Gucci Mane - Mr Davis

The Guardian 60

(Atlantic

On the two tracks bookending this album, Radric Davis’s fifth full-length since leaving jail in May 2016, the Atlantan rapper introspectively dwells on prison life and the loss of friends to crime – then spends the other 15 driving fast cars, getting “addicted to Franklins”, and being frequently fellated. Gucci’s vocal cadence – either deadpan helplessness in the face of gratification, or sarcastic bafflement as to why he would resist it – gives every track charisma, and he creates some nagging hooks, particularly on the hilarious Money Make Ya Handsome, an anthem for self-aware sugar daddies. But with little to no actual wordplay to his boasts, the materialism gets a little wearing, and he embarrasses himself with Tone It Down, a cheap knock-off of Drake’s Portland. Nicki Minaj is the best of the A-list guests, delivering imperial subliminal disses on Make Love, where even rudimentary metaphors – Nokias, tinned fruit – cut deep.