Gucci Mane in 2017
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Gucci Mane Meets His Favorite Author To Talk Upcoming Autobiography

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The Atlanta trap rapper meets Malcolm Gladwell and checks another item off his bucket list as his year just keeps getting better
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Sep 12, 2017 - 5:30 pm

Nothing makes us happier than seeing Gucci Mane out there still living his best life.

His summer started early with his getting snapped at the BET Awards in matching baby blue suits with DJ Khaled's son Baby Asahd, and capped off more recently with him dropping the fire by way of a fresh collab with Migos on Gucci's forthcoming single "I Get The Bag," which already has a hot video and is rocketing its way up the Billboard Hot 100 ahead of the anticipated Sept. 23 release.

On top of that, Guwop has apparently also gotten the chance to meet his favorite author Malcolm Gladwell, as the pair sat down at the YouTube Space in New York City for a special intimate interview in advance of the release of Gucci's forthcoming book The Autobiography Of Gucci Mane.

Gucci first connected with Gladwell via social media in 2013, after a photo emerged of the rapper holding a copy of the author's fifth book David And Goliath, which examines the struggles of underdogs versus favorites, and seeks out answers to the question, "Why are the childhoods of people at the top of one profession after another marked by deprivation and struggle?"

Gucci Mane's forthcoming memoir The Autobiography Of Gucci Mane is due out in hardcover starting Sept. 19.

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Chuck D, of Public Enemy, in 2017

Chuck D

Photo: Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images

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Chuck D's Hip-Hop History Book "Could Have Been 3,000 Pages Long"

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Learn what the iconic rapper has to say about his latest written overview of hip-hop's storied roots
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Nov 8, 2017 - 12:04 pm

Rapper, activist and Public Enemy co-founder Chuck D has made cataloguing the ins and outs of hip-hop's 40-plus year history a pet project since first falling in love with the genre.

"The first hint I got of the music itself was as a teenager in New York," Chuck D told Billboard of his first encounter with rap in the mid-'70s, "I was like 'What is this Muhammad Ali-type stuff on top of music?' The technology aspect of it bit me."

Chuck previously wrote at length about his thoughts on the state of rap in his 1997 book, Fight The Power, but the idea of distilling the collected history of the musical form and its associated subgenres into a definitive play-by-play of its progression and development — and making it approachable and accessible even to the uninitiated or casual fan — has remained on his bucket list. Chuck D Presents This Day In Rap And Hip-Hop History seeks to do just that.

"It could have been a series," he said regarding the breadth of ground he had to cover. "But the thing you learn when doing something like this is the gift of truncating and balance."

"The book could have been 1,500 to 3,000 pages," he adds.

With so much history condensed into just 352 pages, Chuck D confessed that part of the difficulty was remaining neutral and not allowing personal nostalgia to shift too much focus to the early years of rap history, when so much change and development has taken place in the past decade.

"You can't have any biases," he said. "You've got to be astute enough and have respect for all periods of the music in order to make great parables and comparisons to the classic stuff that’s already revered."

Chuck D Presents This Day In Rap And Hip-Hop History is out now, and is available in print or digital version wherever books are sold.

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Gucci Mane in 2017
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Gucci Mane Releases Autobiography, Hints Second Book On Its Way

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The Atlanta rapper may have a second book in the works following his just-released autobiography
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Sep 19, 2017 - 5:51 pm

It's been another big week for Gucci Mane.

Just last week he met with his favorite author Malcolm Gladwell for a special promotional event in anticipation of Guwop's forthcoming book The Autobiography Of Gucci Mane, and this week his book has been officially released.

Gucci explained to MTV News that he started writing during his 3-year stint in prison as "a way to kill time," but was surprised to find that writing prose came more easily than he expected. "When you're in prison, you don’t got nothing but time," he explains. "I just started writing, but then next thing I know, I've got 30, 40 pages."

"I learned that I can be more than a rapper," Gucci added about the self-discovery he experienced from his efforts. "I really feel I have a future in writing books if I wanted to do that."

And he's wasted no time in pursuing that future, as Gucci also revealed in his interview that he has plans for another book soon to follow – this one compiled from the large amounts of fan mail he received while in the pen.

"While I was writing this book, I had compiled all my fan mail. I wanted to just make a book of all my fan mail I received in prison, because [there were] some amazing letters I received," he explained. "Inspiring ones, funny ones, informative ones where people were telling me, 'This is the hot artist when you get out’ or ‘This is the hot producer you should collaborate with.'"

No timeline is currently set for Gucci's second book, but there is a confirmed release date for his 11th studio album Mr. Davis – Oct. 13 – and he's hinted that the album is an "audio version" of sorts of his just-released autobiography.  To top it off, Gucci will also soon be married to longtime girlfriend Keyshia Ka'oir on Oct. 17, after proposing to her on the NBA Kiss Cam at an Atlanta Hawks basketball game last November.

"The autobiography, the wedding, new album ... it's just a lot," he says, summing it all up. "I'm blessed. This has been one hell of a year."

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Gucci Mane in 2017

Gucci Mane

Photo: Jonathan Mannion/Atlantic Records

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Gucci Mane Details New 2017 Album Produced In 2 Days

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The new LP comes just two months after the release of the rapper's 11th studio album, 'Mr. Davis'
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Dec 11, 2017 - 5:24 pm

The always-prolific Gucci Mane has announced an official release date for his third major full-length release of 2017.

In his announcement via Twitter, the Atlanta rapper also revealed that the forthcoming album, titled El Gato The Human Glacier, consists of 10 tracks produced in their entirety by Southside (of 808 Mafia fame) in the span of just two days. 

Scheduled for release on Dec. 22, El Gato … comes just two months after Gucci's 11th studio album, Mr. Davis.  The release caps off a banner year for Guwop, during which he released an acclaimed mixtape with Metro Boomin (DropTopWop), released his autobiography and hinted at more literary efforts to come, met his favorite author in person, got married in a star-studded celebrity-filled event that helped launch a reality show, launched a new clothing line, and embarked on the first-ever tour of his lengthy career.

Following hints that the rapper was considering taking the impendent route and opening up the floodgates on a huge arsenal of unreleased music, Gucci instead inked a $10 million contract extension with Atlantic Records this past September. He subsequently tweeted his thanks to the label, adding ,"I'm naming my next album #El Gato the #HumanGlacier I wanna make 10 mo million for my honeymoon #1017."

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Vic Mesna in 2017
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Vic Mensa To Join Jay Z On '4:44' Tour

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The Chicago-based rapper will be joining Jay Z for the legendary Brooklyn rapper's upcoming tour in support of '4:44'
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Sep 21, 2017 - 11:22 am

Chicago-based rapper and fast-rising star Vic Mensa is fresh off the release of his critically-acclaimed debut studio LP The Autobiography. Just yesterday, it was also announced that the young phenom will now be joining none other than Jay Z for the legendary Brooklyn rapper's upcoming tour in support of 4:44.

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Mensa was introduced to the mainstream world when he appeared on a verse from "Wolves," an early track leak from Kanye West's The Life Of Pablo. Soon after, it was announced that Mensa had been signed to Jay Z's own Roc Nation imprint label. Since then, Mensa has released a series of impressive EPs and mixtapes, all of which caught the ear of underground heads and cemented his growing reputation as one of the most exciting young talents of the New Chicago Sound.

GRAMMYs

Mensa and Jay's tour will kick off at the end of October in Anaheim, Calif., and take them around the U.S. and Canada for 34 show dates, before returning to Los Angeles to wrap the tour up just before Christmas.

Tickets for the 4:44 Tour are available now via Tidal.

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