Radric Davis, better known to the world as Gucci Mane, has taken his slice of the hip-hop pie in recent years. Haters will hate, but the fact remains; Gucci has achieved commercial success. Even with jail time, Gucci released numerous mixtapes and with The Appeal, he brings us the third studio album in the Gucci catalog.

Now let’s be honest. In listening to a Gucci release, no one is looking for a lyrical explosion. So discussions about Gucci’s prowess as a wordsmith prove fruitless. Gucci’s strength is providing tracks with catchy beats and hooks. If as a listener, you’re looking for battle lyrics or supreme lyrical content, go elsewhere. With that said, The Appeal starts with

“Little Friend” featuring Bun B. Though the Scarface reference is played (as is the bad Tony Montana impression), the beat makes it, as Bun B comes on to make a memorable appearance, 100 percent owning the track. As far as positives, this formula for success comes across on “Making Love to the Money” and other potential singles like “Party Animal”, the corny but commercially viable “Remember When” (featuring Ray J) and of course the hit track and standout “Gucci Time” (featuring Swizz Beatz). The only real lyrically deep track comes on the final cut, “Grown Man” (featuring Estelle), where Gucci talks about his life and being free, from jail and as a person.This kind of honesty is great and would have helped make the album stronger. After serving a bid, Gucci could have used this kind of material throughout the album, but it was obviously not the focus.

Gucci doesn’t swerve at all from his usual subject manner, money,smoke and chicks. On “Dollar Sign” he spits: “Gucci Mane call Obama, wanna buy the dollar sign / feels like first day of school, my swag killed ’em like Columbine.” The celebration of excess continues on “Brand New”. Tracks like these are decent and catchy and fine for the targeted audience.But commercial success aside, are nothing more than paper thin songs.

At times, it seems like this album tries way too hard. But the  fault really lies more with the guests than with Gucci. “Haterade” (featuring Nicki Minaj & Pharrell) is a perfect example of this, with Pharrell doing his best worst John Legend impression and Nikki Minaj repeatedly rhyming the word record with the word “record” . “It’s Alive” (featuring Swizz Beatz) is another bad attempt, with Swizz doing his best annoying Swizz impression with a self call and answer session. Wyclef takes the cake of bad guest appearances as he attempts to channel his inner Akon,badly,on the track “ODog” Usually guest spots help an album, by bringing superior talent, but in this case they serve to do nothing but ruin tracks. Gross.

Tracks like “Trap Talk”, “Missing” and the Drumma Boy produced “What It’s Gonna Be” are take it or leave it tracks for all the dboys out there. Though not completely horrendous, they are more for a niche audience and feel more like filler than substantive tracks.

Overall, “The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted” is not better or worse than any previous Gucci release. As an artist, Gucci really hasn’t grown, or stepped up. This album shows that he’s able to acquire more guests, but has still not been able to put together a strong cohesive release. For fans of Mr. So Icey,The Appeal will satisfy with its few singles and ring tone ready tracks. Enjoy.