Why did Gucci Mane say no to Verzuz battle with Young Jeezy? Here's a look at long beef between two rappers
Was Gucci Mane supposed to be battling Young Jeezy on the Timbaland and Swizz Beatz show? According to Jeezy himself, Gucci was actually the rapper he was to square off against but because of his refusal to appear on the Apple Music show, the head-to-head battle never actually transpired. Speaking to 'The Breakfast Club' podcast, Jeezy said, "Swizz called me and I was like 'Yo, Swizz...If I do it, there's only one person I'd do it with. And he was like 'Who?' 'Gucci, reach out to him. Let me know what's up."
The full episode can be watched here.
Jeezy and Gucci have had a long history of beef, one of the most prominent ones in recent hip-hop history, which turned into an all-out war. In 2005, Gucci killed Henry "Pookie Loc" Clark III, one of Jeezy's associates, during an alleged home invasion at his house. Clark's body was found three days after the incident and Gucci didn't call the police at the time of the shooting. Gucci was eventually charged but was later cleared as he claimed to have acted in self-defense. Since then, Gucci has shown no remorse for Clark's death and has even posed memes about the incident. Over the years, Jeezy has continually insisted that he didn't provoke Pookie Loc to attempt to rob Gucci.
Jezzy also informed that Swizz did, in fact, contact Gucci but nothing came out of it. He said, "Swizz hit back and said he [Gucci] respectfully declined. Cool. Done. Kept it moving. I was gonna do it for the culture." Last month, Gucci took to Twitter saying that he won't participate in a 'Verzuz' battle unless he's paid a million for it. He tweeted, "Stop asking me about doing a @verzuzonline battle unless they got a million dollars they scared of Wop."
A history of Jeezy and Gucci Mane's beef
The beef began in 2005 when Jeezy and Gucci recorded their first collaboration 'Icy'. Jeezy was under the impression that their song would be included on his debut album 'Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101' but Gucci used it for his record 'Trap House'. Later, Jeezy claimed that he wasn't even paid for his appearance. Then, the same year, Jeezy released a song titled 'Stay Strapped' on which he said, "I got a bounty on that s**t, n***a. 10 stacks. So if he come to your town, and you just happen to snatch that motherf****r off his neck, I'm gonna shoot you the 10-stack, man. So I can cremate that motherf****r." Gucci responded with 'Round One' rapping, "That n***a Young Jeezy, man. That n***a fake. This is round one of Gucci Mane vs. Jeezy." The whole song was centered around dissing Jeezy.
Later in 2005, four men broke into Gucci's house and assaulted him. When the men threatened to shoot him, Gucci grabbed his pistol and started shooting. He hit Henry Lee Clark III, better known as rapper Pookie Loc, who was later found dead near a school in Decatur, GA. Gucci, a few days later, turned himself in to the police after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was charged with the murder of Pookie Loc. Jeezy denied any connection to the shootings even though Pookie Loc was signed to his label claiming that Gucci was "trying to turn a bad situation into good publicity" and "sell his record".
In 2006, Gucci released the song '745' on which he said, "Do I smell p***y? Nah, that's Jeezy. You ain't a snowman, you more like a snowflake, cupcake, cornflake. N***a, you too fake." Things then quieted down only for the beef to resume in 2009 with Jeezy released the track '23, 24' rapping "I'm on some Louie s**t, f**k Gucci Mane. These n****s still on my d**k, they like some groupies mane. Can't keep they lips closed, they worse than coochies mane." Then, till 2012, the rappers reconciled and beefed multiple times with the war of words shifting to Twitter for a bit. Things have been quiet since 2012 but, undoubtedly, a Gucci and Jeezy 'Verzuz' would be of epic proportions.