Now I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about Gucci before this album was released. Only that 99.9764% of the hip-hop community needed him to be freed from incarceration, and once freed from incarceration he started a hilarious snapchat account and that he was the King of Sauce.
The only time I had heard him rap was on an old 10-second freestyle clip where he raps, “I’m so I-C-Y, all the girls love Gucci Mane and I see why.” I didn’t really feel like paying him too much attention but after seeing a Rob Markman tweet I decided to give it a go. And I became a very unlikely Gucci fan.
Gucci’s Everybody Lookin’ starts off strong with ‘No Sleep’. It has the extremely catchy refrain: “I can’t even sleep I got so much to say! Fuck the Feds fuck the police fuck the DA.” This sets the tone for the album, which seems to be Gucci finding different ways of telling his story with catchy hooks and simple verses.
The third track ‘Back on Road’ is probably critically one of the better tracks, with a gritty chorus half-sung, half-rapped by Drake. Gucci’s flow is great on this track. Talking on a topic that is probably quite close to Gucci, having just come out of prison, with the lines in the hook “If you wasn’t there for me when I was all alone, then bitch don’t expect no love when I’m back”
“What he lacks in ability he makes up in what can only be defined as ‘sauce'”
All in all, from a critical standpoint I would like to say this album relies solely on the epic beats provided by Mike Will Made It and Zaytoven, however, Gucci definitely makes this project what it is. Gucci is not the greatest rapper alive by any means; he’s not the best lyricist, he’s no J Cole or Kendrick and he does have some very questionable/ throwaway bars on this LP.
What he lacks in ability he makes up in what can only be defined as ‘sauce’. Lines like “I mean what I say I say what I mean” should make me cringe but, instead, I just want to go to a Gucci concert and scream those words till my voice goes.
Feature wise, no one really drops the ball, with every feature bringing the style that best suits the project, Kanye being loud and narcissistic, Drake being his Canadian Faux-Roadman self. Young Thug also brings his signature auto-tuned melismatic vocals to this project, providing my favourite feature on the album.
My favourite track on the album would have to be ‘1st Day out tha Feds’, which is probably the best track lyrically. Gucci documents his past on the streets and his constant paranoia, and compares it to his similar situation while in prison, as he had to be prepared for the worst situations.
The storytelling nature of the song and the tension-filled instrumental provided by Mike Will Made It reminded me of ‘Boyz-n-the Hood’ by Eazy-E.
To conclude, I cannot explain in detail why I love this album nor can I defend this album, but I’d definitely recommend it for the simple reason that it has, to quote Gucci, “Too much sauce.”
Joshua Ogunmokun
