Gucci Mane was among many celebrities paying homage to late Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant on the red carpet at Sunday night’s (Jan. 26) 2020 Grammy Awards, just hours after the world learned that the 41-year-old basketball legend and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s just tragic,” said Gucci when asked to react to the news as celebrities were filing into the Staples Center for the awards ceremony, taking their seats in the arena where Bryant helped bring home five championships for the home team. “So many memories [of watching Bryant and the Lakers]… I’m heartbroke,” added Gucci, who was wearing an elegant black tuxedo with bedazzled lapels.
“I sent out my condolences to his family… to his wife, he lost his daughter was well… I’m still just trying to process all the… it’s so sad.”
Gucci also talked about walking the carpet on a night when he was nominated for his first Grammy, for best R&B performance alongside show opener Lizzo for “Exactly How I Feel.” But first, he shouted out Lizzo for even putting him on the song from her Cuz I Love You album. “It was just an alley-oop,” he said of the collab. “She reached out to me, wanted to do a song with me and it turned out to get me at the Grammys. I wouldn’t have got here with out here.”
And that’s not all, he told fans that he’s getting ready to go into the studio to work on his 103rd album in 15 years. “You just gotta keep repping about your life,” he said when asked how he keeps finding so much inspiration. “As long as you’ve got interesting things going in your life and you have a fascination life and you keep just rapping about it, talking about it and living and having experiences, people keep just want to hear what’s going on with you. What’s real.”