The discography of Gucci Mane, an American rapper, consists of 11 studio albums, 2 collaborative albums, 3 compilation albums, 1 soundtrack, 7 extended plays EPs. Gucci_ManeMigosFutureYoung_ScooterChief_KeefR-front-large.jpg' alt='Gucci Mane New Songs 2014 Download' title='Gucci Mane New Songs 2014 Download' />A Story Of Rap And Rebirth NPR. Its just truth, Gucci Mane says of his new book. Its the underdog story because I been jumping hurdles my whole life. Cameron KirklandCourtesy of the artist. Cameron KirklandCourtesy of the artist. Its just truth, Gucci Mane says of his new book. Gucci Mane New Songs 2014 Download' title='Gucci Mane New Songs 2014 Download' />New Flame Chris Brown Clean Version ft. Usher and Rick Ross radio edit download. Its the underdog story because I been jumping hurdles my whole life. Cameron KirklandCourtesy of the artist. Gucci Mane has an extensive resume. As a founding father of trap music, Manes been carving out the rap genre since 2. Str. 8 Drop Records Presents Gucci Mane La Flare. Since then, he has amassed a long list of musical achievements dozens of mixtapes, singles, collaborations and eight studio albums. But before all of that, he was Radric Davis, growing up in Atlanta and watching his dad hustle people on the streets for money. You know, he had all kinds of games and scams, like three card molly, shaking the pea, pigeon drop, Gucci Mane tells NPRs Ailsa Chang. Eliska Nikola. All of these are little scams that he learned tricks of the trade that he learned in the streets. And Gucci learned them, too. Through much of his climb to the top, he employed these skills while dealing drugs, partially to finance his musical career. He rapped about these exploits in his music, and slowly became known as the rapper who keeps it real. Now, he has released a book, which he started writing while in a maximum security prison for a firearms possession charge between 2. That time period also marked a turning point, when he made a promise to himself that he would change his life in his words, to start doing better. Fittingly titled The Autobiography Of Gucci Mane, the book touches on his hustle growing up and how that shaped his image as a rapper, plus the transformations that led him to where he is today. You can hear his conversation with Ailsa Chang in the audio player, and read on for an edited transcript. Gucci Mane as a child. Victor DavisCourtesy of the artist. Victor DavisCourtesy of the artist. Gucci Mane as a child. Victor DavisCourtesy of the artist. Ailsa Chang In your book, you call your dad a con artist. How was he a con artist, and what did you learn from him Gucci Mane He just was kind of like, always on point, or trying to be as sharp as he can or, you know, read when trouble was coming. I just watched his nature and I watched his mannerisms. He didnt really teach it to me, but I kind of adapted to it because I seen it. You imitated it. Exactly. So back then, when you were barely 1. Why was that I think I was obsessed with money, definitely, coming up because I seen so many people not having money. I seen so many people staying in shotgun houses, or not really having good shoes on their feet. And I went to sleep hungry I knew what it was like to be poor I knew what it was like to have your lights off, or to have to boil water to take a bath. And that never left me. I seen the way everything was about a dollar. I seen how it could just tear up a whole household. So in my mind it was always like, try to make yourself not be a burden on nobody. Try to keep yourself at least financially independent enough where youre not a burden on your family because they dont got it. When you were quite young as an adult, you were breaking into houses, robbing, expanding your drug dealing all over Georgia. Did it feel justified in your mind because at least you were making a living and you were not depending on other people to feed you It wasnt justified. I think its kind of like, I know in myself even thinking of who I was hurting or how risky it was the chances I was taking. It was kind of like, I just want to get to a point where Im comfortable, Im straight, Im well off. At that time in hindsight, looking at it now thats what I thought was the way to get there. I didnt want to do that for the rest of my life. But at the same time, I knew that I needed money to do what I had to do. When you started your rap career, you would brag about these exploits in your music which, in a way, only strengthened your reputation on the street as a drug dealer. So Im just curious, did you live the lifestyle for the music, or was the music a way to enhance your image as a drug dealer back then To be honest, once I got my first charge at like 2. This is what Im going to do. I dont want to sell drugs no more. Did you feel like you could get out of it, though Yeah. But at that point it was like, I want to be a professional rapper, you know what Im saying I want to get in the music business. But at the same time, it was like, I still need money to pay for studio time. I still need money to get myself out there. Youre called the trap god. Can you just explain What is trap music When I hear a rap song, how do I know when Im hearing it Oh, this is trap. Trap, by definition, is a hustle or a spot or the act of just grinding. When I came up, trap was crumbling. Trap meant that you was in a drug infested place, neighborhood, house. The music was about that lifestyle, anything pertaining to that lifestyle. But right now, its broad its kind of like hard hitting beats, and just talking about the drug culture. I want to just rewind a little bit, because Im thinking about this time in your life when youre in your twenties and youre drug dealing, in part, to finance your music career did you feel like your life was precarious That this wasnt sustainable indefinitely I felt like selling drugs was going to have a terrible consequence at the end if I kept going. You had this looming dread. It just was facts. Ive seen how bad it can be. I seen people who had serious cases and did serious time at a young age. I seen people getting robbed. I had friends, people who was getting killed, so I already knew that once I had that first charge that I gotta do something. I kind of made a conscious decision like, Im going to be a rapper. And Im going to be serious about it. No matter what happen, Im going to make it happen. So you were living the trap life as you were releasing these albums, and part of that lifestyle was this drink called lean, which you were hooked on for many years. What is lean Lean is cough syrup. Though I guess its nicknamed lean because you take the cough syrup and you would mix it with a soda But not just any cough syrup, were not talking Robitussin. This is codeine. Codeine with Promethazine. Over the counter syrup, definitely with a prescription. I was addicted to that for several years and it derailed my career. I was doing a recreational drug when it was time for me to be 1. You were in and out of county jail for much of your young adult life. And in 2. 01. 4, you were convicted of firearms possession and you entered federal prison for the first time. And it was at that time that you decided, This is it this is going to be a turning point for me. And Im just curious Why at that point Because all of your problems with law enforcement up until then That was part of your image. It was part of the image in your music it was part of your image that your fans connected with, in some ways. But what made your time behind bars in 2. Well, I got arrested in 2. I didnt get sentenced to go to prison, I guess, until 2. So, I actually made the decision to change my life in 2. I was first arrested, before I even got the time. Why was that Because I was facing a bunch of time. So that right there is what made me come to the decision that I need to change my life.