Gunna’s new album, A Gift & A Curse, arrived on one day’s notice, with no features and a modest-charting single released just two weeks prior, yet it’s likely to get as much attention as any LP put out this summer. Part of that comes from Gunna’s reputation as a talented perennial chart-topper who has emerged from Young Thug’s shadow to be a marquee Atlanta hip-hop star, but much of the public interest goes well beyond the actual musical product.
In May 2022, Gunna, Young Thug, and many more members of YSL, were indicted as part of a massive RICO case put forth by the Fulton County District Attorney. The case claims that YSL, besides being a record label and creative collective, has been involved in a myriad of criminal activities around Atlanta, with its A-list artists being directly implicated in the enterprise. While Thug remains incarcerated and involved in a slow-moving trial , Gunna was released last December after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge. Gunna submitted an Alford plea, which essentially means that he formally plead guilty despite publicly maintaining his innocence because there was a significant likelihood the jury would not find in his favor. (It should be noted that Gunna is not the only one named in the RICO case who has plead guilty, though others have rejected plea deals.)
Gunna’s plea has made him perhaps rap’s biggest lightning rod, 6ix9ine notwithstanding. Some fans and fellow artists rushed to say he cooperated with the authorities to secure his own freedom at the expense of his friends, despite the MC’s insistence that he did not provide any statements or agree to testify on behalf of the prosecution. Since being freed, Gunna’s musical output has been minimal, but when he released “Bread & Butter” on June 2, it was clear he would be silent no longer. “Kept it real with n-ggas, never lied and always stay honest / Love my bro so much, I’d never change on ’em,” he rapped on the first verse of his heavily anticipated comeback track.
A Gift & A Curse is a fascinating record that succeeds musically more often than not, though it’s hard to know whether that will overcome the stigma Gunna finds himself facing at the moment. Here are GQ’s initial thoughts after listening.
To get it out of the way first: Yes, Gunna does address the high-profile YSL RICO case, and the implications of his early release, quite often on the project.
There isn’t one specific song that references the case, rather these lines are sprinkled throughout A Gift & A Curse. On “Rodeo Dr,” he says he’s confronted those who are referring to him as a snitch, rapping, “I know you heard I been pullin’ up pressin’ these n-ggas who claimin’ I ratted.” “N-ggas say I did it and I swear that I ain’t did it,” he raps on “Paybach,” later seeming to rebuke the concept of RICO charges altogether. “Motherfuck the system, tryna give us all a sentence.”
Certain songs, like “IDK Nomore,” fixate heavily on the fallout, as well as the seven months he spent incarcerated. “Took months without no syrup, ain’t no morе codeine in my liver,” he raps, implying that his time in jail helped him rid his body of the addictive substance. Elsewhere on the song, he’s rapping more opaquely about relationships turned frosty, which will surely fuel endless online speculation. “We burned the bridge and cut the ties and forever apart/And I know there be a time you really show who you are,” he says wistfully on the album outro.
On lead single “Bread & Butter,” Gunna labels a former friend a hypocrite for bashing him but being closely tied to someone with a history of cooperating with authorities. “You switched on me when you know you in business with a rat / And the boy that’s like your brother, ain’t nobody speak on that,” he raps. (Some have interpreted the lyrics to be about Lil Baby and Quality Control Music CEO Pierre “P” Thomas, though Gunna chafed at this speculation personally.)
With “Turned Your Back,” Gunna refutes rumors that he is looking to leave YSL for a new label home, something that he’s previously pushed back against via social media. “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,” he pledges. Gift & A Curse is, of course, released through YSL and 300 Entertainment.
Perhaps no track is more direct in its opposition to the snitch narrative than “I Was Just Thinking,” which sees Gunna not only rapping about the isolation he felt while locked up (“Twenty-three and one, how you feel when you alone? / That’s four walls talkin’ to you, tellin’ you you gone”), an effective continuation of the moving open letter he penned from prison last June, but he also speaks to Young Thug directly. “Only I done cried ‘causе this feelin’ for my bro (King Slime) / And you know my mind, you done watched that n-ggaa grow / Know you hearin’ the lies that your lil’ brother might fold / Yeah, I had popped out, but don’t let ’em say I told,” he sings on the album’s penultimate record.
The final song, “Alright,” strikes a tricky tonal balance, with Gunna admitting to his emotional struggles in the wake of his release (“All I feel is pain, but it’s gon’ be alright / Dirt all on my name, say I’m wrong and I ain’t right”), but ultimately settling on a cautiously optimistic tone (“A lot of people changed, it won’t ever be the same / But it’s gon’ be alright”). It’s a logical note for the album to end on, as Gunna has his freedom, but an uncertain future at the center of hip-hop.
With his back against the ropes, Gunna comes out of the gates on Gift & A Curse rapping ferociously. In the past, his singsong cadences have occasionally suffered from drowsiness, making Gunna the least interesting part of a few of his own biggest songs.
But from the opening hook of “Back At It” he’s in fine form, rapping nimbly, enunciating without compromising the charm of his Georgia accent. For understandable reasons, there’s a level of emotion in his voice that we rarely get from Gunna, best demonstrated on tracks like “IDK Nomore” and the plaintive “Turned Your Back.” One of the reasons Gunna and Lil Baby worked so well together is that Baby was the heart-on-his-sleeve foil to Gunna’s cool customer. There are a few tracks that falter, like the limp “P Angels,” but it’s intriguing to hear Gunna assume both roles and largely succeed.
Though many fans will tune in to Gift & A Curse just to hear his commentary on the YSL situation, the album stands on its own musically.
The production credits across A Gift & A Curse are largely name brand, featuring a mix of established beatmakers (CuBeatz, Swiff D, and longtime Gunna/YSL collaborator Turbo) and exciting upstarts (88Krazy, Kenny Stuntin, Royal808), but the marked absence of guest verses can be read a couple different ways. Charitably, this is the most Gunna has ever had to get off his chest going into an LP, and it makes sense to keep most of the verses for himself as he both fights back against the social media narrative against him and reasserts his place at the top of hip-hop. But it’s also a significant departure from any of his previous projects, which were stacked with appearances from Atlanta stalwarts like Lil Baby, and Future, as well as A-listers from elsewhere like Travis Scott, Roddy Ricch, and Drake. Always popular within a variety of rap circles, it’s a little jarring to see a Gunna album entirely devoid of others’ vocals.
The omission of these types of heavyweights could speak to a level of alienation from rap’s movers and shakers that has been heavily analyzed online. Former collaborators like Lil Durk have been critical of Gunna in the wake of his Alford plea. That could change in the future once the case is settled and as more information comes out, but it also puts Gunna in a tricky position. There are plenty of consistently successful rappers who exist outside the purview of the mainstream, but Gunna has spent his career living at the center of hip-hop culture, dominating Rap Caviar and mainstream radio with a sound that makes it hard to imagine he could pivot to being a figure like, say, Tech N9ne.
On the flipside, a conspicuously timed post on Young Thug’s social media accounts posted an image of a barcode, captioned “Business Is Business” with a countdown that ends in five days seems to be hinting at a new project. The images have been shared by the likes of Drake, 21 Savage, and Ty Dolla $ign and YG, implying they will feature on the project, but at the very least offering implicit support. Those artists have not, at press time, shared any posts about Gunna’s album.
Ultimately, A Gift & A Curse is a timestamp of a superstar at both a professional and personal crossroads. While Gunna has his freedom, his trial in the court of public opinion has just begun, and he’s arguing his defense on some of the most compelling tracks of his career.