![]() ![]() You go to New Orleans or something, you listen to the music. They’re beautiful, like the Creole women. ![]() I hadn’t performed in Lafayette since 2000, maybe ’13, ’14. It’s maybe not even an hour from Baton Rouge. I said, "Thank you brother, for everything." It was just because I love the town that we went to, Lafayette, La. I want to relive this moment with him." I hugged him. I was like, "Hey, tell him he got to come to my concert. The White boys from Louisiana are different." They’re not your regular White boys. I’m a supreme being, so I’m not worried about them.Ī Louisiana man named Steven Barbosa had a viral moment when a video of himself rapping to your old song "Thinking With My Dick" at Mardi Gras this past March blew up on TikTok. And the beautiful thing about when I give you texture is that the people, the mere mortals, they may not understand my vision because I live in a realm of supremity. That’s like the song I just dropped, "Big Lyfe." A lot of people were like, "Man, what?" Every time, I’m going to give you texture. That’s like when we dropped "Big Gangsta." didn’t do nothing, but maybe five years later, “Big Gangsta” just kept on. It’s just constant confirmation that I’m on the right path. It’s beautiful the world’s just now catching up to me. How do you view the song’s newfound success with who you are now as a person? You’ve changed so much over the years, and now one of your older songs from 2013, "Thinking With My Dick," is turning into a huge streaming hit. I just start allowing me to tap into something different. Even with semen retention, I don’t release. That’s when, if you wake up in the morning, instead of me masturbating, I just take that energy and go to the gym with it. I learned how to translate energy, such as sex mutation. It used to be like, you had to do drugs to make great music. I used to do a lot of drugs and then fitness became my drug of choice because I’ve never been to rehab. Just so much momentum was lost, but I never really lost anything. When I left, it’s like I never really truly ever got to reach my peak and I harbor resentment for that for a long time. And then I had to turn right around and do close to three years in Chicago over a lie. I did a six-month bid in Florida over a lie. I’m talking about until this date, I was innocent. I felt cheated after the Islah project came out because I was incarcerated. 2 on the Billboard album chart and solidified you as a name to watch. One of your early career breakthrough moments happened in 2016, when you released your debut album, Islah, which opened at No. I don’t feel good if I’m not making music. But as far as me having to do it, my life doesn’t operate correctly if I don’t make music. I missed it, when I was incarcerated and was away from the music. Kevin Gates: I could say I really appreciated it when I couldn’t do it. XXL: When did you know that music was one of your callings? Here, Gates, 36, gives a peek into how he remade himself, what music means to him and understanding his place within the world. With a recent viral moment off his 2013 song, "Thinking With My Dick," and the release of his third solo album, Khaza, Gates’ otherworldly patience and belief in himself is paying off. This version of Kevin Gates understands the value of time, both in how he uses his own and how his music takes off at the perfect moment. He is an enlightened man, fully committed to his Muslim faith, his family and his fitness. Nowadays, Gates’ deeply personal and honest brand of rap continues to live on, free of his previous struggles with drugs, mental health and overindulgence. Gates was surrounded by turmoil, but he never gave up on his dreams nor did he wilt under the pressure of losing time in his rap career, where reigns on top can be fleeting. Scheduled to be released after that spell behind bars in 2017, he instead immediately served nine more months in an Illinois state prison for 2013 gun charges, all while he soared up the charts. The joy of his successful 2016 debut album, Islah, was tempered by a battery charge that same year after he kicked a female fan at his show, an incident that put Gates in jail for five months. native unleashing his first mixtape, Pick of Da Litter, in 2007, around the time he was musically conjoined with fellow Louisiana rhymers Boosie BadAzz and Webbie, to stints in jail in the late 2000s, followed by his rap stardom taking off in 2015, with his motivational hit single, "I Don’t Get Tired (#IDGT)," arriving months prior in 2014, Gates has felt the high highs and low lows. Kevin Gates has been on his journey for a lifetime. A tireless work ethic and long look in the mirror have turned Kevin Gates into both a selfless and successful rapper.Įditor’s Note: This story will appear in the Summer 2022 issue of XXL Magazine, on stands soon.
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