Since re-emerging transformed from prison as a chiseled, healthy-living Adonis, Gucci Mane’s major projects have included an extra layer of gloss and a few unlikely commercial compromises. In the last year he’s teamed up with Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber on songs that boxed Gucci into a pillow-soft style that predictably didn’t showcase his strengths. It’s easy to envision the conference call with label executives that led to these cuts: “You present like a star now, Gucci. It’s time to get out in front with those radio singles.”
But these cuddly aberrations aside, Gucci has largely stayed loyal to his established sound. Woptober II is no more a natural sequel to the original 2016 mixtape than any other Gucci project; the title probably just means it happened to drop this month. Like most of his recent records, it’s another collection of mostly very good Gucci Mane songs, marred by occasional awkward bits.
Though still relentlessly paced (this is his second album of the year, following Delusions of Grandeur), Gucci’s output has come a long way from the low-quality data dumps he delivered while he was away, presumably just to keep new music flowing. His trademark swollen southern drawl has been remodeled as something more precise. On “Time to Move,” he moves effortlessly from a menacing whisper to a spiky flow as he recalls tales of waking up in new Bugatti and lies told on the witness stand.
Woptober II’s best moments are when Gucci has company. On “Bucking the System,” his voice is slow and hypnotic before Kevin Gates blows through the track, the yin-and-yang flows accentuating the duo’s chemistry. And on “Richer Than Errybody,” Gucci teams up with rising players YoungBoy Never Broke Again and DaBaby, sounding just as fit and uncompromising as his youthful collaborators.
There are silly moments. “Big Booty,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, summons the spirit of 2 Live Crew. It’s a track that would have fallen flat even five years ago, when Nicki Minaj and Jennifer Lopez were causing a mini-revival in these kind of Miami bass-inspired ass anthems. And sleazy raps aside, it’s fair to say that Gucci regularly underperforms lyrically on Woptober II. The low point comes on “Tootsies,” when he tosses off a poorly considered jab at Kanye West’s mental health issues.
As for the beats, Gucci’s go-to team of star producers (London on da Track, Zaytoven, Southside, Da Honorable C.N.O.T.E, and more) mostly serve up archetypal Trap God instrumentals without ever distinguishing themselves. J. White Did It (of “Bodak Yellow” fame) encapsulates the malaise on “Move Me,” which leans on the old Dragnet theme tune like an out-of-shape distance runner sagging against a wall. It’s a reminder that one of Gucci’s stronger recent projects, Droptopwop, benefitted from being overseen by producer Metro Boomin, who tied everything together while keeping the rapper’s worst proclivities in check.
