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The New York Times, as well as various other members of the Hipsterati, has spent the past year doing its best to portray the mentally challenged minstrel show that is Gucci Mane's career as some sort of cultural and musical phenomenon, however I am unable to understand how anyone can enjoy his music in anything other than an ironic fashion. The music "journalists" that support his cause seem to do so primarily for the challenge of defending the indefensible, which I can appreciate on some level. But what about the average music listener?
Given that Gucci's most famous verse up to this point features such rudimentary rhymes as, "I'm no longer hired / She said I've been fired", clearly the appeal isn't his lyricism. The man proudly rocks a Bart Simpson chain and one of the most frightening gold grills this side of Just Ice, so I can't imagine it's his image that's winning fans over, either. His one memorable attribute seems to be his penchant for shouting out his catchphrase, Gucci!, at random intervals. I decided to do a full review of Gucci's new album, The State vs. Radric Davis, to see if I could figure out if this truly was the secret behind Gucci's (relative) success. I got about two songs into the album before I realized it was destined to be an exercise in futility; my breaking point came somewhere between the lines "Ya can't fuck me like Ras B" and "Yeah I got amigos, but they don't bring me tacos". I was damn near ready to mail back the $35 review fee (nah, jokes), before I decided that there was still some value to be found in listening to the album in its entirety.
What becomes immediately apparent when listening to Gucci's album is the fact that the man loves to repeat himself. If the track's name is Bingo, best believe that you're going to hear Gucci say the word "Bingo" sixty times within the course of the four minute song (sixty, by the way, is hardly an exaggeration). Add in the various Gucci!'s and other random shoutouts, and one might be left with the impression that there is some sort of subliminal message hidden beneath Mr. Mane's dense lyrics the way that certain keywords get pounded into the listener's subconscious. Given the fact that the foundation of Gucci's career is the repetition of catchphrases, I decided to actually count the exact number of times the he shouts out the phrase "Gucci!" throughout the course of the album. I don't know how much value there is in the final tally, but it was an interesting process nonetheless.
What follows is a track-by-track and artist-by-artist breakdown of how many times Gucci! is shouted out. Please note that this does not include a count of "Burr!" or "Vroom!" outbursts, nor does it take into account how many times Gucci says his own name in the course of his actual lyrics.
Classical
Choir: 16
Gucci Mane: 2
Interlude: Toilet Bowl Shawty
Gucci Mane: 0
Mike Epps: 0
Heavy
Gucci Mane: 18
Stupid Wild
Gucci Mane: 6
Lil Wayne: 0
Cam'ron: 0
All About the Money
Gucci Mane: 1
Rick Ross: 2 (+ 1 Ricky!'s, + 2 Ross!'s, + 2 Bawss!'s)
Lemonade
Gucci Mane: 8 (+1 Bangladesh!)
Bingo
Gucci Mane: 17
Souljah Boy Tell 'Em: 0 (+2 Soulja Boy Tell 'Em!'s)
Wacka Flacka Flame: 0 (+2 Flacka!'s)
Spotlight
Gucci Mane: 2
Usher: 2
I Think I'm in Love
Gucci Mane: 12
Jason Caesar: 0
Bad Bad Bad
Gucci Mane: 7
Keyshia Cole: 0
Interlude: Toilet Bowl Shawty Part 2
Mike Epps: 0
Random Hoodrat: 0
(Epps does manage to say Gucci's name 11 times during this skit)
Sex in Crazy Places
Gucci Mane: 3
Nicki Manaj: 0
Bobby Valentino: 0
Trina: 0
The Movie
Gucci Mane: 30
Jazze Pha: 1
Volume
Gucci Mane: 12
Whoo Da Kid: 0
Gingerbread Man
Gucci Mane: 0
OJ Da Juice Man: 0
(That's right, zero Gucci! drops on this one, but you'll hear so many Burr!'s that you won't notice)
Kush is My Cologne
Gucci Mane: 1
Bun B: 0
Devin the Dude: 0
E-40: 0
Wasted Remix
Gucci Mane: 3
Lil Wayne: 0
Jadakiss: 0 (+2 Jadakiss Laughs)
Birdman: 0
Worst Enemy
Gucci Mane: 3
Wasted
Gucci Mane: 1
Plies: 0
TOTAL: 147 Gucci!'s
The album itself is 71 minutes long, or 4260 seconds. It's not entirely consistent throughout, but for the purposes of this discussion let's say that the Gucci! shoutout lasts about a second. So with the total count at 147, that means roughly 3.5% (147 / 4260 * 100) of the album consists solely of Gucci!'s. I'd say that's all you need to know about this album. Save your $12 (or your five minutes of download time) and just use the Gucci Mane soundboard instead.
12/17/2009 8:00:51 PM posted by Fresh