The organizers behind Coachella caught a minor internet backlash this morning after the lineup for the 2019 festival was revealed to contain an artist named “Gucci Gang.” On the festival’s site, the artist appeared as an image of Gucci Mane, the pioneering Atlanta rapper best known for inventing trap and beefing with Eminem via Mariah Carey singles. It looked like there had been a snafu, but thanks to a recent update to the site, the situation has become more clear.
As it happens, Gucci Gang is actually the name of a group — one that features the participation of Gucci Mane himself, of course. It’s a trio consisting of Gucci Mane and stylistic successors Smokepurpp and Lil Pump, the artist who coined the term “Gucci Gang” when his monstrously viral single of the same name took over in late 2017 and early 2018 and became a meme, making Lil Pump a household name in the process. It’s not the first group Gucci has debuted. Last year, he promised a collaboration with Migos and Lil Yachty as “Glacier Boyz,” but it looks like their busy schedules limited their effort to a single from his Evil Genius album.
While it’s not the ideal way to debut a new group, the trio at least has the benefit of seeing their group’s name go viral and become the subject of search terms that will undoubtedly increase their exposure ahead of the year’s biggest festival.
