In October 2016, The Return of East Atlanta Santa was announced after the release of Mane's commercial mixtape Woptober, along with its release date. The album title is a continuation of Gucci Mane's Christmas-themed East Atlanta Santa mixtape series. It is the third installment of the series, succeeding East Atlanta Santa and East Atlanta Santa 2: The Night GuWop Stole X-Mas.
Singles
The album's lead single, "Last Time", was released on September 2, 2016. The song features a guest appearance from American rapper Travis Scott, while the production was provided by Zaytoven. The album's second single, "Drove U Crazy", was released as the album's third single on December 2, 2016. The song features a guest appearance from American singer Bryson Tiller, while the production was provided by OZ. "Both" was released as a promotional single on December 15, 2016. It was later sent to urban contemporary radio on January 31, 2017, as the album's third official single. The song features a guest appearance from Canadian rapper Drake, while the production was provided by Southside and Metro Boomin.
Promotional singles
The album's first promotional single, "St. Brick Intro", was released on November 25, 2016. The song was produced by Zaytoven. The album's second promotional single, "Stutter", was released on December 9, 2016. The song was produced by Murda Beatz.
Critical reception
The Return of East Atlanta Santa received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on four reviews. Renato Pagnani of Pitchfork commented on the improvement of Gucci Mane's performance and vocals, and that the album shows a "more playful side of Gucci's personality, proving along the way that back to business doesn't have to mean an absence of fun." Narsimha Chintaluri of HipHopDX said, "The flows are slicker, and the hooks more engaging. His writing is still standard fare for Gucci, but he doesn't hesitate to play with his delivery." In a mixed review, The Guardians Lanre Bakare stated: "These are mostly successful, with Gucci's one-note delivery providing ballast for the crooning of Tiller, the emo-rap of Drake and the Auto-Tuned oddness of Scott. But Gucci is at his best when solo." The Irish Times stated that "Mane gets on with the gig he's had all year long of celebrating the fact that he currently has his freedom back". Chris Dart of Exclaim! said, "It comes in flashes, and then it's back to a sort of dull, flat affect."
