What Happened to Gucci Mane?

By CelebPaid Editorial Team · 8 min read

Gucci Mane.Image via Wikimedia Commons

The Rise to Fame

Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and music executive. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip-hop subgenre trap music for mainstream audiences during the 2000s. His debut studio album, Trap House (2005), was released by the independent label Big Cat Records and entered the Billboard 200; it was followed by Hard to Kill (2006), which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 entry with its single "Freaky Gurl". That same year, he released his third album, Trap-A-Thon, before signing with Atlantic Records to release his fourth album, Back to the Trap House (2007).

During this time, Davis continued self-releasing releasing mixtapes and collaborative projects. He signed with Atlantic's sister label, Warner Bros. Records to release his sixth album and mainstream breakthrough, The State vs. Radric Davis (2009). Preceded by the double platinum-certified single "Lemonade", it peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200, while the album's sequel, The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted (2010), peaked at number four. Following a two year incarceration between 2014 and 2016, he re-emerged with several commercial projects beginning with his ninth album, Everybody Looking (2016), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. He guest appeared on Rae Sremmurd's 2016 single "Black Beatles", which became his first song to peak atop the Billboard Hot 100.

Gucci Mane has released sixteen studio albums and seventy-one mixtapes since 2001. He founded the Atlantic Records-distributed label imprint 1017 Records in 2007, which has signed artists including Young Thug, Waka Flocka Flame, Chief Keef, and Pooh Shiesty. Throughout his career, he has worked with artists including the Weeknd, Drake, Chris Brown, Selena Gomez, Mariah Carey, Usher, and Marilyn Manson. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2020.

Early life

The Peak Years

Growing up: 1980–1993

Radric Delantic Davis was born on February 12, 1980, in Bessemer, Alabama, to former US serviceman and power plant worker Ralph Everett Dudley (born 1955), and social worker and teacher Vicky Jean Davis (born 1955). Davis's family had a strong military background. His paternal grandfather, James Dudley Sr. served in the military for twelve years, including during World War II, as a chef, and his maternal grandfather, Walter Lee Davis, served in the Pacific during World War II and on the USS South Dakota. Davis's father also served in the military, being stationed in Korea for two years.

Davis's parents met in 1978; Davis's mother already had a son, Victor Davis, from another relationship. When Davis was born, his father was on the run from the police for dealing crack cocaine and heroin, and had fled to Detroit, Michigan. Davis's father was not present to sign the birth certificate, and Davis took his mother's last name.

Growing up, Davis was raised by his paternal grandmother while his mother attended college to get her degree. Davis's mother was a teacher who taught him to read at a young age, and spent most of her time teaching him scriptures from the Bible. Davis's first school was Jonesboro Elementary, where he attended kindergarten and the first several grades of elementary school. His older half-brother Victor introduced Davis to hip-hop when Davis was six years old by bringing Davis to a Run-DMC, Beastie Boys and LL Cool J concert. Before moving to Atlanta with his mother, Davis had a distant relationship with his father, who would visit at irregular intervals; the visits stopped when Davis's father had two children with another woman and began to prioritize his children in Atlanta over Davis. Davis would later use a nickname given to his father, "the Gucci Man", as his stage name.

Davis moved with his single mother to Atlanta when he was nine years old due to family problems in Bessemer. Davis's mother had a boyfriend in Atlanta and planned to move in with him, but she decided otherwise at the last minute. They later moved in with someone Davis's mother met in church. Davis's family was kicked out of the house and did not have a stable living environment until his father set them up in a Knights Inn motel. Davis grew up in an area which was high in crime.

What Changed

Davis's mother moved Davis and Victor to East Atlanta and Davis attended Cedar Grove Elementary School. He was generally good in school and considered himself athletic although he did not participate in school sports. Davis dealt drugs, mainly selling cannabis with his older brother. Davis sold cannabis on his own and ended up using his Christmas money to acquire crack cocaine while in the eighth grade, starting his career as a drug dealer.

Time as a drug dealer: 1993–2001

By the time Davis’ part-time drug-dealing became a career, he was a freshman at Ronald E. McNair High School, where he got good grades and was popular among his peers. He did not take drugs for the first few years that he was dealing drugs, and his first experience smoking cannabis was with a high school crush. During this time one of Davis' friends was his later collaborator, OJ da Juiceman, and the two would freestyle rap together.

Even though Davis had been selling drugs for nearly two years by 1995, he had never encountered a violence. When he was 15, Davis was riding his push bicycle when a man stopped him and pointed a Desert Eagle at his head. The man took all of Davis’ valuables. and began to carry a .380 caliber handgun. Davis had numerous other life-threatening situations, including a feud with a local street gang who called themselves "the East Shoals Boys" in 1997. The feud resulted in Davis's friend Javon being beaten close to death and adult men walking into McNair High School looking for Davis. of The feud resolved itself when Davis and several friends got into a fistfight with members of the East Shoals Boys, who left Davis alone from that point on.

Where Gucci Mane Is Now

In 1998, Davis graduated from high school with a 3.0 GPA and a HOPE Scholarship to Georgia Perimeter College. He took a computer programming course, though he rarely attended, and he was expelled in 2001 after being caught in possession of crack cocaine by an undercover police officer. Davis was sentenced to 90 days in a county jail and then probation.

Pursuing music: 2001–2005

Davis enjoyed writing poetry at a young age, and began rapping at the age of 14. Following his first arrest, Davis began to take music seriously and released La Flare on Str8 Drop Records. It was pressed onto about 1000 CDs and distributed throughout East Atlanta. Following the release of La Flare, and being inspired by Master P, Davis decided he wanted to start a music label. Davis began to manage rapper Lil Buddy in 2001. In 2002, Davis linked up with SYS Records as a member of the Sign Yourself Click. Davis also linked up with producer Zaytoven and made his own label, LaFlare Entertainment.

After heading to New York in search of a distribution deal and returning home empty, he was introduced to Big Cat, the head of Big Cat Records. Ultimately deciding to form an alliance with the label that brought Khia to prominence, Davis released the song "Black Tee", a response to the Dem Franchize Boyz hit record, "White Tee", as well as a collaboration with fellow rising local rapper Young Jeezy with "So Icy." Securing a distribution deal with Tommy Boy Records, Davis continued to work the underground while preparing for the release of his debut album.

2005–2006: Trap House and Hard to Kill

Legacy

In 2005, Davis released his independent debut album entitled Trap House, which featured the single "Icy" with Young Jeezy. Disputes over the rights to this single caused a rift between the two artists. Trap House was considered a success for an independent artist. The album crept into the Top 20 of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and landed at the top spot on the Billboard Heatseekers Album chart. Guest appearances include Bun B, Killer Mike, Lil Scrappy, Jody Breeze and Khujo of Goodie Mobb. Hard to Kill followed in 2006. It included the hit single "Freaky Gurl", which peaked at number 12 on the Hot Rap Tracks, number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also shot videos for the tracks "Street Nigazzz" and "Pillz".

In 2006, Davis released the mixtape Chicken Talk, beginning a series of mixtapes in the late 2000s. Chicken Talk has come to be recognized as one of hip-hop's best albums by outlets such as Pitchfork and Rolling Stone Australia.

2007–2010: Mixtapes, Back to the Trap House, The State vs. Radric Davis

The official remix of "Freaky Gurl" featuring Ludacris and Lil' Kim was included on his 2007 commercial debut album, Back to the Trap House. Gucci Mane appeared on OJ da Juiceman's "Make Tha Trap Say Aye" and began working on various mixtapes. Following the success of his mixtapes Bird Money and Writing on the Wall, Gucci Mane signed with Warner Bros. Records in May 2009.

He appeared on remixes of the songs "Boom Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas, "Obsessed" by Mariah Carey and "5 Star Chick" by Yo Gotti and made a guest appearance on Mario's "Break Up." He made a total of 17 guest appearances in 2009. Gucci Mane's sixth studio album, The State vs. Radric Davis, was released by Warner Bros. Records on December 8, 2009. Its lead single, "Wasted" featuring Plies, was originally from Gucci Mane's 2009 mixtape Guccimania. It peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100, number...

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