What up gang.
Back with the real you know what’s the deal. Before Gucci Mane became the Boss, husband, and father that he is
Insider Hotspot Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRomM7ZedDRRo8bPBG8XuFA/videos
Before Young Jeezy leveled up into entrepreneurship, activist, found love and extended his family legacy.
Both were the two of the street’s most prolific rappers that talked about it and was about it.
When it came to being gangster, these rappers were looked up to as real and solid. They went from a partnership to take over the industry together to a heated beef that ended in bloodshed. What started the beef? Who pulled the trigger? Did anyone collect the 10K bounty on Gucci’s chain? How did they squash it in the end? This vid is the Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy beef that shook up Atlanta. Let’s chop it up and break it down.
If you were into rap around the 2000 era, it’s no question that you saw the come up of two of Atlanta’s legends. The Ice Cream Man, Gucci Mane
And the Snow Man, Young Jeezy
Radric Davis aka Gucci Mane was born in Alabama but rose to notoriety in the streets of Atlanta where he was raised since 9 years old https://youtu.be/ZYNrhArt_Tw (0:30-0:37). A young Guwop wasn’t just reckless without a head on his shoulder, he actually used to be involved in school, wrote poetry, and even got a scholarship, but that’s when the streets began clashing with his life as a teen trying to make it. Gucci was caught with drugs and that was that for school https://youtu.be/ZYNrhArt_Tw (0:57-1:20) This happened when he was just a jit at 18 moving weight like he was a young Scarface. He was caught with 80-90 bags of crack while trappin’ in the neighborhood. Tried to run but couldn’t outrun the law and got 90 days behind bars as well as a whopping from cops https://youtu.be/2OqOVTTTNsk (0:00-1:19) From the time he got out he knew he had to go full 100 with rapping https://youtu.be/ZYNrhArt_Tw (1:21-1:32) Gucci would go deeper into the street life, a product of his environment caught up in the money and vices https://youtu.be/2OqOVTTTNsk (2:14-2:26) With his college scholarship out the window, it was all the streets and rapping https://youtu.be/2OqOVTTTNsk (3:31-3:38) One of his earliest tracks released, Gucci would rap about a lick he hit and earned his legendary status in the city and it was up from there https://youtu.be/2OqOVTTTNsk (4:20-4:47)
On the other hand, while Gucci was grinding and making his name known in the streets and the industry, one other rapper was already on the elevator to worldwide success. Jay Wayne Jenkins aka Young Jeezy was doing big things in the industry as a street cat. The Georgia native jumped off the porch as a youngin working his way through the hardships of the dangerous environment he was raised around. He saw a lot of the dark side of the world, from his mom being strung up, to homies losing their lives, to prison, but Jeezy stood through his pain and trials to become one of the realest in his city https://youtu.be/dUxk5aNTIbQ (4:36-5:12) He first started releasing music under the alias Lil’ J where he dropped his 2001 debut “Thuggin’ Under the Influence (T.U.I.)”
He would eventually make the change to Young Jeezy and blew up in the streets, even being pushed and approved by then crime syndicate and multi-million dollar gang organization Black Mafia Family (BMF) https://youtu.be/gXhYpz4Wo5o (0:10-0:35)
He would sign to BMF Records before catching the attention of Diddy and Jay-Z, and choosing to go with Def Jam in 2004 and later in his career signing a management deal with Roc Nation where him and Jay became cool https://youtu.be/dUxk5aNTIbQ (5:13-6:14) https://youtu.be/cMupiiDfSuo
Gucci was already manifesting legendary status in the streets, Jeezy was the same on his end and was more established in the music side. It only made sense for two street dudes that seemingly had similar paths to join forces and stack the bread together, and that’s exactly what they did. Gucci and Jeezy came together to drop their smash hit “So Icy” in 2005 and it was a whole wave https://youtu.be/hwgQytfwWRc In a way it gave booth of them a major boost in their careers. But just as it seemed that the new power duo of hip hop was formed, it was that same collaborative success that started the downfall of their partnership.
In the public everything seemed fine, but behind the scenes something was brewing and about to spill over. The song officially belonged to Gucci, something confirmed with his main producer turned homie Zaytoven https://youtu.be/fLnQ6z2yXb4 (1:38-1:45)
They made the beat at Zaytoven’s mom spot and hit the studio playing it for Jeezy.
At first Jeezy wasn’t rocking with it, but they went through and it blew up https://youtu.be/fLnQ6z2yXb4 (3:10-3:39)
Now this is where it went sideways. Remember at that time Jeezy was the hottest in the streets but was looking for that viral hit to send him skyrocketing with his upcoming debut album, Thug Motivation 101. So it only made sense business wise for Jeezy’s label n’em to want the song to release under Jeezy to propel his career to the next level. Zaytoven also confirmed this stating that Jeezy approached him to buy the rights for the song but being Gucci homie from the jump he stayed loyal and didn’t switch up https://youtu.be/HWCVporHSR0 (4:27-5:34) Jeezy however, has always denied it and placing it on the label https://youtu.be/fnw6LvKvYEw (23:44-24:05)
From there, things went further downhill. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing what Def Jam was trying to do, it was a smart business move but Gucci was a street dude not yet understanding the runnings of the industry. His former manager Greg Street also tried to talk him into making the move of letting Jeezy get ownership as it’s a win win. It blows up bigger with the major label push and his name also gets mainstream shine and leverage when it comes to record deals.
https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.35727/title.gucci-manes-icy-young-jeezy-beef-revisited-in-oral-history
Unfortunately, that’s not how Gucci saw it. Gucci kept his perspective that Jeezy was tryna steal his track for himself and the beef turned into something on a whole other level. But it wasn’t only this that set Gucci off. According to Guwop, Jeezy was going to shows and telling persons not to buy Gucci’s records https://youtu.be/bV0cvrU2uLc (1:22-1:54) So Gucci being Gucci, in retaliation he released their song on his mixtape “Trap House” that also featured another collaboration of there’s with the song “Black Tee” https://youtu.be/0G7PE1MkhYw
Jeezy responded to Gucci’s flex by releasing the coldblooded diss trap “Stay Strapped” where he puts a bounty on Gucci saying he got 10 bands for anyone to bring him Gucci’s chain https://youtu.be/uK31vJTz_no (4:25-4:36) Gucci not backing down would return fire with the diss “Round 1” https://youtu.be/6Ht4QDRZi6w
This only got worse after that. It went from wax, to real street war. May 10th 2005, Gucci Mane nearly became a pack when dudes ran up in his spot to claim his life. The situation occurred when Gucci was hanging with a female friend at her Decatur apartment. She opened the door and five men dressed in black stormed in with tape, a gun, and brass knuckles https://youtu.be/Z8jTuXzd3oc (0:20-1:05) Reports state that they threatened to shoot Gucci, punched him in the mouth and pistol whipped ole girl, but Gucci came out like Rambo with the chopper bussing shots sending dudes hightailing it outa there. Reports went on to state that witnesses heard a scuffle and gunshots and saw the men flee the apartment, with one asking another, “Are you hit?” The one who was hit walked by the witness and ran into the woods while the other three ran the other way and left in a truck,”
The landlord of the apartment told authorities it looked like a robbery, but, Gucci’s lawyer isn’t buying it and more feels it was a set up https://youtu.be/Z8jTuXzd3oc (0:14-1:40) Big Guwop also stated in an interview that it was a set up and pointed fingers at Jeezy being the one behind it https://youtu.be/bV0cvrU2uLc (4:44-5:12)
That theory would be confirmed when the man who was shot was later found a few days later outside a nearby middle school succumbed to his injuries. He was identified as Henry Lee Clark III aka Pookie Loc, an artist on Young Jeezy’s CTE label at the time.
http://www.mtv.com/news/1502738/atlanta-rapper-gucci-mane-faces-murder-charge/
Gucci was going through it, having to defend himself then facing murder charges for protecting his life from people who tried to take it https://youtu.be/Z8jTuXzd3oc (0:05-0:13)
Luckily, Gucci would beat the case on self-defense with a judge stating they lacked sufficient evidence and an accounts from an eye witness who was apparently the owner of the condo right outside the scene at the time the men rushed into where Gucci was at. This matched Gucci’s self-defense claims and he was a free man.
http://www.mtv.com/news/1519599/murder-charges-against-gucci-mane-dropped/
Gucci came back out swinging, dropping diss track after diss track gloating about upping the score on Jeezy. He dropped the Hit Em Up level diss, “Truth” https://youtu.be/sVgd0pIZ8fQ and the banger “Benchwarmers” https://youtu.be/oPBleeM6p1M
From then it was smoke for years to come. With blood now being spilt over the beef, it was legit, no rap shenanigans but real street beef. The two would continue to insult each other publicly in interviews going back and forth with insults and disrespect https://youtu.be/dUxk5aNTIbQ (0:39-1:06) https://youtu.be/dUxk5aNTIbQ (1:21-2:21) https://youtu.be/bV0cvrU2uLc (0:57-1:21) https://youtu.be/SIORJSS933Y (4:20-4:56) https://youtu.be/QOgMqF0uWmk (22:25-23:01) https://youtu.be/SIORJSS933Y (5:14-5:40) https://youtu.be/SIORJSS933Y (5:51-6:02) https://youtu.be/QOgMqF0uWmk (7:18-7:35)
It was a never-ending cycle that rivalled 50 and Ja Rule’s feud, but sometimes maturity over years of experiencing the dark side of the streets brings clarity and that’s exactly what happened. Both Jeezy and Gucci were successful businessmen and iconic musicians that bossed up, had a loving wife and family, and moved on to being upstanding citizens on bigger things. In November 2020 in the pandemic inspired Verzuz battles by Swizz Beats and Timberland
Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy met on the stage for their verzuz battle.
It was like an alternate realty, even more incredible is that it seemed to be going smooth, because everyone thought they were going to see a shootout or somn that night. But, the fears of bloodshed seemed to start coming true when Gucci performed his hit diss “Truth” and at the end of the track went on to shout out “Put that dude in the dirt” “Smoking on Pookie Loc tonight” gah damn. https://youtu.be/jJUfYAMSiJ8 (1:06:59-1:07:31) Everyone looking on was ready for bullets to start flying. Rappers and Influencers were going crazy reacting to what was happening and sharing their thoughts https://youtu.be/MjEUZ8dHiYM (2:23-3:05) https://youtu.be/agyjeErPiRI (2:49-3:15) https://youtu.be/X6nXe_XHZ9g (1:40-2:00)
Jeezy kept his cool and had a heart to heart squashing all the beef https://youtu.be/OiTYuJshOqk (6:01-6:49) When they brought down the curtains performing the track that started the entire beef, So Icy, it was like a new era and things were in the past for real https://youtu.be/jJUfYAMSiJ8 (1:33:24-1:37:00) They ended it showing love and putting the beef to rest publicly. But that wasn’t all, Gucci even went a step further and brought Jeezy out on tour later on https://youtu.be/rTcn7H-jXXU
Going from this https://youtu.be/mnt9Hhi7AKg (26:15-26:28) to this https://youtu.be/jJUfYAMSiJ8 (1:36:43-1:37:05) We can only hope they continue to repair their friendship and we get a collab project in the future. All that’s left now is for Pooki Loc’s son to heal and also put it in the past instead of trying to meddle in something his pops lived, stood, and died on https://youtu.be/_aEZK4Iqd64 (0:10-0:47) https://youtu.be/y-aT8TaHu3o (3:08-4:30)
So there you have it. Thanks for kicking it with yah boy, appreciate the love and support. Catch ya’ll in the next one. Peace up and peace out.
Insider Hotspot Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRomM7ZedDRRo8bPBG8XuFA/videos
Chad is a professional journalist specializing in Hip-Hop culture and writing music reviews.
