Earlier this week, Gucci Mane proclaimed himself ‘the best rapper alive.’ While I can’t stress to you how much I disagree with that sentiment, both his work ethic and knack for creating trap hits in his sleep may have you thinking differently. In “Evil Genius,” his whopping 98th project, he looks to continue making his case for the title, while at the same time getting the bando jumpin’.

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TOP 5

5. KEPT BACK

“Kept Back” features two of the most reckless rappers known to man in Gucci Mane and Lil Pump. Together, they created this traditional trap banger that has each of them going back and forth about their money, big booty chicks and stolen baby mamas. I enjoyed the gutter hook and trill ass verses Gucci gave us on the song, but on the real, the most impressive part about what I heard was Pump’s verse (He killed that s**t!).

4. I’M NOT GOIN’

Did you expect a song featuring Kevin Gates and Gucci Mane to be anything less than spooky? “I’m Not Goin’” features this ghoulish instrumental by Murda Beatz, some cold ass bars by Kevin Gates in which he reminds the world how raw he is, and a chilling hook and verse by Gucci Mane that has him talking about some s**t he’s willing to do and not do now that he’s rich. Low-key, I think both artists spit with phenomenal flows and dish out some pretty deep lyrics on this song, but its dark nature will probably catch your attention the most.

When these two OG’s speak, I listen!

3. BIPOLAR

I knew Gucci was bi-polar after that one day he cussed out everyone in the industry.

In “BiPolar,” one of the main singles off of Evil Genius, Gucci Mane and Quavo were able to create this braggadocios banger that has both of them reminding us how much money they have, while also stealing and disrespecting chicks and ops in the process. In my opinion, you get a classic Gucci verse and hook on this joint, while Quavo does a great job of adding a well-needed melodic sound to the track. (I love when Quavo plays repairman on a song!)

It’s a good thing to drip, scam and be bipolar in the rap game now… I’ll never understand these n***as!

2. SOLITAIRE

Gucci Mane, Lil Yachty and Migos each have their own unique styles, but content-wise, I believe they are all cut from the same cloth. With that being said, the collaboration between the trio on “Solitaire” makes all of the sense in the world. On it, each rapper shows off their ability to spit an abundance of braggadocios, savage and violent lyrics in less than a 3 minute span. Personally, I like the rawness of the track, as it feels like each rapper is simply letting loose on the mic without caring for structure. I also love the beat attached to this song, as it reminds me of some s**t you would hear on a GameBoy game.

1. WAKE UP IN THE SKY

Even though I knew this collaboration was coming, I still didn’t think it will actually happen.

“Wake Up In The Sky” is powered by pop sensation Bruno Mars, and he blesses us with this infectious hook that has him pimping his way to the finish line. Matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had one of those pimp canes in one of his hands while he was laying down the hook. From there, Gucci Mane blesses the track with nothing but sly words, soothing the mind of what I am assuming is a stripper/Chipotle worker. Part of his verse has him rapping, and part of his verse has him doing some daring crooning. As for Kodak, he closes things out with a verse that sounds slightly smooth, but also a bit gritty. All in all, I f**k with each artists’ unique contributions, even in the times they sound putrid.

If you play this joint before going to the club, you might make woman-getting history!

SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. OFF THE BOAT (3.5/5)

2. BY MYSELF (3.5/5)

3. BIPOLAR (4.5/5)

4. COLD SHOULDER (3/5)

5. I’M NOT GOIN’ (4.5/5)

6. ON GOD (3/5)

7. FATHER’S DAY (3.5/5)

8. OUTTA PROPORTION (4/5)

9. LOST YA’LL MIND (3/5)

10. I’M NOT GOIN (4.5/5)

11. WAKE UP IN THE SKY (5/5)

12. SOLITAIRE (4/5)

13. THIS THE NIGHT (4/5)

14. MAD RUSSIAN (4/5)

15. HARD FEELINGS (3/5)

16. LORD (4/5)

17. MONEY CALLIN’ (4/5)

18. KEPT BACK (4/5)

OVERALL RATING

(C+)

After all these years, Gucci is still ticking, making authentic trap music with some of the biggest stars in the game. With Evil Genius, he continues his run, gifting us with eighteen tracks full of nothing but bangers!

The production on Evil Genius is heavy-hitting, dark and trap authentic. I thought producers like Metro Boomin’ and Murda Beatz (Amongst several others) did a good job of bringing out the dark-side of Gucci — one that doesn’t mind playing villain or adulterer (I guess an adulterer is a villian, right?). Because of this, the album oozes consistency, at times, even feeling stagnant.

I talked about Evil Genius feeling stagnant at times, but I can tell you that it isn’t because of Gucci Mane. I thought his energy-level on the album was great, as he did a good job of giving us lots of animation and plowing through his verses with confident bars. Content-wise, as expected, he left a lot on the table, never really deviating from the s**t you’ve heard him talk about for the last 15 years. With all the things he’s been through in his personal life these last couple of months, I would’ve liked if he touched on some of that s**t in greater detail. Nonetheless, he stayed true to himself, and you can’t really hate on that.

The features on Evil Genius were solid. I thought Lil Pump did his thing on “Kept Back,” Lil Skies added some well-needed melodic-flavor to the album in “Mad Russian,” and both Gates and YoungBoy Never Broke Again did a great job of challenging Gucci to bring out the competitive side to him. On the flip side, I could do without that Quavo feature on “Lost Ya’ll Mind,” and was slightly disappointed at the chemistry between 21 Savage and Gucci on “Just Like It.”

Gucci Mane is loving life right now, and I can hear it all in his music. Something about the way he talks about how bossed up/demented he is nowadays sounds different. I can tell whatever shackle he had placed on his music-making ways is completely off, and now he is simply making music for himself that we just happen to be privileged to hear. In other words, Gucci is living in his own world, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t give a damn that I gave his own world s**t a C+.

Quincy

Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.