Gucci Mane
Ferrari Boyz
Release Date: Aug 9, 2011
Genre(s): Rap, Gangsta Rap, Hardcore Rap
Record label: Warner Bros.
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Album Review: Ferrari Boyz by Gucci Mane
Fairly Good, Based on 7 Critics
Based on rating 5/5
Don't expect innovation from these titans of Southern rap. Instead, brace yourself for chanted celebrations of money, cars, cocaine, and Waka and Gucci themselves. Gucci delivers mush-mouthed lines like "I'm not a blogger/I'm not a jogger/More like a mobster." Waka raps circles around him on songs like "Suicide Homicide," but nothing rises to the level of Waka's thunderous 2010 solo album — maybe because young-gun producer Lex Luger is absent.
Based on rating 6.3/10
Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame have always shared a symbiotic relationship. With Gucci frequently in and out of jail, keeping the Brick Squad name and label relevant has mostly fallen on Waka's shoulders, and he's done a more than adequate job, releasing a few legitimate radio hits as well as one of the best rap albums of last year. Waka has also gathered a host of new rappers under Brick Squad's wings-- most notably Slim Dunkin, who appears on Ferrari Boyz twice-- and while likely none of them will end up as stars, the brand extension certainly can't hurt.
Based on rating 3/5
Are rap buddy albums a thing now? Ferrari Boyz is the mentor-protegé showpiece of Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame, top billers for the successful Atlanta crew 1017 Brick Squad. With Gucci fresh out of jail and one-album Waka dodging retirement rumours (his sophomore, Triple F Life, is due this fall) Ferrari Boyz is both a promotional tool and the coming together of the current crown princes of the South. Skittish hi-hats, body-throttling bass and cartoonish, sometimes sinister melodies come courtesy of in-house producers Drumma Boy and Southside.
Based on rating 5/10
Critical darlings they ain’t, and with a crew moniker that had to have been stolen from some Japanese techno team, these Ferrari Boyz are designed to make the heads of “true hip-hop heads” explode, but this “1017 Bricksquad Presents” product is labeled a “street release,” and on that level, it’s amusing. Why not chuckle when king Gucci offers “Take you to a place that’s real private/Lick you down and let you suck my privates” in a slurry style that Eli Porter would be feeling? Besides that, hearing Gucci and Waka simultaneously do their name-dropping bits is a delicious kind of ridiculous that’s not worth getting stern over, plus the guest list tries hard with lesser-known names like YG Hootie and Slim Dunkin ecstatic to be on such a big release. Without many radio-worthy cuts and both Shawty Redd and Drumma Boy going through their B-list of beats, Ferrari Boyz isn’t impactful enough to make it past the already converted, but that “street release” tag should have already given that up.
Based on rating 2.0/5
The dynamic Brick Squad 1017 duo of Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame came together to release this week’s other mentor-protege collaborative album, Ferrari Boyz. This work, reportedly recorded in less than two weeks, finds two rappers whose reputations precede them, and who maintain cult followings, despite a polarizing response across the Hip Hop landscape. Gucci and Waka have been, and will likely continue to be, most notable for rapping about their unique lives – a fantastical world filled with controlled substances, the finest exotic dancers, and the flyest whips a (t)rapper’s money can buy.
Opinion: Excellent
GUCCI MANE & WAKA FLOCKA FLAME “1017 Bricksquad Presents: Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka Flame — Ferrari Boyz” (Warner Brothers) This week’s second most important album by a pair of rappers with a sometimes contentious mentor-protégé relationship lacks the scale of the winner in that category, “Watch the Throne” by Jay-Z and Kanye West. It also lacks its pomp, the anticipation it’s built, and its affect of relaxed achievement. Yet just because “Ferrari Boyz” is a smaller proposition, and Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame not quite the world-killing rappers Jay-Z and Mr.
Opinion: Fairly Good
Though lyrically-challenged, Waka Flocka Flame and Gucci Mane Leflah are becoming like Jay-Z and Nas when it comes to riot-ready music. Even the most unforgiving hip-hop purists have come to appreciate the two Brick Squad standouts’ brand of ruckus-centric raps. With countless collaborations under their belt and a DJ Skinny-hosted joint mixtape already on their résumé, Gucci and Waka up the stakes with a full-length joint LP— 1017 Presents: Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka Flame – Ferrari Boyz.
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