Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane has confirmed his signing of a new recording contract with Warner Bros. Records.
The move effectively ends Gucci’s long-standing professional relationship with Big Cat Records.
Yesterday (May 12), the independent label released Murder Was the Case, a collection of songs Gucci Mane recorded before 2007, including “Stoopid” and “Runnin-Back Gittin Fat.”
Although Gucci is grateful for the support his previous label provided during his 2005 murder acquittal and 2006 incarceration, the trap rapper made it clear that he does not endorse the Big Cat project nor considers it an official LP.
“I am no longer signed to, booked by, or working with Big Cat Records or any of its employees in any way,” Gucci Mane told AllHipHop.com in a prepared statement. “The CD that Big Cat is putting out consists of records that were never planned to make my album and is a non-official release. My fans will get the official Gucci Mane album in August on Warner Bros. Records.”
Gucci’s first album was the independent hit Trap House, which was powered by the Young Jeezy collaboration “Icy.”
The song proved so popular that both rappers briefly feuded over ownership of the track.
Gucci continued on with 2006’s Hard to Kill, and 2007’s Back to the TrapHouse.
In the last two years, he has remained a draw due to a prodigious amount of mixtapes, such as The Movie ( DJ Drama), Wilt Chamberlain (DJ Rell), Trap Happy, Boldercrest Shawty (DJ Rell), Bird Money, and many others.
At press time, Gucci Mane is finalizing his summer album, and will appear on an upcoming of XXL magazine cover.