And while New York and Los Angeles are still where all the major record labels have their offices, Atlanta has become an increasingly influential hub for hip-hop, as so much music is made there. Notably, none of this wave of producers originally hail from that city. “There’s more transplants here in Atlanta than people from Atlanta,” Coach K, an adviser to Gucci Mane and an A&R director for the new album, said. The result is a style that has trademark elements but is flexible enough to accommodate a range of influences.

This is probably the most well-written of all the attempts at putting Gucci’s essence into a legitimate news piece. It’s not condescending or ill-informed, and it’s not written from a defensive standpoint. I’ll be checking for John Caramanica’s work from now on. Get a load of it here:

Gucci Mane, No Holds Barred (New York Times)

ON Tuesday, the day Gucci Mane released his second studio album, “The State vs. Radric Davis,” he woke up and went to sleep in the Fulton County Jail, in the northwest part of Atlanta, where he’s resided since last month.

It was a not altogether unusual predicament for this rapper, born Radric Davis, one of the most vigorous and exciting in recent memory. This is the second time he’s had his probation from a 2005 aggravated assault conviction revoked, and the second time it’s happened at the moment where his career appeared to be on the verge of exploding.

Still, in spite of these impediments, Gucci Mane, 29, has been the most prolific rapper in Atlanta over the last two years, the most hotly discussed, and also the most improved. In the last few months he’s had the swiftest ascent to hip-hop ubiquity since Lil Wayne.

He didn’t do it alone. Gucci Mane’s rise has occurred in large part thanks to a handful of producers — Zaytoven, Drumma Boy, Shawty Redd and Fatboi, most prominently — whose work over the past four years has come to exemplify the modern Atlanta sound: triumphant but moody, synth-heavy with sharp snares, all sprinkled with almost gothic overtones. Collectively these four been responsible for much of Gucci Mane’s great recent material as well as most of the best songs on “The State vs. Radric Davis” (So Icey/Asylum/Warner Brothers). Their work on this album, Gucci Mane said in a phone interview from jail, “made me feel like, damn, I was smart for working with them for all these years.”

Since the middle of the decade the sound of Gucci Mane, who hails from Alabama, has been a major part of the sound of Atlanta, and in turn, the sound driving much of hip-hop. “One thing we were cognizant of is making sure those producers had a huge part of this album,” said Todd Moscowitz, the president of Asylum Records. “It’s important that the bulk of this album was Atlanta guys, because those are the people who helped him develop his sound.”

And while New York and Los Angeles are still where all the major record labels have their offices, Atlanta has become an increasingly influential hub for hip-hop, as so much music is made there. Notably, none of this wave of producers originally hail from that city. “There’s more transplants here in Atlanta than people from Atlanta,” Coach K, an adviser to Gucci Mane and an A&R director for the new album, said. The result is a style that has trademark elements but is flexible enough to accommodate a range of influences.

That sound can be heard in the music of other Atlanta artists like Young Jeezy, and to a lesser degree, T. I., Soulja Boy and Gorilla Zoe, but it drives and animates “The State vs. Radric Davis,” and its star. Gucci Mane may lack T. I.’s easy swagger, or Young Jeezy’s permanent stain of self-satisfaction, but he raps with a winning naïveté and charm, his rhymes deceptively intricate. While often the tracks he chooses to rap over are menacing, Gucci Mane himself is not. Instead, he teases, cajoles, flatters, winks and brags.

“We’ve seen people talk about these topics for years,” said DJ Drama, the mixtape impresario and frequent Gucci Mane collaborator. “He brings light to the track. It’s a different space than a T. I. or a Jeezy.”

Ominous but bouncy songs have become something of an Atlanta hallmark in recent years. “The trap, the hood clubs — that’s what they like, a real dark 808 type of beat,” Coach K said, referring to the signature kicks and bleeps of the Roland TR-808 drum machine. “All those dark crazy 808 beats, those are the ones he grabs for the mixtapes, where he’s like, ‘I don’t have to worry about radio’ and can go straight to the cars with it.”

Fatboi said that the 808 is central to Atlanta’s versatility. “There’s so many different ways we use it,” he said. “You have your snap music, your crunk music, your trap music, your pop rap.”

Diversity wasn’t always a part of Atlanta’s rap scene. In the 1980s and early 1990s Atlanta had its own variant of Miami’s electro-driven bass music, with homegrown stars like Kilo Ali, MC Shy-D, Raheem the Dream and DJ Smurf (later the producer and executive Mr. Collipark). By the mid-1990s, thanks to the rise of OutKast, Goodie Mob and the production collective Organized Noize, Atlanta developed a reputation as a home for soul-minded hip-hop eccentrics, providing an alternative to hip-hop’s coastal identities.

But in the last decade Atlanta has moved from the margins to becoming hip-hop’s center of gravity, part of a larger shift in hip-hop innovation to the south. “Atlanta is the melting pot of the South,” says Drumma Boy, born Christopher Gholson, who splits his time between Atlanta and Memphis, where he was raised. His father, James Gholson, is principal clarinetist for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and teaches at the University of Memphis, and his mother, Billie, occasionally sang backup for soul sessions.

Of the four producers driving the city, Drumma Boy’s tracks rumble the hardest. Two of his finest recent songs, Gorilla Zoe’s “Lost” and Young Jeezy’s “Put On,” are languorous, almost frightening in their stomp. On “The State vs. Radric Davis,” he contributed four tracks, including the creepy “Worst Enemy” and “All About The Money,” a busy bee swarm of synths overlaid with brash bass injections that’s equal parts Memphis and Atlanta.

This adaptability to a range of blended styles dates back to the beginning of Gucci Mane’s career, from his 2005 breakthrough single “Icy,” produced by Zaytoven.

As the in-house producer for Gucci Mane’s So Icey Entertainment, Zaytoven has been crucial to the development of Gucci Mane’s sound. He also produced the recent Usher single “Papers.” Nowadays, Zaytoven said, “the R&B guys want the same stuff you gave these rap guys.”

“My tracks have a real deep 808 kick drive to it,” he continued, “the drum pattern might be gutter and hard, but the music is so friendly.”

His work wasn’t always so welcome, though: “Icy” initially had a bumpy reception. “A lot of people, when they first heard it, they didn’t like it, but they came around,” Gucci Mane said. “A lot that was happening in 2005, 2006, good and bad, the beats reflected it. It was a lot of money around. People was making music to throw money to.”

“Icy” was radical and bizarre, which Zaytoven, born Xavier Dotson, attributes to residual influence from his time in the Bay Area scene. But with its squelchy, burping synths, it helped usher in an era of exuberance in Atlanta rap — “the record that changed the sound,” Zaytoven said.

At the time Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy were “the only two street cats doing street music,” Shawty Redd recalled. “They was talking street stuff in their records, but you could dance to it.”

Born Demetrius Stewart, Shawty Redd produced several songs on the debut albums by Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy, who went on to have one of the most enduring beefs in recent hip-hop memory. That mutual animosity helped fuel their careers, but no more: this month it was brought to an end, for now, during a confab on DJ Drama’s radio show on Atlanta’s Hot 107.9.

The rivalry had become more of a distraction than a boon anyhow. Over the last few months Gucci Mane has been unavoidable — getting his heart broken on Mario’s “Break Up,” wearing a crisp white suit in the video for Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed (Remix),” hilarious on the deliciously ludicrous “Speak French,” with Jamie Foxx.

Also, since his last stint in jail, which ended in March, Gucci Mane has released a torrent of mixtapes — “Writing on the Wall,” “The Movie 3-D: The Burrprint!” and the three-part Cold War series (“Guccimerica” “Brrrussia,” “Great Brrritain”), among others — all brimming with original material. That he’s releasing a proper album seems almost quaint, a relic of another time. This unending stream has been the key to Gucci Mane’s success, both before and since the rest of the country took notice. Mixtapes often feature an artist rapping over beats from other rappers’ songs; Gucci Mane’s are miniature albums, more lightly conceived but equally relevant to his development. For the most part the producers he worked with on “The State vs. Radric Davis” are the ones he collaborates with on mixtapes.

“He’ll do a show,” Shawty Redd said, “come right back with his show money, break me off, break Drama off and break Zaytoven off and start right over.” Only one Shawty Redd track made “The State vs. Radric Davis,” but it’s a doozy: “Heavy” is like horror-film bounce music.

Gucci Mane recording sessions are models of simplicity. “We make everything from scratch,” he said of working with his favored producers. What comes out is as “surprising to me as much as to them.” Everyone mentions the ease of his songwriting, lyrics spilling out of him at a seemingly unmatchable clip.

“We’ll battle to see who’s going to finish first,” Fatboi said. “Sometimes he’ll have three verses and the hook done before I get done with the beat.”

Fatboi, born LaDamon Douglas, got his start in Savannah, Ga., producing for the rapper Camoflauge, and later worked with Shawty Redd. Fatboi’s father, Larry Douglas Sr., was also his middle-school music teacher and coincidentally taught Zaytoven in high school.

Fatboi produced three songs on “The State vs. Radric Davis” including the single “Wasted,” featuring Plies, which is a thorough distillation of the modern Atlanta sound — a steady foundation of strings building and receding, squirrelly synths jabbing in and out, abrupt coughs of drum-machine snares giving the song shape. It’s also the album’s biggest success so far. Its other major single, “Spotlight,” which features Usher, plays like a craven grab for crossover attention — it was produced by the more established and more pop-minded Atlanta producer Polow Da Don — but it hasn’t yet eclipsed “Wasted.”

Gucci Mane won’t be eligible for release from jail until next year, but there’s plenty of material, unreleased songs and videos, to sustain him for a while. “The stuff that’s popular right now is the 2007, 2008 stuff,” Zaytoven said. “I’m hoping that two years from now, the stuff we doing right now is popping.”

The city continues to speed along, though. “Right before I came in here I felt like it was coming so easy to me,” Gucci Mane said. “I was using different words, talking about deeper things. When I get out, I want to not only pick up where I left off, but improve. I’m trying my best to be a star.”

Favorite trapper of you`r favorite rapper e dupa gratii , albumul The State Vs. Radric Davis este in continuare stabilit pentru aparitia pe piata in data de 8 Decembrie , piesa Heavy este produsa de Shawty Redd si va face parte de pe album . #FreeGucciMane !!!

Previous/Anterior Gucci Mane – My Own Worst Enemy (Video)

Via: Dajaz1 .

Since Late Nights and Early Mournings, I’ve been following Junclassic’s career and I finally got a chance to interview him this week. This was probably one of my favorite interviews I’ve done so far, so read week #3’s interview from Junclassic after the jump.

P.S. I am “Killa”, it’s not bad…

If there was one song that describes your life right now, what would it be?

Wow thats a great Question Killa. U mean off Imaginary Enemies right? It would probably be “Arrival” blended into “I Can’t Die” if I ca freak it like that. My time is coming. People are starting to embrace my music and Im making some great connections with cats making big moves. And they respect my grind. Thats all summed up by “Arrival”. I gotta blend it with “I Can’t Die” because life is always issuing challenges that threaten to take us under. I can’t let difficult financial circumstances be the thing that stops me. Not now.

What do you consider to be your proudest accomplishment as a rapper?

Getting my nephews out the street thru music and positive influence. Well, they still dabble in the street cause they got no fear and simply ain’t having it from nobody (me neither) but the lure of doing wrong has been greatly diminished by my strides in HipHop. My scholastic achievements play a part in that positive influence to my nephews too. Im the 2nd in the fam to graduate College. 2nd in the fam to go to college.

When people hear that you’re from Jamaica, Queens, I’m sure that 50 Cent’s name would come up. Do you think that there is more to Jamaica than you and 50?

Absolutely! There’s Onyx (RIP DS), Lost Boys (RIP Freaky Tah), Grafh (who ima big fan of) and the whole Black Hand, Tribe Called Quest (bet cha didnt know they from the Southside/St. Albans), LL Cool J, Consequence, then you move over to Hollis with the Legendary Run DMC (God Bless JMJ) and it goes on and on. U also got nice parks in Queens. My homie LP just moved from Flatbush, Brooklyn to Queens and him and the fam LOVE Queens for the tree lined streets and 24 hour stores in close proximity. Queens is almost suburban till u hear them shots in the distance and see the D’s slowing down as they approach you.

On Southside’s Savior, you introduced Lejon Lewis in “Lovin Life”. Who is he and what made you give him a chance to showcase his talent?

See thats why you the Truth Killa!! Thanx for asking about Superstar Lejon Lewis! He’s actually my nephew. The only son of my deceased Brother Bobby Lewis (LOVE U BOB!!!). He’s a 15 year old prodigy Fam! Does his own production and writes all of his material. Extremely talented. Sad thing is, I compared him to Michael Jackson after he laid the hook to “Lovin’ Life”. He did this 3 months before Michael died. Once Michael passed, I didn’t wanna make the comparison cause I figured people would say Mike’s death influenced me to compare them. Not true. When Lejon hits that high note in “Lovin Life”, you tell me what u hear? Lejon also did the hook to the song “ZeeZee’s Groove”, which he sang to his little sister ZeeZee. And he’s a Lil Pretty Boy too! Ladies, hit my myspace up, Lejon is in my top friends!

It’s clear that family means a lot to you because it’s a subject that comes up in many of your songs. How does your family influence what you do?

Family keeps me going. Sometimes we argue, but we love and need each other. Every album I’ve put out has a song dedicated to a family member. In fact, I usually have more than one song dedicated to family. I did “Come Home” off my first album dedicated to my nephew going to Iraq. Also did “Never Can Say Goodbye” for my niece and nephew who moved away from me back in 2007. On my sophomore album I did “Pretty Toni”, a dedication to my niece who was proud of her choice to be a lesbian and I totally support it. I think its important to let ya family know how much you care about em. What better way than thru music? Plus I think are going thru the same things many my listeners are so perhaps hearing my family stories will inspire my listeners and/or their families.

What made you release your newest project, Imaginary Enemies, in a nondigital format?

I wanted to do something different Killa. Wanted to help my label Classified Recordings stand out. And I really wanted people to go looking for the Imaginary Enemies CD, so I decided to get some siiick artwork done, press up a limited number of CDs and number each copy to create a Limited Edition Collector’s Item release. When Kanye did that battle against 50 with Graduation, he used some ill artist from Japan for the artwork. The illest artist I know resides in Uptown NY. My man Mr. Alan Coogan-Prieto painted the front cover with oil paint on canvas. Did all the comic book-like sketchwork thruout the booklet. Do you know some “industry folks” thought my album artwork looked “suspect” to the point where they wouldn’t even listen to the cd, let alone review it for their prestigious websites/publications? Can’t please everybody no matter what u do my G.

What is the most meaningful song on Imaginary Enemies to you and why?

Definitely “ZeeZee’s Groove” without a doubt. My Brother’s family decided to move away from Southside Queens after my Brother passed. I totally agreed with the move, cause Southside ain’t nowhere to be without a Man in The House, but I became so close with ZeeZee that I felt like ‘my daughter’ was leaving me. So I wanted to leave her with an instructional on how to live her life despite facing such a deep tragedy so young. Thats why in the 3rd verse Im just talking to her about everything she went thru. Thats how I used to talk to her while driving past Baisley Park after picking her up from School. The whole song is supposed to feel like a conversation. I really talk to her like that man. “People are cruel ZeeZee. This world is a hard world. You have to be tough!” I didn’t sugarcoat stuff for her after My Brother left. I think she respected the fact that I vibed with her like that. And she dug it when she listened to “ZeeZee’s Groove” so Im happy. My whole family loves that song. First song of mine my father ever listened to.

I hear that you and Large Professor are collaborating on a song. How did you connect with him and is it possible that there can be more than a song being made between you two?

Ayyite! U doing ya research! I BEEN a fan of Large Pro since “Looking At The Front Door” and I had spoken to him briefly in 2004 when I was working for MF GRIMM. I had been hitting up his myspace telling him how Im doing my own thing and how I would love to work with him. He had this beat on his page called “Corona” and I hit him one day and told him I LOVED the track and he hit me right back for the first time ever saying, “You like that? Its yours!” Maaan I couldnt believe it!! Im working on that song now. Actually laid it down but I was sooo nervous because it was a Large Pro beat yaknow? I rushed thru the song. Tryin to flow all ill an shit. So I gotta relay it. Hoping that song will be well received. Its a concept song so who knows? In terms of doing more than one joint with Large Pro, sheeeiiiit, all I can say is that im gonna try to impress him with the one track he hit me with. If I get lucky enough to do more music with Xtra P, I’ll let cha know Fam.

Who else would you like to work with in your career?

Wow, another great one Killa. To me, Nas is the GOAT of this shit. So I’d LOVE to work with Mr. Jones on a track. Try an outdo him (yeah riiiight But Im Sooo SERIOUS!). Ima huge fan of Alchemist’s production so to work with him would be a dream come true. Also love The Neptunes beatwork. Big fan of no samples when its done right. Shawty Redd’s shit is dope!! Would love to see what I could come up with working with eL-P. I like that futuristic spacey shit sometimes yaknow? And eLZhi. Would like to do a banger with him. Evidence too. Oh, and DJ Premier! How could I forget him? And Moss too. Moss is dope! Oh, IllMind is a BEAST! Would love to do a track with Jadakiss and Styles P.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in being a rapper?

The more you can do on your own for yourself in This Game THE BETTER!!! Relying on people to make you pop is usually not a good look. So build relationships and work hard and people will respect your ability to connect with people and they will respect your work ethic. I honestly believe that Lil Wayne would not be at the top of the game if he didn’t start unleashing material like a madman in 2007. Pac still got records we ain’t heard cause of his grind in ‘95. In the End, they gotta respect Hard Work.

This is my theme.  People need to reorganize their priorities and make sure to pay for services rendered, especially if the services were of top quality. Lol, that’s all we sayin’ pimp.

If you’re not  going to take your self seriously, just stop wasting people’s time, that attitude and approach has ruined the industry enough .  This is a theme for the times.

I Be Needin’ My Bread ft. Drumma Boy

also, Shawty Redd’s Underground offering, Reloaded

Listen & Download Here

Direct Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/253734473/YJSRWD.rar

Shawty Redd – Touch

Artist: Shawty Redd ft. Ricco Barrino

Title: Touch

Website: http://myspace.com/shawtyredd

Download: Dirty

Gucci_Mane_Feat._Busta_Rhymes_Shawty_Lo-Hood_Up
http://www.zshare.net/audio/602769714c629ae2/
Gucci_Mane_Feat._Juelz_Santana-She_Gotta_Friend
http://www.zshare.net/audio/60276893d82e5d4d/
Drum Squad [Feat. Gucci Mane & Yung L.A.] I Got Em
http://www.zshare.net/audio/60277141f15dd309/
Big Kuntry- On Deck
http://www.zshare.net/audio/60276876c58064e8/
Drake- Cant Hide
http://www.zshare.net/audio/60276809115e09d8/

Shawty Redd on the track!

Luke, je kan niet meer haten op Jeezy, aangezien hij tegenwoordig heavily co-signed by Ice Cube is.

Enne… YOU NEED THIS SHIRT IN YOUR LIFE –>

It’s here… ALBUM OF THE YEAR! (so far)
Waar heeft Jeezy opeens leren rappen? Hij leunt niet meer op z’n ad-libs.
This shit goes haaaaaaaaaaaard!

01. The Recession (Intro) (Produced By DJ Toomp)
02. Welcome Back (Produced By DJ Squeeky)
03. By the Way (Produced By Terry “TA” Allen)
04. Crazy World (Produced By Midnight Black)
05. What They Want (Produced By Midnight Black)
06. Amazin’ (Produced By Drumma Boy)
07. Hustlaz Ambition (Produced By Drumma Boy)
08. Who Dat (Produced By Shawty Redd & D. Rich)
09. Don’t You Know (Produced By Midnight Black)
10. Circulate (Produced By Don Cannon)
11. Word Play (Produced By J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)
12. Vacation (Produced By The Inkredibles)
13. Everything ft. Anthony Hamilton & Lil Boosie (Produced By Simon Gidewon, Wolsey David Thomas & Metkel Deglel)
14. Takin’ It There ft. Trey Songz (Produced By Fat Boi)
15. Don’t Do It (Produced By DJ Pain 1)
16. Put On ft. Kanye West (Produced By Drumma Boy)
17. Get Allot (Produced By Crown Kingz Productions)
18. My President ft. Nas (Produced By Tha Bizness)

In stores September 2nd!

Congrats to J Hen and Dow Jones from Tha Bizness. Them boys did the heater “My President” on Snowman’s album “The Recession.” Keep up the good work my nigs. The album also features production by Shawty Redd, Cannon, Drumma Boy, and engineering by my man Dee. Hit up Complex.com for the full rundown.
And if you’re wondering why I didnt mention any of the other producers…