Gucci Mane on Signing Female Rap Artists: 'We Need More Female Rappers in the Game'

Gucci Mane wants more female representation in hip-hop.

When assembling the roster for his rebranded record label, The New 1017, Gucci Mane made sure to give all promising rappers a chance, regardless of their gender. And, no, he wasn't looking for a "token."

"We need more female rappers in the game," he said during a recent interview with XXL magazine. "I had female artist one time, right. My whole thing is I'm not gonna just replace no artist. I'm gonna give female artists a chance, you get what I'm saying? I'm embracing the female artist, like, she hard? I'm fuckin' with it. It ain't gonna be like, I'm starting my label and this gonna be my token female artist. No."

Gucci's imprint features three new male artists, Pooh Shiesty, Big Scarr, and Foogiano, as well as two new female artists, K Shiday and Enchanting. The latter two appeared on Guwop's newly released projected, Gucci Mane Presents: So Icy Summer, under the moniker "So Icy Girlz." Though the name has led some to believe K Shiday and Enchanting are a duo, Gucci has clarified that this isn't the case.

"I want some So Icy Boyz. 'Cause whoever I sign naturally we gonna call ourselves the So Icy Boyz. That's natural," he said. "So my whole thing was I'ma sign two dope females and just off the drip I'm naturally gonna call them the So Icy Girlz, but they're solo artists, they're not a group. It's like me, Foogiano, Pooh and Scarr. We all solo artists but we're the So Icy Boyz. So, I wanted to start that type of movement with females, you know what I'm saying? Empower them and boss them up."