That may be an understatement as his transformation was very drastic, losing his trademarked belly and refraining from drug use.
He’s in a great place personally, and in a GQ interview, the 38-year-old rapper explained the journey getting where he is now.
In his interview with writer Alex Pappademas, Gucci opens up about his past and his future. Not only did he start selling drugs at 14 years old, his freshman year of high school, shortly after that, he dealt with a plethora of legal issues. Probation was a mainstay in his life.
“It’s very challenging, to be an artist, a hip-hop artist, and be on probation.”
In the interview, Gucci continuously mentioned his adoration of traveling and seeing the world. However, due to his long-term probation, it’s always been difficult for him to go anywhere.
“Every time anything happens, you violated probation. It’s hard to be on probation and travel. You gotta be so responsible. And at that stage of my life, I wasn’t that responsible. It was too much for me.”
Known for his legendary trap hits particularly throughout the mid-the 2000s, Gucci’s sudden change after returning home from jail caught the hip-hop circle off guard. Society was so shocked, that there were rumors around for a while that the new and improved Gucci Mane was new and improved because he was a clone.
Gucci understands where fans are coming from, sort of.
“In a way I feel like I grew. I kind of morphed into a different person. I shed some of my old ways. I can say I grew up. I love the person I was, I love the person I am, and I love the person I grew to be. I tried to lose weight, I tried to take care of myself, change my thinking, my environment and associated — the ones that weren’t benefitting me. I guess that
When asked about the ridiculous theory, Gucci explained he sees why people came up with it. “In a way, I feel like I grew. I kind of morphed into a different person. Shed some of my old ways. I can say I grew up. I love the person I was, I love the person I am, and I love the person I grew to be. I tried to lose weight, I tried to take care of myself, change my thinking, my environment and associates—the ones that weren’t benefitting me. I guess that’s the transformation everybody’s saying they can’t believe. But I can believe it.”
Everybody wasn’t happy with him bettering his life.
“Sometimes people kind of want you to fail. They wanna see you fall. I get it. People love to see tragedy.”