He spent six weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 as the featured act on Rae Sremmurd’s 2016 smash “Black Beatles” and was nominated for his first Grammy alongside Lizzo for “Exactly How I Feel.” He has released 14 projects in five years, including his first post-prison album, Everybody Looking, which became his highest-charting, reaching No. Post-release, the former mixtape god has entered the mainstream, collaborating with artists such as Selena Gomez, Drake and Bruno Mars.
His transformation, dubbed the “Gucci Mane Glow-Up” on social media, was far from superficial. “#GUWOP -God Unity Wisdom Opportunity Power,” he tweeted in 2016. And while his nickname once stood for “Get Ur Weight Up Pussy,” it, too, now represents a more refined Mane. Instead of oversized T-shirts and gold grills, Gucci opts for dapper fashion picks, like Chanel collared zip-ups and coordinated Fendi looks with fashionista wife Ka’oir. Since his release, the man known to fans as Guwop has gone gangster glam. While in prison, Gucci decided he would publish his book, revamp his label, sell the rights to his autobiography to a major film company, go on tour and take nothing less than $100,000 per show. One change: How about we do the 10-year plan and make all the money?’ It turned out to be a pretty good plan.” Let’s just do a five-year plan, and we are going to build a great strategy for you to make a lot of money and protect your brand and your legacy.’ He said, ‘That sounds good. “When I got out I said, ‘I’m going to show everybody.’”ĭuring Gucci’s time behind bars, Moscowitz remembers the two communicating through the prison email server, Corrlinks. I knew I was unique, and I knew I had something to offer that a lot of people didn’t,” says Gucci today. “When I went to prison, I knew that I was special. While in prison he wrote The Autobiography of Gucci Mane, which was published in 2017, and came up with a five-year plan that would cement his status as one of the music industry’s most prolific rapper-executives from the moment of his release. He had undergone a deep mental transformation, too - the “Lemonade” rapper embodying the idea of turning lemons into just that. “He was so skinny,” says Ka’oir, “his pants were falling off of him when he came out.” Thanks to his twice-a-day workouts - and the fact that he had kicked an addiction to lean while in prison - the rapper had lost 90 pounds, and washboard abs had replaced the East Atlanta Santa’s once protruding belly. If the couple’s efforts to fly under the radar that day were thorough - Ka’oir temporarily changed her signature mohawk hairstyle and the two flew commercial - Gucci’s physical transformation ensured an incognito return.