Gucci Mane
Trap House
Album · Hip-Hop · 2005
Gucci Mane’s debut shows one of Atlanta’s most distinctive rappers in the early stages of his development. A good portion of Trap House delivers the hard and heavy drug rap that is Gucci’s stock in trade. The breakout hit was “Icy,” in which Gucci and Young Jeezy (Gucci’s mentor and soon-to-be nemesis) trade boasts with gusto, like two brothers who grew up under the same street lamp. “Icy” was the bigger hit, but “Black Tee” is the better posse cut; over the propulsive stabs of Zaytoven’s beat, Gucci and five of his fellow street rap heavyweights offer the listener a crash course in trap-rap aesthetics. Trap House offers some of the most bizarre and exciting beats to emerge from the South in 2007. Gucci tends to favor music with a dizzying aura, but that quality can manifest itself in diverse ways, from the violin funk of “Lawnmower Man” to the Atari-blip fireworks of “Pyrex Pot.” Gucci is still in the process of pushing his imagination, but the title song shows his flair for colorful metaphor: “Yellow Humvee with the yellow feet / Yellow diamonds the same color as cheddar cheese.”