

A photo posted by Gucci Mane (@laflare1017) on

The album comes out the same day as his Gucci Mane & Friends concert, which will no doubt feature many of his most important proteges.

Image: Instagram

Having just wrapped up another of his jail sentences for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane has busted back onto the scene hard and is making up for some serious lost time. The release of First Day Out Tha Feds, literally the day he got out, was featured on Champions – a cut from Kanye’s Cruel Winter compilation, and he wasted no time in announcing his Gucci Mane & Friends concert tour in September.

One might be inclined to think his return is almost too good to be true. Isn’t this all just a little too convenient? The perfect little happy ending to a tale packed full of illegal firearms? Some people online (trust) are feeling exactly the same way, and have come to the logical conclusion that all of us sheeple are simply too blind to see:

Gucci Mane is still in prison, and the man parading around as him is actually, a clone.

Though you might dismiss it as just another crazy conspiracy theory at first, there’s at least a little physical evidence to support the claims. The Gucci out of jail looks very different to the Gucci that went in two years ago. He’s slimmed down a tonne, gained plenty of muscle mass, and his signature ice cream cone face-tattoo has almost completely disappeared. Twitter has, understandably, been going nuts over the claims, with people compiling comparisons to illustrate their point properly. Check ‘em below:

https://twitter.com/_therealhoney/status/745105028403200000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

“Gucci Mane” himself (whoever that may be) has even addressed the rumours, taking to Snapchat on Tuesday to “neither support or deny the accusations” – obviously loving it.

In the end, there are two ways that this situation can play out. Either this Gucci Mane is the real Gucci Mane and he continues on with what he’s doing and we all get on with our lives, or this is actually a clone, the real Gucci Mane manages to break out of wherever he’s being held prisoner and we see the craziest freestyle battle the world has ever known. I think it goes without saying which of these is the far better option.

https://twitter.com/IamAkademiks/status/745341152031875072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Image: Jack Colquhoun for Howl & Echoes

Idle hands are the devil’s plaything, and Gucci Mane is making sure that he’s busy as hell since being released from prison last month. Not only has he released new music, guest verses, and has already played his first live show, but he’s now announced a Gucci Mane & Friends concert, taking place in a month from now in Atlanta, Georgia.

Since his release from prison, among other things Gucci has dropped First Day Out Tha Feds, and guest verses on both Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music single Champions, and Back on Road by Drake.

The Gucci Mane & Friends concert is set to take place at 8 pm on July 22, at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. As to exactly who those friends are, we are currently unsure, but no doubt more information will be made available soon. Considering his heavy hand in the career of many, not to mention his frequent collaborations, we have no doubt it’ll be pretty amazing.

This isn’t actually the first time we’ve heard about this concert – back in February he announced plans to tour in September (he was supposed to remain incarcerated until September):

Having been released early, the concert has now been announced.

Tickets for the Gucci Mane & Friends tour will be on sale this Friday 24 and 10 am EST. You can grab tickets here.

Image: Rolling Stone 

It’s been a huge few weeks for the legendary Atlanta trap-lord Gucci Mane. Since getting out prison three months early on house arrest, there was no wait to get back in the studio. Immediately announcing that a mixtape would drop the next day, (which sadly didn’t happen), we instead have been treated to three incredible tunes.

Initially we got First Day Out Tha Feds, a celebration of his release produced by none other than Mike WiLL Made-It; a track which made a million streams look easy. A hard act to follow, Gucci managed to raise the bar, dropping Back On Road, a heavy hitting anthem which put past beefs aside, with Drake joining Gucci on the chorus. Soon after this we were even presented with a Gucci feature as he joined acclaimed rappers 2 Chainz, Big Sean and more, on Kanye’s track Champions.

His work ethic in such a short space of time is definitely incredible, therefore to celebrate he decided to host a welcome home party at a nearby club recently. This being Gucci Mane’s first show since his release from prison, the crowd at the sold-out show were obviously going wild, turning up to the new and old tunes alike. Watch below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y99HOjRUXRM

Image: Hypetrak