Gucci (born Radric Davis) has spent the last six months in prison after pleading no contest to assaulting promoter Troy Buffor with a pool cue in June. He is now facing six and a half years of probation, but he says he’s undaunted by the lengthy probation because he knows he can successfully complete it.

“A lot of things I did, I’m not proud of, you know what I’m saying, but I’m starting a new beginning,” said Gucci. “I’m trying to keep a positive outlook on everything. I don’t have any animosity toward anybody.”

He added that the time in jail has made him more calm and that he passed the time by writing “a couple albums worth of material.”

In December the city of Atlanta dropped the charges against Gucci Mane in an unrelated murder case, stemming from an incident in May when Henry Clark III, aka Pookie Loc, was killed when five men attacked him.

The Atlanta native expressed gratitude toward his lawyers Manny Arora and Ash Joshi for their assistance in that case and allowed his Joshi to speak on his behalf.

“It was a tragedy,” said Joshi. “It’s unfortunate that any of it happened. We feel terribly for those affected, the man that lost his life and his family but at this point we just want to turn it to a positive.”

When asked whether the case is closed Joshi could only say that, “I can’t answer that. It’s up to the District Attorney’s office or the U.S. Attorney’s office to make that decision. As far as we are concerned it’s behind us and we’ve moved on.”

After an incident in August Gucci Mane was moved to a single man cell where he served the rest of his sentence. Despite that, the rapper says he is no more danger than any other MC.

“Being a rapper you always have to be concerned for your safety,” Gucci said. “You know it comes with the business, you just always have to take the necessary precautions.”

During his incarceration, Gucci says he leaned on the support of friends like Khujo Goodie of Goodie Mobb and his label Big Cat Records. “Big Cat Records took me in like a brother, they stayed behind me the whole time I was in trouble, I appreciate them for that.”

Gucci went on to thank his fans and the city of Atlanta for their support as well.

“Atlanta had my back from day one,” he said. “I shot my video in Atlanta, made my CD in Atlanta. Atlanta is still my home throughout everything, it’s all I know. It’s where I get my slang, my diction, my dress code. Atlanta made me who I am.”

Gucci added that there are a lot of artists he’s looking forward to working with in the future, most notably Project Pat, Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri.

His debut album, Trap House, was one of the most successful independent releases of 2005, selling over 100,000 copies. Gucci says he is looking forward to continuing to promote the album, something he did not have a chance to do properly when it was released, because of his legal issues.

“Right now I’m about to do spot dates throughout the south to promote the album,” Gucci shared. “I have a new single coming out called ‘Go Head,’ it’s going to be bigger than ‘So Icy,’ we’re gonna shoot a video for that.”

In the end, Gucci says he now wants to give back to the community.

“When I was locked up I wanted to get back and tell the kids jail is not a place you want to be,” he said. “I want to let them know not to do the same things I did. I want to give back to the community.”