Kevin Gates has made headlines this year for claiming to have sex with his cousin, admitting to using heroin and kicking a female fan during a performance.

In light of this, Love and Hip Hop Atlanta star Lil Scrappy explains why the Baton Rouge, Louisiana emcee is important to Rap.

“When I look at an artist like Kevin Gates, I look at Black Eminem,” he says to DJ Smallz Eyes. “It’s like do what you wanna do. Talk how you wanna talk. Rap what you wanna rap about. Fuck everybody else. That’s cool.”

Lil Scrappy says that Gates has opened the door for other artists, including himself, to be able to freely express themselves.

“For a minute, that lane wasn’t open because everybody’s scared of a label telling them, ‘Oh, we can’t do that,'” he says, “or people blackballing you because you’re doing what you wanna do.”

Watch the full interview of Lil Scrappy calling Kevin Gates “Black Eminem” below:

For additional Kevin Gates coverage, watch the following DX Daily: