Gunna Pushed Himself to the Top

After a decade of making music, the rapper is finally known for his name alone.

- Lawrence Burney

A couple of hours before Gunna was due for a show at New York’s Irving Plaza, he and his mentor, Young Thug, were booted from a private jet. The pilot, named Alex, acted like a “racist prick,” according to Thug, insisting the rap stars and their team exit the plane without reason. Stranded in their city, Atlanta, the two took to Instagram Live. Thug turned his phone on Alex, who stood with one hand on his hip, the other resting on the handle of his rolling luggage bag. He stared directly into the camera, performatively unbothered, a meme in the making. “That ain’t P!” Thug declared, a reference to the player-praising lingo that has propelled Gunna’s most ubiquitous new hit. Fans flooded the comments, corroborating Thug’s assessment: This pilot was no player. Within a few hours, “Alex ain’t P” was trending. By the time Gunna hit the stage later that night—they found another jet headed north—the crowd was chanting the phrase.

It was either the most organically grown rap social-media moment of the early New Year or the result of some throwback big music-label machine’s guerrilla marketing. Regardless, less than a week after its release, Gunna’s new album, DRIP SEASON 4EVER, had the internet buzzing about the 28-year-old born Sergio Giavanni Kitchens—or, more accurately, buzzing about his buzz.

Gunna’s popularity was already rising when he released the album’s lead single, “too easy,” with Future this past September, pairing his sweet melodies with producer Wheezy’s love of melding elegant synths with blaring drums. The same week he dropped the song, his most recent project at the time, just six months old, went gold. But “pushin P” has penetrated the virtual vernacular unlike anything Gunna has experienced. The