Gucci Mane - Evil Genius

Gucci Mane
Evil Genius
2018
Spotify

2016 and 2017 were staggering years for Gucci Mane in terms of production. It seemed like every time you looked up Gucci was releasing a new album, new tape or something that was here to get your head banging. With this in mind it is surprising that Evil Genius is Gucci's first release of 2018. You could attribute this to him having more time on his hands to write while He was in prison, but likely the surge of trap music in the mainstream watered down what Gucci was doing. It takes a real great to rise above the noise in a genre and create something that transcends, and that's what Gucci does every single time. There is a world where Evil Genius would signal a slow down for Gucci, the old stalwart of Trap music finally missing a step, but today is not that day and Gucci Mane is not that guy. When He was in the throws of release after release you expected something to flop, something to not work, but his ear is perfectly tuned to what's hot. He even elevates the features on this album, making them sound better than anything they can do alone. Quavo delivers a slick performance on "BiPolar" and then Gucci plays in 21 Savage's horror movie style perfectly. It's like the man just inspires people to do better and be better by doing so himself. His style is so effortless and confident that you are able to just fall into his music and exist in his world.

In the early days of his career Gucci Mane was angry and aggressive. He glorified his drug dealing past and pushed the narative that He was the only real gang banger in hip hop. This made him a ton of fans, but also made him less approachable for the average listener. Now though the stories are the same, the delivery is the same but the energy is totally different. His bars are faster when they need to be, He sneers when a dong calls for it, but He also smiles through it all. The beats here also serve him well here. He isn't reinventing the wheel or stepping our of his lane, instead He is making the songs bigger and more expressive. A lot of times trap beats can feel one note and it takes the rapper to make them really clap and Gucci has that ability in spades. The one thing you are missing here is some kind of change of pace. The album is begging for Gucci to step out and try something new, but that never really happens. "Lost Y'all Mind" has an interesting melody, but at it's bottom it is just another skittering trap beat. A recent collaboration with Bruno Mars and Kodak "Wake Up in the Sky" felt like a small push to the middle, but that just isn't Gucci. He is not mainstream, He is not easy listening or even palpable for most casual rap fans. Gucci Mane is a rockstar in his own unique way, one that few can replicate though many have tried. Evil Genius is another feather in Gucci Mane's cap, and at this point that cap is getting pretty damn full.

8.6 out of 10