In a previously unreleased interview from 2006, Gucci Mane opened up after murder charges against him were dropped for the death of Henry Lee Clark III. He discussed growing up in Alabama where he had a lot of friends and developed the way he speaks now, although he gets the word that he chooses from Atlanta. "That's the secret of Gucci."
From there, Gucci revealed that he got his start in rap by writing poetry in school and that he likes to surround himself with a crowd of people and artists when writing a song because it motivates him to constantly prove himself in their presence and brings about his best work. He also talked about the importance of having a good team around you to push a song to the masses if you really want to secure yourself a hit.
Gucci dove into the importance of an education. "You can't be a doctor if you don't go to school for being a doctor. Me, I'm a rapper, so I deal a lot with words. So, I went to English class and I made A's in it because I knew one day I wanted to be a poet. I wanted be a rapper...I went to speech class... I practiced."
All of this is even more interesting when you put the interview in perspective of Gucci Mane's situation back in 2005 when a warrant was issued for his arrest one day before his debut album, Trap House, was set to drop. Gucci, who was best known for his breakout Young Jeezy collaboration, "Icy," was promoting his album in New York when he came home to turn himself in. If you remember, Gucci had been visiting a friend when four men busted in the door shooting guns, prompting Gucci to shoot back. When he hit one, the men left. Six months later, the murder charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Ten years later, Gucci finds himself in a similar spot having just been released from prison after serving a sentence for possession of a firearm. Gucci, as ambitious as ever, wasted no time hitting the studio after his release last week and released "First Day Out Tha Feds" less than 24 hours after he regained his freedom. The Mike WiLL Made-It-produced track was streamed over 1.1 million times on SoundCloud in one day. He already has plans for to drop new music, possibly a mixtape, while his team has shared news of a new tour in the coming months. The previously unreleased interview, that even sees him spitting some bars, makes for an incredible inside look at the one and only, Gucci Mane. Watch it in full above.
