Gucci Mane, "The Truth"

Sigh (and a queasy sort of “yay!”): Here we go again. Another one of the best rap songs of the year is a threatening “beef record.” Seven years ago, a pair of Atlanta drug dealer/rappers named Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy recorded a song together called “Icy.” It was a big hit, but then the two had a falling out over credit. Jeezy recorded a diss record called “Stay Strapped,” putting a $10,000 bounty on Gucci’s “So Icy” chain. Soon thereafter, four armed men burst into the apartment of a woman Gucci was visiting. Gucci shot and killed one of them and was arrested on murder charges, which the D.A.’s office eventually dropped because Gucci was acting in self-defense

. Three years ago, a mutual friend to both rappers, DJ Drama, engineered a burying of the hatchet. But, as will happen, tensions have again flared. And Gucci Mane has recorded a chilling, thrilling song about it.