''The Return of East Atlanta Santa'' is the tenth studio album by American rapper

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

. It was released on December 16, 2016, by GUWOP Enterprises,

RBC Records RBC Records is an American online independent record label and management company founded by partners Brian Shafton and Bob Grossi. It provides artists and independent labels with a full-service "virtual label" alternative to signing with a maj ...

and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. The record serves as Gucci Mane's third commercial release of the year, following his release from prison, after ''

Everybody Looking ''Everybody Looking'' is the ninth studio album by American rapper Gucci Mane. It was released on July 22, 2016, by GUWOP Enterprises, RBC Records and Atlantic Records. The album serves as Gucci's first studio release since '' The Return of Mr. Zo ...

'' (2016) and '' Woptober'' (2016). The album features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

s from rappers

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

and Travis Scott, alongside singer

Bryson Tiller Bryson Djuan Tiller (born January 2, 1993) is an American singer and rapper. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he began his career in 2011 with a mixtape entitled ''Killer Instinct Vol. 1''. Tiller initially gained mainstream success in 2015 follow ...

, while the production was handled by

Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, beatmaker, and DJ. He is known for his dark production style and its influence on modern hip hop and trap. R ...

Southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of New ...

, Bangladesh,

Zaytoven Xavier Lamar Dotson (born January 12, 1980), professionally known as Zaytoven, is an American trap music record producer, disc jockey, and keyboardist from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released collaborative projects with artists including Gucci Ma ...

, Mike Will Made It and

Murda Beatz Shane Lee Lindstrom (born February 11, 1994), known professionally as Murda Beatz, is a Canadian record producer. He has produced hit singles like " Butterfly Effect" by Travis Scott, "Back on Road" by Gucci Mane, "Nice for What" by Drake, "Moto ...

, among others. ''The Return of East Atlanta Santa'' was supported by three singles: "Last Time", "Drove U Crazy" and "

Both Both may refer to: Common English word * ''both'', a determiner or indefinite pronoun denoting two of something * ''both... and'', a correlative conjunction People * Both (surname) Music * The Both, an American musical duo consisting of Aim ...

", along with two

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

s, "St. Brick Intro" and "Stutter".

Background

In October 2016, ''The Return of East Atlanta Santa'' was announced after the release of Mane's commercial mixtape ''Woptober'', along with its release date. The album title is a continuation of Gucci Mane's Christmas-themed ''East Atlanta Santa'' mixtape series. It is the third installment of the series, succeeding ''

East Atlanta Santa ''East Atlanta Santa'' is a mixtape by American rapper Gucci Mane. The mixtape was released on December 25, 2014, by 1017 Records and 101 Distribution. The album features guest appearances from Shawty Lo, Raury and OJ da Juiceman. The album feature ...

'' (2014) and ''East Atlanta Santa 2: The Night GuWop Stole X-Mas'' (2015).

Singles

The album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

, "Last Time", was released on September 2, 2016. The song features a guest appearance from American rapper Travis Scott, while the production was provided by

. The album's second single, "Drove U Crazy", was released as the album's third single on December 2, 2016. The song features a

from American singer

, while the production was provided by OZ. "

" was released as a

on December 15, 2016. It was later sent to

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

radio on January 31, 2017, as the album's third official single. The song features a guest appearance from Canadian rapper

, while the production was provided by

and

Promotional singles

The album's first promotional single, "St. Brick Intro", was released on November 25, 2016. The song was produced by Zaytoven. The album's second promotional single, "Stutter", was released on December 9, 2016. The song was produced by

Critical reception

''The Return of East Atlanta Santa'' was met with generally positive reviews. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 70, based on four reviews. Renato Pagnani of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' commented on the improvement of Gucci Mane's performance and vocals, and that the album shows a "more playful side of Gucci's personality, proving along the way that back to business doesn't have to mean an absence of fun". Narsimha Chintaluri of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' said, "The flows are slicker, and the hooks more engaging. His writing is still standard fare for Gucci, but he doesn't hesitate to play with his delivery". In a mixed review, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s Lanre Bakare stated: "These uest appearancesare mostly successful, with Gucci's one-note delivery providing ballast for the crooning of Tiller, the emo-rap of Drake and the Auto-Tuned oddness of Scott. But Gucci is at his best when solo." ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' stated that "Mane gets on with the gig he's had all year long of celebrating the fact that he currently has his freedom back". Chris Dart of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' said, "It comes in flashes, and then it's back to a sort of dull, flat affect".

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Return of East Atlanta Santa 2016 albums Sequel albums Gucci Mane albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Bangladesh (record producer) Albums produced by Cubeatz Albums produced by Honorable C.N.O.T.E. Albums produced by Metro Boomin Albums produced by Mike Will Made It Albums produced by Murda Beatz Albums produced by Southside (record producer) Albums produced by Zaytoven Albums produced by TM88