Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame Shy Away From Throne Comparison

Though their albums drop on the same week, comparing Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame's Ferrari Boyz collaboration to Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne is like apples to oranges.

Actually, Waka's got a better analogy: "Trying to compare us to Jay-Z [and Kanye] is like comparing Dirk Nowitzki to Larry Bird — that's disrespectful," the rapper said, referring to the Mavericks star and Celtics legend, when he appeared on "RapFix Live" on Wednesday. "That's like two different classes."

It isn't that Waka and Gucci lack accomplishments. Since releasing his 2005 single "Icy," Gucci has slowly risen up the rap ranks and experienced a breakout year in 2009, when he dropped his Warner Bros. Record debut, The State vs. Radric Davis. The album produced a number of notable singles like the Usher-assisted "Spotlight," "Wasted" with Plies and the street favorite "Lemonade."

Though he's been stalled by legal trouble and just finished up a three-month prison sentence in July, Gucci now stands as one of the South's premier rappers. Not far behind him is protégé Waka, who has amassed quite a few hits himself. Since last year, Flocka has commanded rap's attention in a big way with his singles "O Let's Do It," "Hard in Da Paint" and "No Hands." Still, he is a relative newcomer and just happy to be considered among the greats. "I been rappin' for three years, those folks got 15 years," Flocka said of the difference between him and the Throne. "I'm happy that my name comes in the conversation — even behind Gucc. At the end of the day it's all respect; I'm a fan of music."

The Ferrari Boyz team hopes their joint LP will serve as a springboard for solo projects later this year. Gucci already seems to have made concrete plans. "I'm definitely gonna drop an album this year, at the end of the year," he said. "I think this is just gonna show people that I'm still goin' hard, and the way we picked these beats on this project here is gonna get people excited about what's next to come from both of us."

The "Freaky Gurl" rapper points to the beats on Ferrari Boyz specifically. "The production on this is A class," he said. "We got some young producers that went hard on this album."

The album boasts beats from Southern mainstays like Drumma Boy and Shawty Redd. It also showcases the talents of Lex Luger and newcomer Southside, who both got their starts on Waka's mixtapes and his Flockaveli LP last year but have since branched out.

"Southside, he's goin' hard. You know how it is; we want that new sound," Waka said before being reminded of his producer's other notable placement. "Matter of fact, Southside is on Jay-Z and Kanye album."