★★★★★
After the kind of year Kevin Gates had in 2013--finally signing with a major label when he inked a deal with Atlantic Records, releasing two critically-acclaimed mixtapes, becoming a father for the second time--you might think that he'd be in a better mood. This, however, would be a fundamental misunderstanding of the Baton Rouge rapper...
- pitchfork.com
2014-03-24
★★★★★
Available on: self-released It can be difficult to defend contemporary rap music to an older (and supposedly, wiser) set of listeners still defensive of an art form that, in the past, lived and died on a deep understanding of "the elements." All too often, heated arguments end with a shrug and a side-eye to the critic comparing Public Enemy's 'Fight the Power' to Migos 'Versace', and what can honestly be said in defense...
- www.factmag.com
2014-03-22
★★★★★
Kevin Gates - Stranger Than FictionRelease Date: July 16, 2013
Record Label: Bread Winners Association
Earlier this year, Kevin Gates released his breakthrough mixtape The Luca Brasi Story after cultivating a strong hometown following for years without gaining much recognition elsewhere. The Luca Brasi Story, however, was a smash hit among publications across the board, and the success of the tape got him signed to Atlantic...
- www.absolutepunk.net
2013-08-17
★★★★★
Kevin Gates - 'Stranger Than Fiction' Mixtape Review
Jul 18th, '13 • Music • by Eric Diep • 7 Comments
Baton Rouge native Kevin Gates has come out with his debut retail album, Stranger Than Fiction. After years of building regional acclaim with a slew of mixtape releases, Gates transcended to a national level thanks to his standout appearance on "Trust You" by Pusha T, off his Wrath Of Caine mixtape, and the critical acclaim of his 2013...
- www.xxlmag.com
2013-08-17
★★★★★
Louisiana rapper Kevin Gates' The Luca Brasi Story matched the brutality of coke rap to earnest sentimentality and melodicism with such a finesse that it obscured the record's essential weirdness. Songs outlining the perils of trafficking narcotics were heard next to those inspired by romance novelist Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook and the Twilight series...
- pitchfork.com
2013-07-26
★★★★★
Earlier this year, Kevin Gates released his breakthrough mixtape The Luca Brasi Story after cultivating a strong hometown following for years without gaining much recognition elsewhere. The Luca Brasi Story, however, was a smash hit among publications across the board, and the success of the tape got him signed to Atlantic...
- absolutepunk.net
2013-07-26
★★★★★
Available on: Bread Winners Association Kevin Gates' rise from regional favorite to rapper-to-watch has been marked with the dual forces that often handicap twenty-something talents from the ghetto: label indifference and legal impedance. Gates spent several years in Young Money purgatory and then a couple in jail for drug and firearm charges, but he emerged from the experiences not with a chip on his shoulder but a new outlook on life...
- www.factmag.com
2013-07-20
★★★★★
Louisiana rapper Kevin Gates is a star on par with Lil Boosie around his stomping grounds in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, but he hasn't had much luck in popping nationally. Gates got a taste of nationwide notoriety after inking a deal with Lil Wayne's YMCMB imprint a year ago but spent most of his tenure there on ice with YMCMB's well-populated roster of benchwarmers. It's a shame they couldn't find a use for him...
- pitchfork.com
2013-04-01
★★★★★
Baton Rouge rapper Kevin Gates has almost all of the essential elements that of a 21st century superstar. He can sing as good as he can rap,which gives his songs a musical edge that makes them appealing to a large audience. He can be dirty yet romantic, which means that he's got the ladies on his side. He comes with a criminal past, prison record for drugs and guns, and a few shots taken, thus assuring his street cred...
- rapreviews.com
2013-02-26