It seems an old conspiracy theory surrounding rapper Gucci Mane has resurfaced.
Since the Atlanta rapper’s post-prison appearance in 2016, including a slimmer physique and seemingly an overall new look, rumors have circulated online that the new and improved Gucci is really an imposter. That’s right, people really claimed that a government clone of him was created to apparently whitewash trap music. Others seemed to believe the “real” Gucci Mane was killed in prison and his music label released an imposter to take his place.
The “Freaky Gurl” artist and his wife Keyshia Ka’Oir eventually addressed the rumors, deeming them false, and the conspiracies seemingly died down until a few days ago.
Gucci Mane took to his Instagram feed and posted a side-by-side before-and-after transformation photos of himself. The left picture showed a heavier Gucci with a round face, a sharp contrast to the photo of the far slimmer Gucci in the right photo.
The post seemingly retweeted from a fan read, “Everybody would laugh when I said my favorite rapper was Gucci Mane years ago. Now everybody love him.”
He wrote in his “Throwback Thursday” caption, “#TBT Keep Goin Up! 🏹🏹🏹.”
Some fans wandered in to call his glow-up a sham, spewing the same conspiracies from a few years ago.
“🤔 Is not the same person🤔 I can see here two different ppl.”
“Real Gucci still in jail or dead that’s not him that’s a clone!”
“Real Gucci vs Fake Gucci why tf they noses look completely different 🤷♂️.”
“I’m tell y’all thats not Gucci Mane thats a imposter he don’t even look da same the gov did somethin 💯.”
After serving almost three years behind prison for a 2013 firearms charge, “Wop” came out 50 pounds lighter than he went in. His hair and beard had grown out, seemingly adding another change to his looks.
It didn’t take long for him and his wife Ka’Oir to catch word of the farfetched theories circulating the rapper. During an interview with GQ magazine in September 2018, he addressed the rumors, saying he somewhat understood why fans came up with them.
“In a way I feel like I grew,” he said. “I kind of morphed into a different person. Shed some of my old ways. I can say I grew up. I love the person I was, I love the person I am, and I love the person I grew to be. I tried to lose weight, I tried to take care of myself, change my thinking, my environment and associates — the ones that wasn’t benefiting me. I guess that’s the transformation everybody’s saying they can’t believe. But I can believe it.”
He added that not everybody was happy with his lifestyle change, saying, “Sometimes people kind of want you to fail. They wanna see you fall. I get it. People love to see tragedy.”