Back To the Traphouse

Gucci Mane came into his own with *Back to the Traphouse*, his fourth album but his first for a major label. The first thing that hits you is the immense force of the beats. Utilizing a team of Atlanta-based producers, these tracks create an inferno of dizzying blips and low-end clomp. The album’s centerpiece is “Bird Flu,” which takes the wearied chop of an old field holler and inflates it with the menacing force of Southern hip-hop. While Gucci Mane catches a lot of flack for his unswerving interest in the material interests of a crack dealer, he doesn’t get enough credit for his style. His voice is full of muddy Southern grit, and his flow is relentlessly tough, but with a touch of childlike fun. He doesn’t take himself as seriously as his nearest rival, Young Jeezy, and while he doesn’t have Jeezy’s flair for melodramatic presentation, Gucci has a more complex rhyme style. While his verses might at first seem simplistic and blocky, a closer read will reveal intricate and clever designs.