Gucci Mane. It's hard to believe how wack this album is, but I'm going to try and justify my opinion in this review. Let me state from the beginning that I wanted to like Gucci Mane going into this release. As a fan of Jeezy, and after hearing many people compare Gucci's style to Jeezy's, I went into this release expecting an emcee similar to Young Jeezy. I admit to having a certain soft spot for trap-rap, and was expecting, at the very least, mediocre rhymes about hustling, cooking, and chopping backed by some top-notch production. Dissapointing is an understatement.

Gucci Mane is similar to Young Jeezy in that he has a very slow, droning flow, and often raps about, well, crack. The differences between Jeezy and Gucci Mane are very obvious to the trained ear; while Southern rap haters may write them both off as the same emcee, fans of Jeezy can easily pick up on Gucci's flaws. First, the charisma is rarely there. Gucci sounds very bored behind the mic, and rarely puts any energy into his rhymes; you'd think that all his legal troubles, and the desire to be on a major-label would've made Gucci hungry, but he sounds so uninspired throughout most of the album. Although this may sound blasphemous to most hip-hop heads, Gucci also lacks Jeezy's depth; yes, Jeezy DOES have depth. While Jeezy can offer us tracks like "Sky's The Limit," "Soul Survivor," "Dreamin'," and "The Inspiration," Gucci doesn't bring any of that to the table. While Jeezy is also all-hood, at the very least, he can bring forth some of the negative aspects of it. Despite the fact that Gucci was mugged, murdered someone out of self-defense, is involved in a beef with a rapper selling over dozens more than him, and was nearly sentenced to life in prison, it's still all good to Gucci.

The production is also very, very poor; something Jeezy certainly can't say. While Young Jizzle has a million-dollar budget, and an all-star cast of producers on both his albums, Gucci Mane, whether due to limited budget or just poor beat selecting, does not have this same support on this album. With better production found throughout, this album could've at least been booted up to two stars; as it stands, the only beats that even sound half decent on this album are the Nitti-produced "Go Head" and the simplistic, yet hypnotizing "Trap Starz." These two tracks also bring out a bit more carefree approach in delivery from Gucci, showing that, had he been presented with better beats, he could've also stepped up his rap game.

I've never heard Trap House, so I can't judge Gucci on that. His sophomore album, if it really does show growth as others have suggested, has motivated me to continue keeping my distance from it. I won't suggest that this album doesn't have room to grow on me; after all, I gave The Inspiration a two-star review, and it has since become one of my most-listened to albums over time. Gucci Mane, no matter how much I may appear to be hating on him in this review, still has potential; given a better soundscape, I know he could release a better effort than Hard to Kill. While I won't doubt that I could end up liking this six months down the road, it still doesn't change the quality of this album at the time being.

Listening to this cd, you can tell that Gucci has improved his rapping skills and it is overall much better than Trap House. I'm kind of scared to hear what Jeezy's new cd (which comes out Dec. 14th) is going to sound like because Gucci is seriously calling his name and is trying to literally give him a run for his money.

Beats are stupid hot and the verses are alot better than Trap House. He still ain't left that Jeezy beef alone and addresses it several times through the cd. He also addresses the shoot out that almost had him locked up. This cd is the truth. Holla when it's gangsta. Peace

"My Chain" is the worst song I have heard in a few years ... Go get Nas "Hip Hop Is Dead" instead of this garbage.

Following his debut album Trap House, Gucci Mane proves he is Hard To Kill with his second LP. Continuing on the same path with this album he connects back with producer Zaytoven on eleven of the seventeen tracks. On the "Intro" he plays some of the media attention gained from the highly publicized legal problems an on going fueds as on the uptempo "Everybody Know Me". "Street Ni$$as" glamourizes Gucci's mentality and lifestyle with a simple chant describing just that as does "Trap Starz". As the industry's saturation of bling has yet to cease, "My Chain" featuring Black Magic sparkles with the horn section. With a hard deep kicks accompanied by dark tones on "Hold Dat Thought". The lyrical content found on the second verse compares his ballin' in the street game to athletes' playing abilities. One of the highlights is found on the multi-toned "Freaky Gurl" produced by Cyber Sapp as Gucci opens with "Let me set the record straight / hater, you participate / three girls with me like I'm going on Elimidate..." adding accents to the instrumentation. Gucci Mane goes into detail being influenced by "Pillz". Featuring Mac Bree-Z with memorable chant to complement the track. "Go Head" also featuring Mac Bree-Z was previously released on Trap House. Riding around town on "Drive Fast" is highlighted with the chant "...let your hair blow..." as the top is dropped. With a 2-11 in progress on "Stick Em Up" featuring La Chat over the high pitched keys made the heist more effective. The type of woman down to grind with a d-boy is a "Trap Gurl" featuring Gangsta Boo. Taking it to another level with a ghetto girl he calls "Alley Cat" where he gives both the pros and cons of having one on your side. "Blow Pop" highlights Hard To Kill with the production effects and Gucci's overall performance. Closing with "Big Cat LaFlare" on a high note as G. Mane shows style on an upbeat. Hard To Kill does not contain anything outside the norm but for entertainment purposes it does its job.