MARCUS DOWLING’S YEAR END AWARDS – 2009 RAPPER OF THE YEAR

RAPPER OF THE YEAR: Gucci Mane

Other Nominees: Drake, Raekwon, Slaughterhouse, Jay-Z

For those of us in an around the music industry that believe that the fix is in for Drake to be the next giant crossover superstar, you really aren’t paying much attention. By the end of 2009, Radric “Gucci Mane” Davis is going to be destroying the industry and selling records in such a way that “real hip hop” heads need to run and duck for cover. Thus and so are the genesis of his case for being 2009’s Rapper of the Year.

Gucci may be the first man in history to go to prison with mainstream radio’s hottest song at that moment (his collaboration w/ OJ da Juiceman on “Make the Trap Say Aye”) and emerge from an amended prison sentence for parole violation on a weapons possession charge six months later with a deal with Warner Bros. Records. Crazy, but if you’re a record executive, numbers and buzz (both positive and negative) don’t lie. As well, Gucci Mane may be the most prolific mixtape artist in the game since Lil Wayne, as Gucci’s laconic flow was the mixtape winner of the year on a national level, with the anticipated October 17th “Cold War” triple mixtape drop “Brrrussia,” “Great Brrritain” and “Guccimerica,” a highlight as the man seemingly has no lyrical end in sight. As well, his Murder Was the Case album, his final release on Big Cat Records, with little to no advertisement of release, with a top 25 Billboard Top 200 Album within the first week of sales.

Gucci Mane may be the best party emcee we’ve had in ages. One can release so many mixtapes and have such a deep discography when the lyrical content isn’t, well, discussing health care, economic stimulus packages, or gas prices being out of control. He raps about sex. He raps about partying. He raps about wearing iced out chains. He raps about smoking marijuana. And sometimes, when you’re lucky, he creates his best work to date, “Wasted,” a mixtape instant classic now the lead single from December’s The State v. Radric Davis when he raps about having sex while at a party while wearing an iced out chain and smoking marijuana.

The ultimate key to Gucci’s mainstream success lies somewhere between undeniably great production and a roster of cameo guests that is a Murderer’s Row of the history of hip hop and R & B. From Outkast’s Big Boi on Big Boi’s “Shine Blockas,” to work with Drake, Mariah Carey, Usher, Snoop Dogg, Plies, Trey Songz Lil Wayne and a plethora of others, Gucci’s party time take on hip hop seems to have him at the front of the national Rolodex. Furthermore, every Gucci track seems to be a winning production. From ATL new jacks like Fatboi (“Wasted’s” producer) and Zaytoven, to pretty much any top producer in the game on duets with other artists, Gucci Mane is never presented in a light wherein his less than stellar lyrical acumen is fully displayed. When a Gucci track is playing, you’re bobbing, you’re bouncing, you’re partying, let’s face it, he was having the best time of your life this year, pretty much anywhere you were, or wanted to be.

Gucci Mane is MTV’s #6 hottest MC in the game for 2009 not because he works harder at his craft than everyone. Neither is he #6 because his adlibs and hooks are hotter than everyone else’s. He’s also not #6 because of his ability to drop 64 bars over DJ Drama’s “CANNON” in a freestyle battle. He’s the one man balance for the game. Not everything has to be topical, neither does everything needs to be so serious. In Gucci’s infinite “ignorance,” he, like Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em absolutely puts the smiling happy face on a game, and sadly, a life and universe that needs one. No, Gucci’s #6, and now #1 for me, because, well, in 2009, he was the Mastercard of rap music. Everywhere you wanted to be. If the man gets arrested again tomorrow like Lil Wayne and faces an eight month bid, or is exposed in some Internet expose for owning counterfeit or leased iced out chains, well, we at least had 2009 where he was consistently, good, bad or indifferent, hip hop’s most consistently noteworthyand buzzed about artist.

If you wanted to look at this from a standpoint of legends doing exactly what they should be doing, Raekwon is the winner. If you want to look at this as being coronated as the first hall of famer of the era of hip hop’s extreme monetization, Jay-Z’s your guy. If you wanted to look at someone who is well on their way to being a bankable hip hop name, there’s Drake. But those are more plaudits of a career than remembrances of 2009. And 2009? Well that was the year that Gucci Mane, by being the most prolific and entertaining of them all, became a superstar. 2009 was his year.