Kevin Gates spits of playing dumb in the slightly hypnotic “Amnesia,” off his new mixtape By Any Means. While the late Doe B lazes around his condo and shrugs when asked of his Rihanna lookalike’s name, a panicked Gates storms in and spills of how a fairly quiet night—a girl, twerking on him—escalated to a drug-ring operation gone wrong. Yelling, his flow quickening, he recalls pleading the fifth as if he’s still bolting from the scene: “Two shooters, you dummy / I’m coming, get the money / Got a bankroll in this bitch / Amnesia, I have that shit / Ask anything, I forget / Quick!”
Just one year ago, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, rapper was eager to indulge his every whim, from spells of Reggae leanings to a Twilight series tribute, on his breakout mixtape, The Luca Brasi Story, released in 2013 before he signed to Atlantic Records. But in his first interview following his most recent jail stint, a matter-of-fact Gates was brief. “There wasn’t no reaction,” he told XXL. “Just, let’s get it. Let’s do it,” he said of going back. He was all business, just as he is in By Any Means—a smart display of his skills that aims for Rap radio airplay but doesn’t sacrifice too much personality, and a reliable stopgap between now and what’s ahead.
By Any Means contains songs as concise as Stranger Than Fiction‘s lyrical exercises, though as a writer, Gates tends to disregard bar-for-bar precision in favor of narrative twists and turns. To piano chords and a gravitas of The Young & The Restless’s theme song, Gates anchors highlight “Homicide” with a mournful hook—he’s praying it doesn’t amount to that—but lurches forward when he exacts his revenge for a slain friend, whose children were left “on this earth to be bastards.” In “Can’t Make This Up,” he likens his life to a movie (as most Rappers do) but personalizes the trope with his stream-of-consciousness delivery, pedaling through endearing confessions of his drug use (he hasn’t tried molly but guesses that coffee’s comparable) and grandma’s nightmares (of him getting locked up and shot).
This mixtape does catch him at a rare weak moment, underscoring what’s next at stake for Gates. When teamed with its biggest gets Rico Wade (the schmaltzy R&B ballad “Go Hard”) and 2 Chainz (the punchy “Bet I’m On It”), Gates defers to them as if he’s starstruck. It’s a shame, as the rest of By Any Means provides damning proof of his star quality. He shifts between crowing and sounding dead-eyed in “Arm & Hammer,” a [t]Rap anthem as bombastic as Meek Mill’s “Believe It.” In “Movie,” he seems to melt as he chirps of how his life changed after the birth of his second child, with as much yearning in his voice as Peter Gabriel in Genesis ballads.
By Any Means is a lean 56 minutes, though Gates still finds room to entertain his schizophrenic tendencies. Consider his personal favorite, “Posed to Be in Love,” where he croons but also threatens to “toilet-bowl drown” and beat a woman up like Chris Brown, when he discovers that she cheated on him. At the occasional screams, “Posed” vaguely echoes the odes to abusive relationships by a Rapper who Gates admires. A year after he included an Eminem tribute in The Luca Brasi Story, “Posed to Be in Love” helps emphasize that “Marshall Mathers” may not be wishful thinking for much longer.
Gates is dope but I liked his other projects more.
Mixtape crack!
Kevin Gates is the truth, one of the few new rappers that gives me that old school south feeling, others being Big K.R.I.T, Rittz + Rhapsody
Rittz wanna work with Gates too!
By far my favorite project from him and you can tell he actually spent money on it with quality production and features and getting it mixed and mastered his other tapes are good but sound amateur with cheap beats and shit and he sold like 15,000 which is great considering you can download it free on datpiff
I fucks wit son,,,,hope he ain’t really,,,,rockin tho,,,,,,cause yo know who,,,be on niggas dick,,,,,,He due for some play,,,tho,,,,,,,
Peace from. Medina,,,,,
Not bad,nothing special tho..just another trap rapper
“just another trap rapepr” Uh no, Youre an idiot
Learn how to spell and punctuate,then we can talk…fucking retard
If you really think Gates is another “trap rapper” you aren’t even listening.
lol just another fake nikka with fake tattoo tears recording a fake album
Hes actually one of the realest niggas in the game fuck boy
Exactly! Anonymous 2: How the fuck is he or any other artist “real”?
He’s real because he’s honest in his music and writes his life…He doesnt glorify the bad hes done either and admits his faults
its good mixtape. I listened Kevin Gates all mixtapes couple months ago, and I have to say hes lyrics were best on the ones which he made before getting famous, I love the lyrics that he wrote on them. If you like Kevin Gates, I hope you go check hes mixtapes: “Pick Of Da Litter”, “All Or Nuthin” and “All In”
From Mixtapes after he released from jail 2011, I say that Luca Brasi Story is easily best, Make Em believe is dope too.
I dont feel this mixtape as much as I did feel hes previous material, but its still dope after listening couple times!
Much respect from Finland! #BWA
I give 4 stars.
Yo, I’m from Finland too. Harvemmin tll on kukaan suomalaiseksi itsen sanonut.
ok stuff
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A great mixtape. Dude is way underrated
“When teamed with its biggest gets Rico Wade (the schmaltzy R&B ballad Go Hard) and 2 Chainz (the punchy Bet I’m On It)”
Think you mean “guests”
And also this statement is false. Gates performed well with both
He got skills far better than these other fake bitch made new rappers like tyga keef n yung homo thug. Gates a real hood nigga n got bars
Now I know why some people don’t consider rap a music genre.
When I see some people who is older than 30 years old and still acting like if they are 20…. smh…
He’s 28 and he makes mature music
jnrjrbgujgnjnvuhgkowrglwgiellnenbitch can you see that word
too dope
This shit is retarded. Let’s glorify selling blow and killing eachother… and make a video to commemorate ourselves.
Trap music is the decline of hiphop
Youre totally missing the point of this. He’s not glorifying any of that, hes just telling hist story
you stupid
This was a great release. A lot of people sleeping on Gates. I think some overlook him and dismiss him as another “trap rapper” or “face tattoo rapper” (not my words, I’ve actually SEEN people say this on HipHopDX, YouTube, etc). This is NOT true at all. He’s a real ass rapper. His storytelling is very vivid and he has such variety in his music–he sings and raps and speeds up or slows down his flow according to the mood he’s trying to convey in each song. And his honesty is part of what makes him such a real ass dude. Very refreshing to listen to a guy like Kevin Gates. Hopefully he blows up a bit more and is able to release an album this year.
I like Gates but this tape is flat to me, needs some more diversity on the beats
agreed. very one dimensional.
everything that he does is right he doesen,t have to change anything
best release of 2014 thus far
Kidz whatever you do dont follow this FOOL !
Hes actually a mentor for kids at Achievement Academy in Lousisana you ignorant moron. He teaches positivty
Can’t take him serious with silly tattoos on his face… smh
he aint tyga or wayne the tats are prison n murder related he been bout that life watch an interview with him bet u change ur opinion he is really smart he not sum lame pretending he a gangsta
hot
not bad. he sounds a mix between wacka flocka flame & young buck. 4.5 stars
Best album of 2014 so far, his second best project. Unbelievable.
Don’t u mean Rico Love???
dude a beast arm and hammer knocks like police at ya front door i fuks wit em
Arm & Hammer is crazy…
I feel you this was hella dope, but if you fuck with him ik u will fuck with this new artist Steeze Loueeze https://soundcloud.com/gtownmusic/doin-numbers-by-steeze-loueeze
Get up on my level… its up there
SICK!
This shit too dope!
Don’t think about the music or artist based on appearance… Just listen. Then think about how the music makes you feel. – Redefining Artisic Eyes
Love every minute
This nigga the truth. Seen his interviews yesterday one the most intelligent rappers ive heard speak really wasn’t expecting him to be like that definatly made me support the guy more n he as gangster as they come.
Gates is one of the few artists these days who truly stands out. He’s blessed with an incredible voice which he uses to perfection as an instrument. Most importantly, he knows how to layer and compose a complete song, as opposed to just spitting bars. Hopefully, he will catch label-love and receive the promo that he deserves.
Best hip hop album of the year
I’m a BR native and I put Gates over Boosie any day. This dude is a game changer with mad talent. It’s a shame that more ppl don’t know about him yet. He has the ability to come with unique lyrics over amazing beats and does so with a style all his own. Like he says “I know there’s a name for it, but I don’t know what to call it”. It won’t be long and he’ll be taking this thing over.