Gucci Mane Is Sharp As Ever on “First Day Out tha Feds”

In 2009, “First Day Out” was defiant. Gucci had been in and out of jail and was rendering the grimmest parts of Zone 6 in jarring detail, but was better known to national audiences for his love of language, his onomatopoeic ad-libs, or for his ability to channel joy. He was at the height of his commercial powers: Warner was planning The State v. Radric Davis, and by the end of the year “Wasted” and “Lemonade” would be embedded in every rap fan’s DNA. But buried at the end of that homecoming was a pointed question: “Did you miss me? Or miss my raps, bitch?”

The sequel, “First Day Out tha Feds,” was released yesterday, following two years Gucci spent in federal prison on a weapons conviction. He has evolved into a cult artist—there are no more Top 40 plays, just a steady stream from his wheelhouse. So “Feds” falls down the darkest rabbit holes of a first day out: the disloyal friends, the wolves, the sharpening knives. Toward the end of the track, when Mike WiLL Made-It drops in an extra synth line, Gucci turns his focus inward. “They call me crazy so much, I think I’m starting to believe them,” he raps, “I did some things to some people that was downright evil/Is it karma coming back to me? So much drama/My own mama turned her back on me/And that’s my mama.” 

Gucci’s delivery is less congested, less guttural, but the writing is as sharp as ever—“I lost three people close to me in one summer/Ten years later, still don’t know who shot up my Hummer.” And while internet forces are still conspiring to turn Gucci into a meme, he seems bent on painting a different picture entirely.

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