The fourth studio album by Atlanta rapper Gunna, reflecting his vulnerability and pain from the weight of YSL’s RICO case whilst addressing the rumours and controversy surrounding his name.
After being released from Jail on December 14, Gunna laid low returning to instagram on January 11th with the caption “But it's only one side . #YsltheLabel #FreeThug&Yak GUNNA BACC!!!!!”, leaving fans and followers still unsure of the relationship between Young Thug and Gunna. The next few months were quiet apart from a video snippet surfacing of Wunna driving whilst listening to an unreleased track with the lyrics
“I heard the rumors sayin' I'm packin' up and flyin' out
We ain't goin' nowhere, I'm stayin' here, gon fight it out ”
This song ended up being “turned your back” off the album.
On June 2nd, Gunna came back with the song & visuals for “bread & butter” where he denounced the rumours and addressed the people labelling him a ‘snitch’.
"Never gave no statement or agreed to take no stand on 'em”
He also references former friends that turned against him. A lot of listeners tuned in, with the song debuting and peaking at 48 on the billboard hot 100.
The following week on his birthday June 14th, the album was announced with the cover art and a presave link, with the album surprise dropping 2 days later. A Gift & a Curse was 15 tracks long with no features making it Gunna’s first project to do so. This was different but proved that Gunna always had the talent and can carry a full project on his own without his previous collaborators. Although initially gaining interest through the controversy surrounding Kitchens and the album, a lot of fans and casual listeners continued to stream due to Gunna delivering a solid album with quality and replay value. Rapping like his life depends on it, Gunna has formed a genuine fresh sound with no skips, which proves the talent he has.
A Gift & a Curse performed really well despite the lack of support, selling 85k first week. With the viral hit song “fukumean” continuing to climb up the charts, shaping up to be a potential song of the Summer .
“fukumean” was extremely successful becoming Gunna’s biggest solo song, spending all 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at the No.4 position. The track also earned Spotify’s #1 spot of most streamed rap song in the US this summer surpassing 200 million streams. “fukumean” was the viral stand out song, however Wunna also delivered creative visuals for “idk nomore” & “ca$h $hit” as well as multiple Official Videos for tracks: “bread & butter”, “back to the moon”, “i was just thinking”, “alright” & “rodeo dr”.
On Saturday September 9th, Gunna performed live for the first time since his RICO release. The show titled “The Gift” was fully sold out taking place at the Barclays Centre arena in Brooklyn, New York. Fans went crazy for Gunna’s 30 song setlist where he performed old hits and new songs for the first time ever. A big moment included Wunna performing Young Thug’s verse on “Hot” along with “FREE JEFFERY” visuals which were shown throughout the show. Gunna even recreated his iconic COLORS studio performance singing the song “Top Off” into a hanging mic. The show was executed very well including the stage design, transitions from song-to-song and rapping every word without backing vocals bringing a lot of energy to the show.
photos by: @hijoshotit
The Sequel to this concert “The Curse” will take place on September 28th at the YouTube theatre in Los Angeles, California.