Pooh Shiesty is back outside with a clearer head and a new blueprint, and he’s giving credit to his mentor Gucci Mane, who showed him how to survive the storm.
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During an interview with XXL, the Memphis rapper opened up about how his time in prison forced him to slow down, lock in, and pay attention to the moves Gucci made long before him. Shiesty said watching Gucci’s evolution from chaos to discipline didn’t just inspire him. It showed him what real change looks like up close. That transformation stuck with Shiesty, who said seeing his mentor come home healthier and more intentional pushed him to reevaluate how he carries himself.
“The way Gucci came home and like, that motivated me too…I took notes from there,” he explained. “How he switched it up, how he toned up. You know, got fit, got his mind healthy, like took notes in that every way so that motivated me to move how I’m moving.
He explained that Gucci’s work ethic, both inside and after, gave him a model for how to rebuild without losing your hunger. One thing that hit hardest was a piece of tough love Gucci handed him early on. According to Shiesty, Gucci reminded him that he was having experiences at an age where most people haven’t even found their lane yet.
“You 20 years old going to go see what I saw at 35 years old…You got a head start long as you got this out the way first,” Gucci told him, a reality check Shiesty says still echoes in the back of his mind.
Instead of letting prison break him, Shiesty said the situation motivated him to strengthen himself mentally and physically. Shiesty pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of violent crimes and drug trafficking. He was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison but came home early this October.
Now that he’s out, he’s talking less about the past and more about the future. And if Gucci’s journey is any indication, Shiesty plans to make the comeback louder than the setback.
