Verzuz: Jeezy vs Gucci Mane

Back with another episode of Verzuz we have Jeezy vs Gucci Mane. First off, DJ Holiday was the DJ of the night. It wouldn’t feel right hearing some pre-prison Gucci Mane without hearing Holiday’s legendary “HOLIDAY SEASON” drop. I’ll be completely honest I didn’t expect this to happen until I saw both artists on stage together. There is so much history and bad blood  that something bad is bound to happen between them. Regardless, we got two Atlanta trap heavyweights facing off. Let’s go round by round and see what happened.

Round 1

Gucci came out the gate swinging. People say there’s a “New Gucci” or this is a “clone” but it’s clear this is the same ol Gucci. Round 1 to start it off was perfect. The song slaps on this day and the bars still sting. Jeezy had a solid start playing “Intro” but it doesn’t have nearly the sting Round 1 did.

Round 2

Gucci doesn’t stop. He went with yet another diss. Benchwarmers isnt as hard as Round 1 but has the scathing “I never killed nobody line”. Is this how we’re doing things? Jeezy responded with “I never heard of that, I’m a play a classic” and play a classic he did. Trap or Die is a classic and everybody that was of age in 2005 knows Jeezy won this round.

Round 3

Standing Ovation is a slap, another classic. Sorry Guwop but “I Think I Love Her” isn’t enough. You came out strong but Jeezy pulled ahead.

Round 4

Plain Jane? No competition. One of the greatest songs of that era of Gucci to me. The beat on Gangsta Music was crazy but it’s not the level of Plain Jane.

Round 5

I really hope people are beginning to appreciate how incredible Gucci Mane is if they didn’t before this Verzuz. “I’m a Dog” is classic Gucci with no shortage of quotable lines and an incredibly catchy hook. Jeezy came back with the TM101 banger “Bottom of the Map”. It’s another example of why Jeezy might’ve been the biggest rapper in 2005. Nonetheless, Gucci wins again.

Round 6

Vette Ride Past is another banger. Jeezy the Snowman is a good one for sure but bird flu bars just hit different in 2020.

Round 7

Gucci said “Make a new hit!” and went with 2018’s hit “Wake Up in the Sky”. Personally I’m not a huge fan but it shows that Gucci still puts out big songs while Jeezy hasn’t had a big song in 6 or 7 years. Jeezy answers with oldie but goodie “Dem Boyz”. That hook goes hard even now. Sorry Guwop, Jeezy takes this round.

Round 8

Gucci went harder with “That’s My Hood” but I wanna highlight this one Jeezy bar on Let’s Get It. He rhymed opportunity with opportunity 3 times. “I see opportunity, I'm an opportunist, Nigga ya heard what I said, I'm an opportunist” That’s how you KNOW the song came out in 2005.

Round 9

Gucci coming back with another song released this decade. Both was his second single after jail. Both normally would beat most Jeezy songs but Go Crazy is an all time classic. Jeezy didn’t even need to play Hov verse to win this round. But damn that Jay Z verse was crazy. His return from “retirement” was 32 bars over blaring horns. An iconic moment in history that anointed Jeezy as the next one up at the time. That has nothing to do with who won this round I’m just reminiscing.

Round 10

Rest in peace to Bankroll Fresh. This is the mid-battle lull where neither side really wants to give away too much at this point. I’ll give both sides a point here but we know Gucci’s and Jeezy’s respective discographies are deep enough to not need to play songs at this level.

Round 11

I really think people slept on Gucci coming into this. He may not have had the mainstream success Jeezy enjoyed but people have been saying most of Gucci’s catalog is filler which certainly is not the case. Make the Trap Say Aye with Oj Da Juiceman is another one of classic Gucci tracks from his early mixtape run. Jeezy returned with “Who Dat” off The Recession. Jeezy is really showing why he’s considered by many to be the Jay Z of the South. Shouts out to the New Orleans Saints but Who Dat isn’t really cutting it this round.

Round 12

Thank you Gucci. Gucci’s verse on We Be Steady mobbin is arguably the best verse of 2009. I’m sure whole articles on this verse alone exist on the internet. Dey Kno is one of my favorite beats of all time but Jeezy’s verse is weaker than Gucci’s on Steady Mobbin.

Round 13

I love this song. Another classic Gucci joint. Heavy doesn’t need much explanation. Classic repetitive (in a good way) Gucci hook and some fun bars on top of a beat only Gucci could truly master. With that said, Jeezy is not laying down! Lose My Mind is another Jeezy smash. The way the beat penetrates your body is something very few songs do period. Jeezy wins this round.

Round 14

Jeezy is showing the depth of his catalog here. Way Too Gone is a TM103 anthem that I still play till day. If I’m being honest though I play this for the Future verse. "Street Niggaz" is a hard song off of Gucci Mane's second album "Hard to Kill". It's a strong showing from Gucci. Way Too Gone is a better song off the strength of Future's verse but we're not counting outside contributions and Gucci takes this one.

Round 15

Gucci started this off with the announcement of a tape called “Trap God Classics”. That’s funny, every part of the Trap God trilogy is already on streaming and every track on those is a classic in their own right. Gucci finally plays “First Day Out” which he played his first day returning from prison in 2009. A street and internet classic that’s a seminal classic. Jeezy takes off his jacket and seemingly takes the round off playing the underwhelming "Air Forces". East Atlanta Santa wins this round again.

Round 16

Gucci Mane puts a pause in the action to bring attention to his outfit. He’s letting know he’s wearing $10,000 in clothing and $5,000,000 in jewelry compared to Jeezy wearing a fur and a custom BMF jersey. I gotta say, Gucci’s outfit is really nice. Jeezy responds with a boast about his real estate repertoire, impressive. “Everythang” is a good song that goes with Jeezy’s real estate boasts but doesn’t go as hard as “Photoshoot”.

Round 17

Verzuz is close to an end and Gucci went with one of his biggest smashes. “Wasted” is a smash from 2009 and you hear it in clubs to this day. “Rockstar lifestyle might not make it” is one of the most quoted bars in hip hop in the past decade. Jeezy played Trap Star and it’s very underwhelming compared to “Wasted”

Round 18

Oh God. We all knew this was out there and we wouldn’t know if it would play or not. “Truth” is one of the most disrespectful diss tracks in history. At the time it was shocking and now it is equally shocking seeing Gucci say those words to Jeezy’s face. I’d rather not go into the song but it’s a very hurtful song. Gucci still doesn’t like Jeezy and probably will never be willing to bury the hatchet. Jeezy tried to tell Gucci that he invited him to just play some music. Gucci doesn’t care, he wants to bury Jeezy in disses. Jeezy responded with “Get Ya Mind Right” and honestly nothing he could’ve played would match the impact of “Truth”.

Round 19

Gucci isn’t stopping. It’s really crazy that Gucci would play these hateful songs 10 feet away from Jeezy. Gucci has some, let’s say strong, words for Jeezy on 745. I mean he said Beyonce’s name! “Put On” is one of the most iconic songs of the era it came out. It’s not only one of the hardest songs of 2008 but it’s also been in every high school sports team’s highlight video. It would’ve been nice to hear the Kanye verse but without it Jeezy wins this round.

Round 20

In My Traphouse is one the songs Gucci made to follow up the success of “Icy”. It’s a song where Gucci tells you exactly what was going on in his traphouse and it shook the streets and the internet when it came out. Jeezy volleys back with  Seen It All. Man! My personal favorite latter day Jeezy single. Great Cardo beat and some of the most inspired bars Jeezy had in years. The Jay verse on this is incredible but doesn’t count towards scoring. Regardless, Jeezy takes this

Round 21

“I Get the Bag” is another post-prison banger from Gucci. It was everywhere when it came out and showed Gucci Mane could survive in multiple generations of hip hop. Jeezy responded with Thug Motivation 101. It’s a really good song, but it really just doesn’t go off like I Get the Bag does.

Round 22

Listening to the song now it’s interesting to think that Gucci was one of the first mainstream rappers to make music about popping pills. “Pillz” birthed the classic Gucci quip “Bitch I might be.” Jeezy responded with “Soul Survivor”. I loved this song when it came out, the anthemic beat and Akon hook go off after all these years. It’s close but Pillz takes it.

Round 23

Both people lose this round. How have we gone so long without hearing “Freaky Gurl”? When will Jeezy play “And Then What”? I mean damn Gucci the people want Everybody Lookin, we want Swing My Door, we want Kush is My Cologne, Trap House 3, I Heard, Bullet Wound. There’s a multitude of songs that could’ve been played instead of “Gone Hate”. Same for you Jeezy. I know R. Kelly is cancelled but Go Getta would’ve been nice, OJ is a great song, RIP, I Luv It, I Do, Ballin. I understand artists that actually make the songs feel differently about them than the consumers do but I feel like both left something on the table.

Round 24

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Gucci Mane’s “Lemonade” is one of the greatest hip hop singles of this millennium to me. It didn’t chart number 1 on billboard or anything but if you were remotely interested in rap at the time this was one of the biggest songs. Half the industry tried to jump on this beat. This song alone is what made Earl Sweatshirt one of the hottest commodities in the game before he was exiled to Samoa as a teen. People were so divided on this song when it came out but listening to it now it’s apparent that it’s Gucci Mane at his absolute best. Yeah he won this round.

Winner: Gucci Mane 17-7

There is always a layer of subjectivity to music discussions. Gucci's flow, creativity, and unique lyrics put him ahead of Jeezy in this battle. Jeezy is one of the biggest hip-hop artists of the 2000's but Gucci Mane showed why he was so beloved in the mixtape scene and influenced so much of the music that's out now. I hate to say this cliche phrase but: we all won. Two true Atlanta legends standing 10 feet away from each other performing songs we all have memories linked to. It's a blessing that this happened and I hope Verzuz can continue to deliver battles we want to see.

The conclusion of this Verzuz may have been the best part of the whole show. Gucci Mane and Jeezy are two artists that started as friends and collaborators that have become enemies. When they had their first dispute in 2005 around the release of hit single “Icy” their relationship has been rocky to say the least. The bad blood continued throughout the battle and we didn’t get the resolution we wanted. This at least until the festivities were over. Jeezy extended the olive branch and Gucci said he accepted. Weird, Gucci was rapping about when he murdered Jeezy’s close friend in self-defense about 15 minutes before that. Regardless we got the resolution we wanted. Gucci and Jeezy are most likely on good terms now and we got to see them perform “Icy” together. The song that put them both on the map but also started their ugly beef. Let’s hope all the beef is behind them and we can see them join each other on stage again after covid clears up.