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Rapper Gucci Mane and wife Keyshia Ka’oir have a hood love story. After meeting on the set of Gucci’s video shoot “911 Emergency” in 2010, the two began seeing one another in a relationship that apparently surprised the both of them. In a recent interview with Billboard Magazine, Ka’oir shared that dating Gucci was different.
“He was super well-spoken, he was loving, he was well-mannered. He held my hand, he opened the car door. And I was like, ‘This is different,’ especially for a gangster like him.”
Gucci himself was surprised by the way he treated Ka’oir, the woman who would become his wife and mother of his child. In his book, he wrote:
“The whole situation was out of character for me. I knew she was special.”
While their relationship progressed, the challenges weren’t far behind. In addition to a string of run-ins with the law, there was also evidence that Gucci wasn’t just struggling with following the law, he was dealing with his own set of internal challenges, as evidenced by his infamous 2013 Twitter rant, in which he made salacious, sexualized and false claims about mostly Black women also in the music industry, including singers Monica, Fantasia and fellow rapper Nicki Minaj.
The tweets were one thing but behind the scenes, his addiction to lean was getting worse. And it was affecting their relationship as well.
As all of this was happening, Gucci was arrested for a firearm possession.
Ka’oir said, “…he was all over the place. It wasn’t a surprise for any of us. He was terrible at times.”
Many questioned how or why Ka’oir, a woman who had already a millionaire in her own right, was willing and able to support Gucci as he did a three-year prison stint.
Even though Gucci described himself as a “paranoid mess,” Ka’oir said, “I honestly loved him, and realized that he needed love. He didn’t grow up with love. I felt like he was broken and just needed someone to show him affection, for him to have a purpose. And I wanted to be his purpose.”
While Gucci was incarcerated, Ka’oir spoke to him several times a day, sent him organic groceries on Christmas and Thanksgiving and the two worked together on coordinated workouts.
During one of their conversations, Ka’oir told Gucci, “I remember telling him over the phone, ‘Just allow me to love you and come home to me. And those were the words and the conversations and the emails that got him out safe.”
Letting her love him proved to be a task. In his book, Gucci shared that there were times he mistreated her.
He recalled screaming at her after he’d spent two weeks in an isolated cell. She was also one of his victims on social media.
“I was in such a bad place when I went to prison and I just give her all the credit. She definitely is a blessing and I’m grateful for her. I don’t take her for granted.”
Through the help of a therapist, Gucci not only left prison in better physical condition, he was better mentally.
And in 2017, the two married in a special televised on BET.
Then last year, they welcomed their first child together, a son the two named Ice Davis.
