And that’s fair because Gates has had himself a productive year; signing to Atlantic Records, releasing two critically-acclaimed mixtapes, and even becoming a father for the second time.

(Desiigner comes to mind.)

After that, I kept creating and I still have a solid fan base worldwide. Midway, though, Gates waded toward A&R dollar signs, delivering sighing, gospel-infused melodies on the anthem “Satellites.”, The Baton Rouge-bred rapper honed this style further on 2013’s The Luca Brasi Story, a stunning, sprawling mixtape later abridged into an Atlantic Records-backed mini-album. I have never been disgruntled. He also didn’t shy away from plainspoken honesty, apologizing for pushing his inner pain on others (“February’s Confessions”) and shouting out his mom (“I Love You”). Cam, obviously. You were furious, spamming them every day between bathroom recording sessions, begging in comment sections, banging your head trying to be heard. I ended up on Juelz's album, got my first rap check, moved out the hood, and I been straight since.

, people were just beginning to comprehend the full scope of what he'd accomplished. I didn’t put out any visuals ahead of time, I didn’t put out any visuals afterwards, I didn’t really promote it besides Instagram and Twitter.

Gucci Mane was the most consistent mixtape auteur of the modern era; choosing his highlights comes down to a matter of temperament. I knew hip-hop music and was a fan of 2Pac and all of them back in those times, but I didn’t know how to rap. I sent it to him and he went in. The Luca Brasi Story 25 The first, more utilitarian half of Kevin Gates ’ 2012 mixtape Make 'Em Believe painted the picture of a logical, if self-effacing, Jeezy successor. He flanked the entire industry, taking the model pioneered by 50 Cent and magnified by Wayne to its logical outer limit. I fight with my brother all the time. What can you say about how that came about? There were some key elements missing from what I was doing, but I was still putting out good music, substance, good joints.

On Young Thug’s 2013 mixtape, 1017 Thug, the Atlanta rapper painted a hyper-colorful world in which he was a Cheshire Cat prince strolling around “pickin’ peacock trees” (“Murder”), where his molly pills were clearer than “jelly….fish” (“Dead for Real”) and his diamonds winked like Pikachu (“Picacho”). Incarcerated since he was 17, the Harlem native was released in the middle of the last decade and went to work constructing his own world with stark, grim writing and delightfully off-key harmonies.

[Also] Big Pun, people like that. Then there was.

It was the self-assured step of Luca Brasi that put Gates on the path toward becoming rap’s most unexpected crossover star.—Winston Cook-Wilson, Listen: Kevin Gates: The Luca Brasi Story.

by Drumma Boy), Snoop Dogg Pays Lakers & Kobe Braynt Homage With New Ink, OutKast Announces Special ‘Stankonia’ Anniversary Release, Benny The Butcher Announces Upcoming Lil Wayne Collab, Barack Obama’s Summer Playlist Includes Nas, J. Cole, Common, & More, KXNG Crooked & Bronze Nazareth Collide On “The French Connection”, Obie Trice Comes To Eminem’s Aid With Nick Cannon Diss Track, “Spanky Hayes”, The Roots Return With New Single, “Feel It (You Got It)”, Cam’ron Continues Rolling Out ‘Purple Haze 2’ With “Big Deal”, DJ Paul Enlists Yelawolf, Seed Of 6ix, & DJ Ease For “I’m So Juiced Up”, Azizi Gibson Bears His Soul On “5 Page Letter”, CJ Fly & Conway Talk About The “City We From” On New Track, Dave East Taps Jay Electronica On “No Hoodie”, First-Ever Recorded Eminem Performance Resurfaces, Freddie Gibbs, Conway, & The Alchemist Link On The “Babies & Fools” Video, Aesop Rock Takes A Stroll Down “Pizza Alley” On New Single & Video, J Stone & Dave East Link On “All or Nothin”, Nas Taps Big Sean & Don Toliver For The “Replace Me” Video, Statik Selektah Taps Nas, Joey Bada$$, and Gary Clark Jr. On “Keep It Moving”. But hip-hop doesn't much like certainties–it's a genre bound by the narrative of the underdog. track so hot it would jump from mixtape cut to radio single, propelling the rapper onto the Hot 100 yet again. Ad Choices.

Plus on Meet Zeus I was playing with the idea of stepping outside the box and being different with music, instead of keeping it one-track-minded with just punchlines, punchlines, punchlines.

Have you stuck to that?

There was the CineCrack series, the Politics and Bullshit series... More mixtapes, with more by-the-numbers hits, would follow. And though he arrived in mainstream America like a sure thing, cosigned by hip-hop's biggest names and bankrolled by its most notorious label, it was his outsider status on the mixtapes 50 Cent Is the Future, God’s Plan and No Mercy, No Fear that positioned him as the genre's next superstar. More mixtapes, with more by-the-numbers hits, would follow. I met them when I was 18 years old.

Writing on the Wall, his first tape and one of his most compelling contributions, created a new blueprint. Before that I had a street buzz, a neighborhood buzz, because I was battling different battle rappers—battle rappers that people know now like Jae Millz. ), How did you first start rhyming? Our editorial content is not influenced by any commissions we receive. A$AP and their promises… tsk tsk. As Future warbled about girls, money, and his dirty Sprite elixir, he held court fully alone; the only assistance came from Lil Wayne, on “After That.” The biggest gift was “Fuck Up Some Commas,” proving that Future’s freebandz offered him the opportunity to hand out album-quality singles pro bono.—Kathy Iandoli. That’s what I feel like the game is missing.

Peep “Thugged Out” after the jump and be on the lookout for Kevin Gates’ Gangsta Grillz hosted Luca Brasi 2 dropping December 15th. You had the compilation albums and a bunch of affiliated projects. I assumed that, because you have a punchline-heavy style, which I associate with Harlem and especially with Big L, and some of the DITC people in the Bronx. Shout outs to Lil Wayne. It’s a lot of watered down—I’m going to say it—​mumble rap.

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A mixture of reclaimed parts and original work, punctuated by gunshots and piercing “Whooooooooo Kiiiiiiiiiiiid!” drops, the tape flits between sad prophecy (“Trying to fight this prosecute”) and imagined luxury (“I only do designer shit”). The highlight, of course, was future single “Through the Wire,” recorded literally through the wire that held his teeth in a gritted formation after a car accident. Throwaway mixtape tracks could be hits. What do you remember about making that song?

There was a time where I called him and he sent me a verse in two hours, and he was on a tour bus. At the time, mixtapes were dominated by freestyles over industry beats. I bumped into him in Orlando, and he gave me my blessings to go ahead and do my thing.

I was already a fan of hip-hop: 2Pac, Snoop and the Doggystyle album, Wu-Tang—Raekwon and them. This was before he was doing a thousand verses and remixes and all that. There’s more thought put into it. Comparatively the Kevin Gates we see on the cover of Luca Brasi 2 is a different man from the one we first became acquainted with on the cover of The Luca Brasi Story in early 2013. They emptied out the bedroom and had turntables and DJ equipment playing the music.

Chief Keef, who was probably no more than eight years old when Dipset dropped their iconic Diplomatic Immunity record, is nevertheless paying tribute to the supergroup. There were some key elements missing from what I was doing, but I was still putting out good music, substance, good joints. But hip-hop doesn't much like certainties–it's a genre bound by the narrative of the underdog. Certain people jump out the window for no reason. I was about nine or 10. You released a ton of projects up until about 2013.