Rapper Gucci Mane has been busy since he was released from prison back in May, contributing to Kanye West’s upcoming Cruel Winter despite still being under house arrest. He’s also apparently shown a refreshed sense of style and care for his health, presumably out of a desire to not spend his freedom feeling unhappy or unhealthy. All told, the lifestyle changes are a good look on the Trap House artist. Maybe a little too good.
That’s the gist of the latest conspiracy theory/running joke making the rounds on social media this week, with Mane’s fans arguing between themselves about whether this rejuvenated version of their hero is precisely who he says he is, or whether we might be on some real The 6th Day shit up in here. (We would have also accepted calling it “a whole kind of weird Multiplicity situation.”) To put the question bluntly: Is the modern Gucci Mane really him? Or some kind of government clone?
The theory, such as it is, runs that Mane was never actually given an early release from jail, and that the man walking around pretending to be him is part of a plot to… Hmm. We’re not actually sure what it would be a plot to do. Get close to Kanye West, maybe? Anyway, there’s plenty of online evidence for the theory (given a sufficiently liberal definition of “evidence”), compiled by The Daily Dot:
And while we don’t find the “Gucci is a clone” side’s arguments entirely convincing, it’s possible we’re just mad we didn’t come up with that “knock off” line ourselves. But others on Twitter have decided to take the accusations at least semi-seriously, and refute them with rock-solid arguments of their own:
Gucci mane not a clone Gucci simply evolved like a Pokemon he’s at his final form
— NASTY FROM THE BLOCK (@__JUICELXRD) June 22, 2016
For his own part, Mane released a statement on the controversy, saying he can neither support nor deny accusations that Gucci is, in fact, a clone. (Meanwhile, if the lyrics “I’m evolved like a Pokemon, I’m at my final form” don’t pop up on his next track, we might just switch sides and start calling him a doppelganger ourselves.)
Gucci Mane answers to CLONE ALLEGATIONS pic.twitter.com/90Ige1o6AW
— DJ Akademiks (@IamAkademiks) June 21, 2016