Following almost three years in federal prison, Gucci Mane emerged a different person. His transformation has been pretty drastic, losing his lean-belly and getting sober ever since his release. He couldn't be in a better place physically or mentally, and in GQ's new interview with the 38-year-old trap rapper, he opens up about how he got there.
While recording in Miami, Gucci spoke with writer Alex Pappademas, discussing both his past and future. When Gucci first started gaining attention in the mid '00s, he was still selling drugs on the side. For a lot of his adult life, he's experienced an array of legal problems, and as such was on probation for a long time. "It's very challenging, to be an artist, a hip-hop artist, and be on probation," he explained.
Throughout the feature, Gucci mentions his desire to travel and see the world, but since he was on probation for such a long time it was difficult for him to ever go anywhere. "Every time anything happens—you violated probation. It's hard to be on probation and travel. You gotta be so responsible. And at that stage of my life, I wasn't that responsible. It was too much for me."
In May 2005 he surrendered to police on murder charges after he was ambushed and killed one of his attackers, all less than a week before the release of his debut record, Trap House. His recent change inspired a conspiracy theory in which people speculated the real Gucci had been replaced by a clone.
When asked about the ridiculous theory, Gucci explained he sees why people came up with it. "In a way I feel like I grew. I kind of morphed into a different person. Shed some of my old ways. I can say I grew up. I love the person I was, I love the person I am, and I love the person I grew to be. I tried to lose weight, I tried to take care of myself, change my thinking, my environment and associates—the ones that wasn't benefitting me. I guess that's the transformation everybody's saying they can't believe. But I can believe it.
Of course, not everyone was happy with him getting sober and doing well for himself, with him saying himself, "Sometimes people kind of want you to fail. They wanna see you fall. I get it. People love to see tragedy."
