Gucci Mane - Hard to Kill (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [2LP Gold]

Gucci Mane's Hard to Kill returns as a gold double vinyl 20th anniversary deluxe edition, a raw snapshot of Atlanta trap music before it took over the world.

Released in 2006 on Big Cat Records, this second album followed his debut Trap House and arrived during a turbulent stretch in his life. Gucci was already a hero in East Atlanta, known for his slurred, unbothered delivery and endless supply of quotable lines. Hard to Kill sharpened that persona and laid down the blueprint that a whole generation of Southern rappers would soon follow.

"Freaky Gurl" became his breakout, a playful, bouncing club record built on a sticky hook. "Pillz" shows off his deadpan, darkly funny side, while "Trap Girl" brings in Memphis legend Gangsta Boo for a sharp back-and-forth. "Stick Em Up" features La Chat, another Memphis firebrand, trading bars with Gucci like neither one plans to blink first. The production is sparse and heavy, all booming bass, rattling hi-hats and eerie synths, leaving plenty of space for his personality to fill.

Gritty, funny and fearless, this is a rapper who already knew exactly who he was.

Twenty years later, the gold anniversary pressing honours a record that helped shape modern hip hop, long before the rest of the world caught up with East Atlanta.