Gucci Mane is a fan of big dramatic gestures. Whether's it's his release schedule or his tattoo choices, he has no interest in doing anything subtle or bowing to social norms. While most artists make elaborate release strategies centered around teasing songs out one at a time, Gucci is more likely to do something a little odd. How odd? Releasing war-themed mixtape trilogies odd.

In 2009, he put out his Cold War trilogy with some help from DJ Holiday and DJ Drama. The three mixtape series found the reigning king of Southern rap doing pretty much what he's always done: rapping in a distinct mumble-drawl over anything a producer throws in front of him. It wasn't necessarily his best mixtape run, but it left an impression and it was certainly an ambitious idea.

On August 13, Gucci released World War3, his latest mixtape trilogy. This time, the tapes came divided up by drugs (Molly, Lean and Gas) and they arrived with cover art so garish it can give you a headache just by trying to read it. This was a gauntlet being thrown down. Gucci was declaring war. Who would accept the challenge?

Well, we did. It's not easy to review every track on a 54 track mixtape trilogy, but you know what else isn't easy? Life. So grab your headphones and your fellow soldiers and follow us into the depths of Gucci Mane's atomic crater of a mixtape trilogy. We'll be picking out the essential tracks and attempting to clear out some of the wreckage, but remember: This is World War 3. Only the strong will survive.

Gucci Mane - World War 3- Lean
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01. "Intro" (feat. PeeWee & Thug)
Rating:XL
When most rappers write a song called "Intro." they keep things relatively short, but as you've probably figured out by now, restraint isn't one of Gucci Mane's many admirable qualities. Stretching out to nearly 5 minutes, this track is a microcosm of the whole album: epic but sporadic. Does the song need the part where they rap in the "Versace" cadence? Does that creepy synth outro add anything? Does "Intro." have any significance as a title? These are not the questions Gucci Mane asks.

02. "Confused" (feat. Future)
Rating: XL
Future and Gucci soaring over a rinky-dink organ like space invaders flying over a town and trying to determine whether the human race deserves to alive. Thankfully, they spare us.

03. "Extacy Pill" (feat. Thug)
Rating: L
This beat sounds like it should be on some imaginary soundtrack to Gremlins. It's horror, it's comedy, it's chaos.

04. "More Of That"
Rating: L
Gucci strides in and drops vivivd images ("blood on my Nikes") alongside some standard issue drug talk.

05. "Blue Face Rollie"
Rating: XL
Mike Will Made It provides horror movie strings for Gucci Mane to compare himself to Malcolm X and do some flashback rap about cooking up dope in '93 with no AC. Burr, indeed.

06. "Cinderella" (feat. PeeWee)
Rating: L
Gucci Mane and Waka FLocka haven't seen eye to eye lately, taking shots at one another on social media and behaving like feuding high schoolers, but World War 3 was presumably recorded before the split because this and other songs throughout the trilogy find Gucci giving friendly shout-outs to Waka. It's like looking at a picture of your parents before they divorced.

07. "Its Not a Day" (feat. Verse Simmons)
Rating: M
Wars are long. World wars are even longer. So it makes sense that Gucci's WW3 would have some down time and this is it. If this war was Saving Private Ryan, this would be the boring middle section where Vin Diesel gets shot by the sniper.

08. "Servin Lean" (feat. PeeWee)
Rating: L
The beat here is on some flickering neon light hanging above a dark hallway shit. PeeWee strikes the perfect tone to match.

09. "Won’t Change"
Rating: XL
"Brick Squad so deep go to war with Iran," raps Gucci at one point on this track. This is hip-hop as the military industrial complex, Gucci destroying this bouncy, squiggly beat that allows him to show off the playful verbosity that made him such a compelling voice in the first place.

10. "No More" (feat. 2 Chainz)
Rating: XL
Send in the reinforcements! What? There are no reinforcements? Alright, then send it 2 Chainz.

11. "Don’t Have a Chance" (feat. Bobby V)
Rating: L
Fidgety R&B piano rap with Gucci delivering an ear worm of a hook.

12. "Done With Her" (feat. French Montana)
Rating: L
French and Gucci are in the trenches here. They're done with your girl and they're sharing a cigarette as the bombs drop around them.

13. "That Pack" (feat. Travis Porter)
Rating: XL
"Heard that she broke up with you on twitter/I let her suck dick till her face turn bitter," raps Gucci here. It's an ugly song—all bass warbles and echoes—but it's the type of ugly song that belongs on a tape like this.

14. "Activist"
Rating: XL
Swanky beat, pitched-down vocals and a general ambiance of sleaziness make this cut a WW3 essential.

15. "I Quit" (feat. Young Dolph & PeeWee)
Rating: L
Low-key stoned rambling with some good punchlines and threats but a general feeling of listlessness.

16. "Don’t Trust" (feat. Waka Flocka & Young Scooter)
Rating: L
Given the star power assembled here, this track should be a little more memorable than this serviceable bit of stutter-rap.

17. "Don’t Save No Bitches" (feat. Young Fresh)
Rating: M
The energy is fading here.

18. "Faces" (feat. Young Scooter)
Rating: L
Young Scooter to the rescue!

19. "Dope Show"
Rating: M
Gucci is losing the thread here. There's just not much energy to be found in this show.

20. "Birds Of A Feather" (Bonus Track)
Rating: XL
Maybe Gucci knew the tape was losing some of it's energy, so he threw "Birds Of A Feather" on at the end to rally the troops. Surprise: It works. Part diss track, part auto-biographical sketch, part stream-of-conscious rant, this song doesn't get old.

Gucci Mane - World War 3 Molly
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01. "You A Drug"
Rating: XL
"You A Drug" isn't exactly the best compliment one can imagine, but when it's delivered in Gucci's sing-song-ey mumble, it takes on its own sticky sweetness.

02. "Nasty"
Rating: L
The little circular beat here is appropriately menacing but the song never really coheres.

03. "So Much Money" (feat. Chief Keef)
Rating: XL
The Keef and Gucci partnership is puzzling on paper, but on tracks like "So Much Money" it all makes sense. Auto-tuned into oblivion, Keef sounds like a scuba diver singing from the bottom of the ocean and Gucci sounds equally adrift, but at 6 minutes the song takes on a hypnotic quality.

04. "Long Time" (feat. Thug & Migos)
Rating: XL
With the Migos touch present at various points throughout the mixtape, it only makes sense that the ascendant Atlanta rap crew stops by and drops some verses of their own here, and they don't disappoint.

05. "Giseppe"
Rating: XL
It's always a joy to hear Gucci just go in on a specific topic. Here he's talking about his phone and what starts as a little anti-texting aside quickly turns into an absurdist pile-up about having a charger for his charger.

06. "Pocket Full of Money"
Rating: XL
This is one of the prettiest beats on the project, a simmering and glimmering bit of bliss.

07. "Kidnapped"
Rating: XL
"Where the fuck you at?" this song asks. I'm listening to World War 3 still. That's where I'm at.

08. "Something For Nothing"
Rating: L
Gucci slides in here and does some of his best speed-rapping, dropping lines about the prowess of Brick Squad and his dominance.

09. "Do’s And Dont’s" (feat. Rocko)
Rating: M
Do: Listen to World War 3. Don't: Listen to this song.

10. "Don’t Look At Me' (feat. Thug)
Rating: XL
Following up a song called "Do's And Dont's" with a track called "Don't Look At Me" is an odd choice, but luckily this song is pretty good, especially on Thug's squeaky, triumphant verse.

11. "Pressure"
Rating: L
The beginning of "Pressure" sounds like some sort of ambient Aphex Twin track, but as it builds the song takes on a typically stomping energy.

12. "A To Z" (feat. Young Dolph & PeeWee)
Rating: L
"A To Z" sounds like an idea Gucci Mane would have for a mixtape series. Maybe one tape for every letter? Anyway, this song is fun to listen to while scowling at people.

13. "Throw That Pussy"
Rating: M
This is a stripper anthem but Gucci sounds more enthused rapping about his Versace umbrella than he does during the stripper-centric parts.

14. "Worth Something" (feat. Phil)
Rating: L
Molly starts strong but dribbles out towards the end. Like any drug experience, it's impossible to for it to last forever.

Gucci Mane - World War 3 Gas
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01. "One Minute"
Rating: XL
And then there was Gas. Gucci opens up the final section of the trilogy by riding a powerful bass line for the whole song, adjusting his flow and showing that despite all his eccentricities and his burgeoning movie career, Gucci is still a rapper at heart, obsessed with the possibilities that come from stringing words together.

02. "Embalming Fluid" (feat. Waka Flocka)
Rating: L
WW3 is a death-obsessed project and "Embalming Fluid" is possibly the most morbid song on any of the mixtapes. It's an anxiety ridden track filled with worries about life insurance and emabalming fluids. Even Waka sounds a little bummed out at points.

03. "Can’t Walk" (feat. Wooh Da Kid)
Rating: M
"Pockets so fat I can't walk," raps Gucci. If this was a real battlefield Gucci would probably want to ditch the contents of his pockets or at least invest in some sturdier pants—walking is essential to the art of war. Lucky for Gucci, this isn't a battlefield. It's a weird conceptual mixtape trilogy about world war 3, so I think he'll be okay.

04. "Geekin" (feat. Waka Flocka)
Rating: L
In general, Gas lacks the sonic flourishes of the more adventurous and professional sounding Lean, but there are off beat production choices to be found on this tape too. "Geekin" has an ethereal little vocal sample that loops throughout the track like a friendly ghost, giving the track an alluring charm that elevates it above your standard drug-talk anthem.

05. "Whippin"
Rating: M
Gucci says he has sharks on this song and the chours sounds like it was recorded on an iPhone. That's about it.

06. "Fresh As A Bitch" (feat. Young Dolph & PeeWee)
Rating: L
He's really trying out the Migos cadence again here, often to winning effect. Also, it's good to know that even in an apocalyptic war-torn hellscape, Gucci remains committed to freshness.

07. "Lights Off"
Rating: M
Remember how the P.O.W.'s would whistle while they worked in Bridge On The River Kwai? That's kinda how the whistles on this track function, calling out at you from the depths, reminding you to just keep chugging along.

08. "Match Maker"
Rating: L
A title like "Match Maker" would have you think Gucci was going full-Hitch here, but instead of providing romantic guidance to those in need, he's brining people to the drugs they need. Heart-warming.

09. "Christmas Tree" (feat. PeeWee & OJ da Juiceman)
Rating: L
Gucci's verse here is an average bit of wordplay, but OJ Da Jucieman and PeeWee come alive on this track, saving it from turning into a blurry dirge.

10. "Drummaguwopuhhh" (feat. Kandi Burruss)
Rating: L
It's comforting to know Gucci still likes rapping about ice cream. Even in times of war, ice cream is essential. Never forget that.

11. "Bad Bitch"
Rating: M
The problem with Gas is that Gucci lines up so many mid-tempo tracks right in the middle, making it difficult for any one track to stand out. "Bad Bitch" is so low-key it threatens to flat-line at certain points.

12. "Super Head" (feat. PeeWee)
Rating: XL
IT'S ALIVE! Gas comes back to life with this epic orchestral banger, which loops some stirring operatic swells and gives Gucci some room to just destroy.

13. "Rather Be" (feat. Keyshia Dior)
Rating: L
War can be lonely and this track is the epitome of WW3's misery-filled outlook. "I'd rather be myself than a broke ho," sings Gucci on the hook. Despite featuring a game Keyshia Dior, this ends up feeling isolated and cold.

14. "Picture That" (Featuring Waka Flocka)
Rating: L
Another serviceable Waka team-up.

15. "Rainbow Colors" (Featuring Young Dolph)
Rating: XL
With its Halloween piano part and pounding bass, this is a drawling slow-crawl drug anthem that's worth rewinding a few times.

16. "Bill Cosby Skit…"
Rating: L
Remember: Gucci Mane just wants to confuse you. Why else would he name a song "Bill Cosby Skit..." and then have it be a regular (non-skit) song. It's not about Bill Cosby. Was it a mistake? Or is "Bill Cosby Skit..." actually the secret to unlocking the mysteries of WW3?

17. "Mob Ties" (Featuring Young Dolph)
Rating: L
Gucci has a seemingly endless supply of creepy piano parts to rap over, but not all of them are created equal. "Mob Ties" never really takes flight despite a strong showing from Young Dolph.

18. "What You Mean" (Featuring Waka Flocka)
Rating: L
Lurching tough talk drawn out to almost four minutes when it should've probably been around two.

19. "With My Pistol"
Rating: L
More pianos! As World War 3 comes to an end, you'd think Gucci might put his pistol away. Wrong. Gucci is brushing his teeth with his pistol. I assume he means the pistol is nearby, but if he's talking about a tooth brush pistol, then props to him.

20. "Trap God Trap God"
Rating: XL
A strong ending to a scattered, occasionally brilliant, occasionally maddening trilogy. We'll see you again when Gucci drops World War 4.

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