Gucci Mane Gets Candid About Overcoming Addiction, Mental Health Struggles

Rap mogul Gucci Mane opens up about his battle with addiction and mental health issues in a new interview with ABC News.

The trap music pioneer sat down with news anchor Byron Pitts for a special installment of Nightline titled “The Evolution of Gucci Mane.”

In the two-part interview, Gucci got candid about his struggles with mental illness and drugs — a combination he said nearly claimed his life.

“When it gets really bad, I actually start hearing voices and the voices be telling me to do different things,” he explained.

Gucci, 46, has struggled for years with what he called “severe addiction” and a mood disorder. The situation was particularly bad in his twenties, leading to violence, nearly 20 arrests, time in prison, rap beefs, and alarming social media posts.

The rapper said at times mental health “episodes” caused blackouts and memory lapses. During one episode, he went on a rampage inside Atlanta’s Lenox Square Mall in 2013, and the incident was caught on tape.

“That was part of a progressively three-week spiral of things getting bad,” Gucci recalled.

The hip-hop star said the episodes were usually triggered by drug use and a lack of sleep. He revealed he would often consume “lean” or “sizzurp” — a concoction made from prescription cough syrup, soda and hard candy.

Gucci detailed his struggles in his recently released memoir Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man.

He discussed the book with Pitts, and said he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. According to Gucci, his last episode was in 2020, which he believes was triggered by anesthesia for a dental procedure.

The rapper was born Radric Delantic Davis in Bessemer, Alabama. After moving to Atlanta with his mother as a child, he got caught up in the drug game.

He managed to graduate from high school with good grades and pursued a rap career.

The Atlanta trap star landed on the charts with hits including “I Get The Bag,” and did collaborations with superstar singers Mariah Carey, Selena Gomez, and Lizzo. Thanks to his work with Lizzo, he received a Grammy nomination for a featured verse on her 2019 single “Exactly How I Feel.”

As his career took off, Gucci founded 1017 Records and signed up-and-coming rappers. Earlier this year, a contract dispute with one of those artists, Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty, turned violent.

According to federal prosecutors, Pooh Shiesty and his associates allegedly lured Gucci and other industry professionals to a Dallas recording studio, as previously reported. Gucci and his team were robbed at gunpoint, kidnapped, and physically assaulted, prosecutors said.

Federal agents took Pooh Shiesty and seven others into custody on April 1. They’ve been charged with kidnapping and robbery, and face up to life in federal prison.

Gucci Mane and his attorney declined to discuss the robbery with ABC News.

The hip-hop mogul said in the interview he is sober, and focused on his family. “It’s the evolution of Gucci,” he said proudly.

Gucci told Pitts his wife, model and entrepreneur Keyshia Ka’oir, has been “critical” in his healing journey.

Keyshia was also interviewed and said she recognized something was off when Gucci started displaying “different personalities.” Instead of leaving, she encouraged him to seek therapy and take medication.

“I knew for a fact if I did not hang in there with him, he would be in prison or dead,” Keyshia said. “I felt like if I left that would be the end of him.”

While Gucci could be erratic during his episodes, Keyshia said he was never violent with her.

The rapper credited Keyshia with turning his life around. “My wife helped keep me alive,” he said.

Nightline airs weeknights at 12:35 AM ET / 11:35 PM CT on ABC. You can watch the full interview with Gucci Mane and Keyshia Ka’oir here.