The State vs. Radric Davis

Ultimately, what the haters see in *The State vs. Radric Davis* is exactly what makes Gucci’s second major-label album triumphant. Gucci completely ignores traditional edicts of rhyming and beatmaking and instead adheres only to his own singular tastes. The lead-off track epitomizes Gucci’s talent for building entire songs from a single word, and “Heavy” lives up to its title in every regard: Even Metallica couldn’t match the monstrous force mustered by Shawty Redd’s beat. By pairing minimalist wordplay to tectonic tracks, “Stupid Wild,” “The Movie” and the magnificent “Wasted” achieve similarly potent results. The album’s midsection is weighted with ill-fitting R&B collaborations —“Spotlight” and “Bad Bad Bad” are the best among them — but the finale is worth the wait. In “Kush Is My Cologne,” Gucci assumes his rightful place next to three of rap’s towering individualists, while the introspective “Worst Enemy” wears Gucci’s divisiveness like a badge of honor: “Just diss me til you satisfied / I swear it doesn’t bother me / Sticks and stones will break my bones and bullets won’t reflect off me / But words and insults only show the world how ya’ll respectin’ me.”

Underground rap's biggest breakout of 2008-09 finally releases his major-label debut; plus, a look at the best of his many recent mixtapes.

Gucci Mane isn’t exactly an albums guy. In the past year, he’s issued at least four Internet mixtapes—it can be hard to keep track—stoking his cult the way Lil Wayne did during the three years between The Carter II and III, and building a head of steam for The State Vs. Radric Davis. Gucci’s skipping-in-place rapping…

Just half a year from the release of the mysteriously unauthorized catalog clearinghouse/label kiss off Murder Was the Case, Gucci Mane returns with The State vs. Radric Davis, his latest on Warner Bros.

<p>Big-name producers don't do much for a big-name rapper, says <strong>Paul MacInnes</strong></p>