Review Summary: Gucci's most recent "Hey, I'm out of jail now" release pales in comparison to his last. Regardless, Mr. Zone 6 is a solid album.
The per capita income in Atlanta, Georgia is $29,772. Psh. Gucci Mane will drop that much on a ‘stupid a** bracelet.’
Well, damn!
Early morning, May 13th, Radric Davis was released from Fulton County Jail. Several YouTube videos showed him swaggering out of the prison with a big smile on his face sporting his 1017 chain. He proceeded to greet assorted companions, including Shawty Lo, and then gave a speech to the press about his intentions to be a role model to children and a stand up citizen…
…he’ll be back in there in a few months for violating parole.
Nope, his demeanor hasn’t changed a bit. In a little over a month, the icy Atlantan rapper has accomplished quite a lot. He posted Twitpics of his newest addition to his jewelry collection – 1000 karats, by the way –accompanied by all the “brrrr”s and “bling blaoww”s you could ever want, created his own adlib iPhone application, released two new ridiculous music videos, made a funny promotional video for his upcoming album
The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted, and released a full length mixtape. Let’s face it, the mixtape king and jewelry enthusiast has stayed on his grind, and that’s evidenced with
Mr. Zone 6, yet another ‘warmup’/promotional tape in a long line of official street releases. While the man himself may not have changed, his music definitely has. In 2009, we saw Gucci come a long, long way from being just another coke rapper with great beats. However, although a good release
Mr. Zone 6 is (and I iterate this with an untrusting tentativeness) perhaps an indicator that 2010 Gucci has no chance of paralleling ’09 Gucci.
On
Mr. Zone 6, we find a Gucci who seems to have finally settled into the darker-sounding niche he first carved for himself on
Burrprint. Moreover, he’s showcased the abilities to consistently make an infectious hook and pull off, well,
impressive flows with ease and smoothness while retaining a fun delivery…
HOWEVER…
We see a Gucci Mane who seems to be a bit more inconsistent with the pad and pencil. Although he doesn’t have Parkinson’s – (insert one of Eminem’s tasteless Michael J. Fox reference here) – Gucci’s writing is slightly shaky on
Mr.Zone 6. He still has clever punchlines such as “
Drop top Ferrari, call it the headless horseman,” and “
From them ki’s to that Rolls Royce, chop it like it’s hot,” but occasionally, Gucci delivers lines that
OJ da Juiceman would say. Your typical ‘Car same color as _____’ line can be found ended with ‘lasagna’, ‘soup’, and ‘coffee,’ three stupid, basic punchlines that a writer with Gucci’s creativity shouldn’t be using. Moreover, he’s unarguably exhibiting mainstream characteristics, lyrically focusing more on buying rocks for his chain than selling them for others’ pipe, more so than he ever was. While that certainly won’t win him over any new friends amongst his critics, there are glimpses in which he doesn’t do it in the fun way he used to.
Luckily, the quality of the actual sound has significantly improved. His flow has become rather great, as evidenced by the sick internal, “
I’m poppin’ bottles at a party with Rihanna/And Madonna/Hit the toe in Dolce and Gabbana/Smokin’ blunts of marijuana” and his settling into the once explorative foray into a darker sound seems to have paid off. The beats aren’t eerie, atmospheric, or chilling, but rather, sleek. Electric organs, dark pianos, woozy electronics, steady-to-rapid transitioning drums, big bells and glossy strings combine to form the swirling contagiousness of the squeaky clean, dark production. It can be on the lighter side, with the textured Casio runaround, fade-in-and-out, whiny, futuristic synths, fast-paced drums, and firm bells of “It’s Goin’ Up”; or darker, as heard with the minimalism of “Normal” and its spooky organs. Either or, Gucci sounds great over everything.
The two standout tracks, “Normal” and “Stove Music” represent the rockstar lifestyle of Gucci and the dopeman side of him, respectively, and provide some assurance that he can keep it balanced and still win. Other than the three short shout out tracks, and the painful “Makin’ Love to the Money” in which he talks about having sexual intercourse with currency, the entire mixtape is good, especially considering it was made in only a few days. Gucci’s back once again, out to prove he’s still a commodity, and on
Mr. Zone 6, he does just that. Mark your calendars for August 2010, it’s gonna be a So Icey summer.
