Shawty Lo Says Gucci Mane Ready to ‘Reclaim His Career,’ Talks T.I.

While hip-hop fans anticipate Gucci Mane’s release from prison, fellow Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo has been helping to keep his friend in high spirits while locked up.

On Tuesday (January 5), the "Dey Know" rapper shot a video at T.I.’s Club Crucial and Atlanta’s Bedford Pines housing projects, where the support for Gucci was palpable.

"I talk to him on a regular basis,” Shawty Lo tells VIBE. “We keep him posted [on things going on in the industry]. He probably on the phone right now. I ain’t got to give him advice, though. Gucci know what he gotta do — he’s a grown man. You know, he got his head up. He’s ready to come back home.”

Gucci was sentenced to 12 months in prison this past November for violation of probation. On certain conditions, he may serve a lesser sentence.

“He just got caught up in a situation but that dude gon’ be alright this time. We learn from our mistakes. But it’s just…the police just really got it in for us rappers right now, so we just got to be careful of what we’re doing,” Lo says. “His spirits is up, and he get a lot of mail and get a lot of support from the fans in the streets and, you know, he’s just waiting to come home to reclaim his career.”

There’s much to reclaim. Recently, recently buried the hatchet with his longtime nemesis Young Jeezy, on DJ Drama’s Gangsta Grillz Radio show on Atlanta's 107.9. "It's way bigger than all of us," Gucci told Jeezy during the call. "The way the city has been supporting all three of us, they deserve it. It's about that time. We getting older, growing, let's do it for the city."

“I kind of knew, it was gon’ happen,” says Lo, who was listening in with the rest of his stunned city. “It’s a real big look for hip-hop, not only for them two to squash their beef but for me and T.I. to squash our beef.”

Lo describes his current relationship with T.I., who is currently serving time in a halfway house, as “great.”

“I wrote a song called, ‘Look What You Got’ and I’m talking about all the situations,” he says. “Me and T.I. situation, Gucci and Jeezy situation, and how the beefs end. It’s like, let’s just move forward and just do it for the fans because there’s people that look up to us. And we don’t need negativity.” —Linda Hobbs