Gucci Mane - Everybody Looking

Gucci Mane
Everybody Looking
2016
Spotify

Prison has never been a great harbinger of things to come for rappers. T.I. and Lil Wayne's production slacked off signifigantly after their stints so things were stacked against the prolific Gucci Mane. However it's been almost two months and Gucci has already dropped a new 15 track LP. Mike Will has taken the production duties on the majority of the album and if you weren't aware that "Mike Will Made It" He will be happy to remind you on almost every song. The album does not feel like Gucci skipped a beat, though his style somehow feels more laid back than it used to be. On a song like "Waybach" Gucci mumbles and sleepwalks his way through the rap giving almost zero energy. That is the main problem of the entire record, nothing feels exciting and since his is not in jail any longer those mixtapes "from" jail have lost their cliche appeal. The features on Everybody Looking are rare but with the likes of Drake, Kanye and Young Thug providing them you have to take notice. On the track with Drake, "Back on Road", Drake sings the chorus but adds almost nothing else. With Mike Will doing most of the production you tend to get the same sound throughout the record and with Trap that can become boring and tiresome after awhile.

There is nothing tongue and cheek going on with this record, unlike a lot of what Gucci did in the past. He is almost totally serious from start to finish on the record and it just feels off. There is an obvious sense of this album being rushed which is not as front and center as you would expect an album that only took a month to make would be. Young Thug's flow on "Guwop Home" is a real highlight but it's brief. For someone as high profile as Gucci Mane has become since his imprisonment and release it would make sense to tease the people a little and create a record that would really blow them away. This idea of striking while the iron is hot is a good one if the product can stand up to criticism, Everybody Looking just does not. On "Richest N***** In The Room" the chorus is repeated so many times and Room is rhymed with Room over and over. This record is not the coronation that should have come for Gucci after his release, but there are occasional flashes of the rapper that He is and will continue to be. Take some time Gucci, make something great, for now though Everybody Looking is what We are going to get.

6.8 out of 10