Gucci Mane has admitted that hustlers like Birdman motivated him to pursue a career as a musician, seeing that so many rappers around him weren’t that talented, in his opinion.
On Tuesday (July 18), The New York Times compiled a list of stories by 50 rappers to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop. Guwop is among those featured in the feature, in which he revealed that it wasn’t in fact a love for Hip Hop that made him commit to the craft.
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“By the time I started trying to finance my own first tape, maybe ’99 or 2000, those were the key people I could relate to — B.G., Project Pat,” he said about his formative years in the game. “Like, OK, this dude just got out of jail, and everybody in the hood listens to that. I’m going through the same things at the same time.
“I didn’t feel like Project Pat was the best rapper, but he made me feel him. I’m like, can’t be Fabolous or Lil Wayne, but I can do this. I was late in the game, but I didn’t have to be scared to try. I was going to spring break in Daytona, and it was the whole summer of Project Pat and Big Tymers. I started doing the stuff they were rapping about — like, I’m going to be the CD that I’m listening to.”
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In expanding on his drive to become a successful businessman, he added: “That’s really how this started. It wasn’t even a love of Hip Hop; I’m a hustler. I’m like, damn, I really don’t want to sell dope all the time. It’s too risky. If Jermaine Dupri can put out Kris Kross, Birdman ain’t really a good rapper and I got a little money — I can get in this.”
50 Cent is another MC who shared his origin story for NYT’s “50 Rappers 50 Stories” segment. During the chat, the G-Unit mogul spoke about initially clowning Juvenile when his second Cash Money Records album, 400 Degreez (certified 4x platinum by the RIAA), was released in December 1998.
“When there’s no plan B, you looking at everything and saying, ‘I gotta figure out what’s gonna work or what’s not gonna work,’” Fif recalled of his early rap career strategies. “There’s points where you’re laughing at a guy and then you look and it’s not funny no more.”
He continued: “Like Juvenile. We would laugh at him on 400 Degreez. He was standing in front of the yellow Corvette and he had like a little bit too much baby oil on. He was shiny. We’re laughing like, this [expletive] is country. And when them numbers came back, listen, I said, ‘Get me some baby oil!’”
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The album in question was a huge moment for Hip Hop upon its release. Thanks to hit singles such as “Ha” and “Back That Azz Up,” which peaked at No. 68 and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively, the album earned the No. 2 spot on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Chart and No. 9 on the Billboard 200.
