Social media is hailing rapper Gucci Mane as the GOAT.
Gucci is no stranger to the criminal justice system, but since getting out of prison a few years ago he’s seemingly changed his life for the better. He’s not only managed to stay out of trouble, but also improved his overall lifestyle, losing a total of 100 pounds by this year.
The “Tone It Down” artist recently reflected on his career, noting that he apparently was behind bars for a duration of “5 years and 4 months” since he began in the rap game.
With a photo of his 12 mugshots, Gucci wrote in his Instagram caption, “When you learn to survive without anyone, you can survive anything #wopwednesdays.”
The post recieved over 575k likes and 7,450 comments from a slew of fans, admiring the entertainer’s resilience.
“This is what you call resilence! So proud of him 💯👏.”
“I love how it all turned out. For the better, pure happiness and better than EVER. Wop the real 🐐.”
“Imagine that…and came out other side on top of the world 🌎👊🏽. Keep grinding you’re an inspiration for millions. Love you guwap.”
“Got damn❗wop really be biddi if he can make it we all can. He the real 💪💪 goat in life.”
A few others felt Gucci’s post sent the wrong message.
“Not something to brag about nobody should be happy about going to prison 🤐.”
“I hope people don’t think going to jail is okay this is stupid 🤦🏾♂️. You lost 5 years of your life.”
Gucci’s last public arrest was in 2014, when he was charged with felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. By the time he was released from prison in September 2016 he had clearly made a complete turnaround in life.
He told longtime journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell during a 2017 interview that spending time behind bars “100 percent” saved his life.
“I was outta control,” Gucci said. “I wouldn’t want to do it over, but in hindsight it helped me.”
While in prison, the artist managed to get off of drugs, lose weight and do “a lot of reading.” He also didn’t depend on his celebrity status while in prison.
“I pride myself on just being a man,” he said. “I didn’t stand on the fact that I was a rapper. I stood on the fact that I’m Radric Davis the man and I made everybody who dealt with me deal with me as Radric Davis the man, from the corrections officers, from the judge, from the lawyer, from federal prisoners.”
