Gucci Mane: Hard To Kill (2LP) [CAROLINE / EMI]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set from Big Cat Records marks the album's 20th anniversary. Hard to Kill carried the singles "My Chain" and "Freaky Girl," with Zaytoven producing all but four of its tracks.

This edition

• 2LP set
• 20th anniversary edition

About the album

Twenty years on, Hard to Kill plays like an early chapter of the Atlanta trap story, with Gucci Mane already sounding like the man in charge. It came out in October 2006 through Big Cat Records and Tommy Boy, and Zaytoven's bouncing keys and booming low end give the record its character from the first bars of the intro to the last word of the outro.

"My Chain" led the way as the first single in June 2006, and "Freaky Girl" went to radio the following year. Cyber Sapp, Nitti, Josh Butler, Chead George and Paul Roach handle the remaining beats, while Black Magic, Mac Bre-Z, Gangsta Boo, Jason Caesar, La Chat and Young Snead all drop in on the mic. "Trap Starz," "Stick Em Up," "Everybody Know Me" and "Big Cat (LaFlare)" show off the laid-back menace and sly humour that became his calling card.

Played next to the trap records that followed, it's striking how much of the template is already here, from the stripped-back beats to the ad-libs. The title, as it turned out, was less a boast than a forecast.

Also at Kops: more Gucci Mane on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Big Cat Records (cat# BCR-26003), a reissue of the 2006 album.