The New 1017 Records is thriving with the success of artists such as Pooh Shiesty and Foogiano, but Gucci Mane is still looking to add more talent to the roster. Over July 4 weekend, Guwop took to Instagram to announce that Hotboy Wes is the latest rapper to sign with the label.
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Gucci Mane welcomed the Waco, Texas artist with an embrace in the studio and gifting him with an iced-out 1017 chain. In the video, an excited Hotboy Wes referenced lyrics from Gucci’s “Hood Affairs Freestyle” from 2009: “I was trapping like a fool, me and FF Fool/Didn’t go to school/I was trapping like a bitch, I sold a lot of bricks.”
“Follow my new artist @_hotboywes2 the hardest young n-gga outta Texas 1017 we still spinning money #SoIcyBoyz,” Gucci Mane wrote in the caption.
His wife Keyshia Ka’oir Davis added in the comments, “BEST A&R in the GAME. His life ain’t gon be the same no mo. HE A STAR.”
Hotboy Wes’ biggest YouTube video to date is “I Can’t,” which has over 421,000 views. The song appears on his Never Had Shit project that was released in July 2019.
The New 1017 Records welcomes Hotboy Wes during a promising time for the label, with Gucci Mane, Pooh Shiesty, Foogiano, BigWalkDog, Big Scarr and Enchanting all currently signed to the Atlantic Records subsidiary.
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Gucci Mane just dropped his Ice Daddy album in June, with Pooh Shiesty sharing Shiesty Season in February and Foogiano’s Gutta Baby arriving in November 2020. 1017’s compilation album, So Icy Gang, Vol. 1, came out in October 2020, showcasing the label’s roster at the time.
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In a May interview with Billboard, Gucci Mane talked about his plan to grow The New 1017 Records over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic is how I popped off my label,” he explained. “While everybody [else] is going to sit on their money, I’m going to come out and sign artists. That was my whole strategy.”
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He continued, “We’ve been like a family. I want to make my artists a part of everything I do. And we’re going to all grow together. We don’t even have a studio. We don’t have these overheads that a lot of labels have. We’re not doing things the traditional way to make sure we make profit.”
