What's New(s)?

Gucci Mane drops two new mixtapes today

 























Gucci Mane is no stranger to a multi-album release day. Last year in August, the ATL rapper issued three mixtapes under the World War 3 Volume 1 banner and today the incarcerated artist saw the trend continue with World War 3D.

Two out of the three color-themed records (Purple Album and Green Album) appeared today, and White Album with Peewee Longway will be unveiled on iTunes sometime soon. The former features all new tracks from Brick Squad associate and general oddball Young Thug, while Green Album sees the appearance of slippery trio Migos. Though Gucci mostly sticks to the role of zany curator, the two tapes have more than enough of Guwop to last until the next project inevitably drops.

(You can stream the Purple Album & Green Album(s) here and here, and listen to "Panoramic Roof" from Purple Album below.)

Real Estate offer an acoustic cover of Weezer's "Say It Ain't So"

 

No that's not a misprint seen above. In a live, acoustic session for the French music site La Blogothèque remarkably laidback indie-pop band Real Estate covered Weezer's biting 1994 classic "Say It Ain't So". Granted Real Estate members Martin Courtney, Matt Mondanile, and Alex Bleeker largely defanged the ferocious power-pop standard with their acoustic guitars and mellifluous vocals, but they still maintain the song's undeniable replayability. 

You can see the band tackle the Blue Album cut at the 17 minute mark here, which is preceded by a story of Mondanile and a blue-haired Courtney meeting at Warped Tour. In addition, Real Estate play choice tracks like "Crime" from new album Atlas and  "Easy" from 2011's Days, along with the unreleased effort "White Light" which is set to appear as a B-side on an upcoming single.

(Follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day and check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new.)

"Get Down" ft. Gucci Mane- Migos

Migos wouldn't exist without ATL's ultimate weirdo Gucci Mane. There's no other way to parse it. The dark, slinky (read cheap) beats they routinely pulverize were perfected by Gucci and frequent collaborator Zaytoven years ago. A line like "keep f***ing with me n**** they find you in the river somewhere in Chattanooga, Tennessee" is the sort of specific threat Guwop could rattle off without raising his voice.

So hearing two of Atlanta's best-known entities together again on a track is an incredible treat. While Migos' flamethrowing threatens Gucci's cool persona on the Gothic wobble of "Get Down", he never melts under the pressure. Somehow between flipping off the prosecution and warning local rappers "I'll put you on the local news" Gucci has the time to "snatch all the clothes out the mall like the looters do." Consider that. The man doesn't have closets full of clothes, he's got entire malls he can lay claim to. It's wise for Migos to slot Gucci second in the lineup, because his magnitude anchors everyone on the track. The promise to "hit 'em with guns made from Germany" would be out of place without Gucci's bizarre table-setting. And more than an anchor, Gucci acts as inspiration. Migos' monosyllabic intensity is turned to 11 here; every barked line could leave them hoarse. Even when Gucci Mane's kicking back, he gets others to stand at full attention.

"Get Down" will be featured on a forthcoming Gangsta Grillz compilation entitled Solid Foundation and Migos currently have Y.R.N. 2 coming down the pipeline at any time now. Gucci Mane continues to await sentencing on federal gun charges, which could net him up to 20 years in prison.

"Jackie Chan" ft. Migos- Gucci Mane

Has there ever been anyone that's towed the line between willfully weird and menacing like Gucci Mane? He's compared himself to Captain Caveman, only to cop to "dragging a b**** by their hair." Gucci's name-checked hippopotamuses, solely to brag about the size of his .45 and its slaying abilities. And in the effortlessly bouncing "Lemonade", Gucci finds time to cut Old Yeller down to size with an AK. He's hip-hop's class-clown, but one you'd never want to meet out in the hallways.

That blend of goofball and gangsta continues on "Jackie Chan", our first taste of the forthcoming The State vs. Radric Davis II: The Caged Bird Sings, the sequel to the 2009 studio album. The title itself references Gucci's laundry list of legal problems; he's currently facing a federal gun charge that could net him 20 years, though none of that is mentioned here. Instead, Gucci's bragging about his "stupid Jordans", comparing his kick game to the martial-arts star. Elsewhere, he's wearing "Jackie Chan glasses" and breezing through "Rush Hour traffic." Frequent collaborator Zaytoven's dark slinky beat blends small synth flourishes and gut-busting bass drops, continuing the trend of the "repulsive" and embraceable intermingling. Guests Migos, Atlanta's rookies of freewheeling rap, stand-up to veteran Gucci by envisioning themselves as "Magicians" and drinking enough lean to "kill kidneys.” A mush-mouth chorus of “Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan” is surprisingly nuanced and still threatens to pulverize the hook into your brain. Like the man himself, "Jackie Chan" has pure brute-force, tempered by an assassin's precision. 

The State vs. Radric Davis II: The Caged Bird Sings is out Christmas Day.

"Catch a Box"- Gucci Mane

Gucci Mane's new cut "Catch a Box" has everything you'd want from a Gucci track: a dark slinky beat, an infectious marble-mouthed chorus consisting of little more than the title, Guwop's seemingly stream-of-conscious rapping where he's "Captain Caveman", but not a "slave man." Often the case with Gucci, the track begins with what registers as a spaceship revving up and blasting off into space, a perfect counterpart to Gucci Mane's otherworldly raps. Castigating Gucci tracks as dumb drug-addled ramblings is easy, but misses the point. Most rappers would never think to compare themselves to Liberace; here Gucci's got as many diamond rings dangling from his fingers as the flamboyant piano player. Elsewhere, he takes on the guise of "Gargamel with a thinly smirk", in the pantheon of rappers fancying themselves villains this is as common a comparison as being the rap Nick Nitro. Still his impeccable eye for color continues to be his strong suit, comparing a woman's skin color to "Jack Daniels" and beaming at the black magnum he keeps for an insurance policy. Midway through the marauding track he name-checks "Ponce de Leon", proving that like the Beastie Boys once said of the explorer himself he's "constantly on".


 

Free Gucci

It's that time of year again, when the snow piles up, the cold winter winds whirl about, and perpetual parolee Gucci Mane gets out of jail. The Atlanta-rapper and mixtape juggernaut was released from jail yesterday after doing a bid for violating parole. At this point, the Fulton County Jail is like a second home for Gucci, who goes through it like a revolving door. In an interview with XXL, Gucci went on record to say "this is the last time I think I'll ever be in jail." If this is true, the rap world will be better off, having one of its perennial weirdos back again.

Below is the video for Gucci's "Lemonade," undoubtedly one of his catchiest and most well-crafted songs to date.

"Lemonade"- The State vs. Radric Davis