Who Is Kevin Gates?

Kevin Gates dropped his latest mixtape, The Luca Brasi Story, a month ago. Since then, it's racked up critical raves and press lines spanning the spectrum from XXL to Pitchfork.

But Kevin Gates didn't come out of nowhere. In his native Baton Rouge, the rapper's already a massive hip-hop hero. He's been recording for several years, building a fan base through a slow-and-steady slow burn, which has included a high-profile collaboration with fellow Baton Rouge resident Lil Boosie, and more than a few mixtape releases. "All or Nuthin' had a lot of pain on it, a lot of true stories on there," he says about his 2009 tape, which also happens to be his favorite.

Since that time, he's done a few years inside. When released in 2011, his career started up again with renewed focus. With Lil Wayne's Young Money managing his career and a recently-inked deal with Atlantic, it looks like he'll be making some major moves in 2013.

Complex recently sat down with the rapper to find out what's behind the tracks, and the guy who made them. In an effort to answer what the music doesn't, we ask: Who is Kevin Gates?

As told to David Drake (@somanyshrimp)

RELATED: Who Is Trinidad James?
RELATED: Who Is Joey Bada$$?
RELATED: Who Is A$AP Rocky?

Growing Up in Baton Rouge

Kevin Gates: "I was born in Earl K. Long Hospital. I was born Feb. 5th 1986. I have a lot of family members. My Grandmother had five girls, and all of them had children. It was always a house full. A lot of cousins. A lot of family members.

"I had some older cousins that, when videos come on, they would run to the T.V, so we would run to the T.V with them. Whatever came on. I can’t remember [what the first music was that I bought] but I know I was too young to buy it. Explicit content. I had to get my older cousin to buy CD’s. I remember that. [I liked to listen to] Dr. Dre, when I was little. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. [I used to listen to Kris Kross] too. “Jump.” I never had the thought [of doing music myself]. That thought never even crossed my mind.

"In 7th grade, I believe, I wrote my first rap song. It was about everything I was seeing, everything that was going on around me. I can’t remember [what I was listening to then] but 9 times out of 10, it was probably No Limit. Master P.

"I guess it was a hidden talent because I didn’t use music, I didn’t rap like “here, let me let you all hear this”. It was more like a journal, and it’s what I still do. Events that may have took place over a period of time, I rap about it. What I see, what I went through, what a friend of mine may have went through, whatever. I rap about it."

Musical Influences

Kevin Gates: "Nobody ever taught me anything about no songs. People have been telling me what they think. If what you think is so good, how come you not getting paid to think? You not getting paid to think so I don’t care what you think. I know what sounds good to me, what I like to ride and listen too. If the world appreciates that then great, if not then okay, I’m still going to have a great time listening to my music in my vehicle.

"I never made music for nobody else. Somebody accidentally heard my music and told me I had what it took. I never made music for nobody else. I made music for me.

I never made music for nobody else. I made music for me.

"I was always interested in [Jamaican] culture, and I know some Jamaicans. So, how that happened, they taught me about the culture and I really observed them a lot, and ate with them and all that. They taught me about Rastafarianism and they always had Reggae music playing. I’m not just saying I gravitated towards [Jamaican music] from that, but i went through a stage where that was all I listening to at one time.

"The guy that I know, I won’t say his name, but he lives not too far from a Greyhound station, and I used to hustle up and down that strip. Me and him met, got acquainted, met his family. And that’s how it went. I like Peter Tosh, Bob Marley of course. All of Capleton, Sizzla, Frisco Kid, Buju Banton. Anything that was really popping at the time I was fucking with. Lady Saw.

"Right now, they have nobody to compare [my music] to. So, if they’re comparing it to [Future], he’s making money right now, so he’s a good person to be compared to. I do listen to him. "

His Songwriting Process

Kevin Gates: "I don’t really have a writing process any more. I don’t know, If I was to tell you [how I come up with my material], I’d be lying. Every song came different. I was walking one day, just walking, put a song together and just knocked it out. I’ve sat down and wrote to beats, and went and knocked it out. It’s different. It depends on how I hear it and how it comes across to me.

"I don’t 'try.' That’s one thing about my music. In being honest, you don’t have to try. If I try, I’m trying to do it, it’s not going to—whatever flows well together, thats what I do. I look at it like a painting. I might paint something on a blank piece of paper, then I might come back later and add something to it, or I might come back and throw it away. Whatever I decide to do with it.

"When I first got out of jail, I was trying. I was trying because everyone was “man, when you going to come with the new.” I don’t like anything that I did when I first got out of jail. I lived a little while, then I went back at it. My grandfather used to tell me, “stop trying.” Everything should come effortlessly. If it’s not coming effortlessly, then you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing.

"I don’t know what [writer’s block] is.

"I don’t know what [writer’s block] is. I don’t even believe that exists for me because my mind is always working and thinking. I believe it can happen to someone who tries. People just trying to make up things everyday. I don’t have to try. I could rap about one of my homeboys, and write a novel. I could rap about my daddy and write a novel. So, all the individuals, I already know these guys, the things that I’m rapping about in my songs, so how could I get writers block? I stay in the streets. That’s where my raw material comes from, being in the streets. Which is going to come to come to a point in time where it’s not going to really be safe for me to do that, but I’m going to still do it.

"[With production,] I go off how I feel. It depends on how the music makes me feel.

"They got a dude named Big J. I think he changed his name to Go Grizzly or something. I got a nice little relationship with him. Got another producer named Lil Ken, another one named Guss [Make My Beats], another one named B-Real, another one named EQ. I really like their music. And Mouse on the Track. I didn’t just start working with those individuals this year. Guss, EQ, Mouse, B-Real, Lil Ken. I came up working with those individuals."

Writing For Women

Kevin Gates: "When I hustle and play the block, when I go to jail, the first person that I call is my woman. The first person I get in the bed with is my woman. If that’s a problem, then shit, we got a problem. We got a problem, because, what’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with me being in love with somebody? I go hard. I fight hard. I fuck hard. I rap hard. I love hard. I’m a human being. I’m not a machine.

"I’ve loved different women with all my heart, even if the relationship only lasted 90 days. But we were in love, whatever it may be. But my heart in the streets and i’m not coming up out of them just yet. Sometimes it has an effect on relationships, so, a lot of woman get to the point where they say 'Kevin, I can’t do this anymore, you’re going to jail,' I understand that. That’s cool. I’ll let you know one thing. Any woman I’ve ever been with, I can go back and have sex with them anytime. Because, 'Kevin, you never lied to me about anything, you were all the way honest, you kept it 100, showed respect.'"

Personal Philosophies

Kevin Gates: "They got somebody in the game right now, who got a lot of money, but I remember when he ratted. The public don’t look at it like that, but I look at it like that. You’re still a rat. Not in a bad way, they got a lot of rats out here really getting money. At the same time I can’t respect you because you don’t live by the codes that I live by. So whatever anybody might say about me, whatever, I never told on anyone. Call me whatever you want, don’t call me a rat. You can’t call me a rat.

"I just know who I am. I look in the mirror, I know who I am. I know what I can do and what I can’t do. I know what I’m not going to do, I know what I stand for. I have set parameters for myself.

"I made a lot of mistakes and i’m got a lot of new mistakes to make. i’m going to make a lot of them tomorrow, and a lot after that. As long as I don’t make the same mistake. Life is trial and error. The good thing about life, people make mistakes and hopefully you learn from them.

"Why would I regret? That’s like I go fuck a fine hoe and she give me AIDS. I still knocked her big fine ass off before I got AIDS though. It was just my end of the spectrum, I should wrapped it up, but hey, fuck it. I’m not going to cry about the shit. It’s going to be what it’s going to be. I don’t live with regrets. When I was doing whatever I was doing, I was enjoying it. Why would I be regretting something that I’m enjoying. I enjoyed myself. Before I went to jail, I enjoyed myself, I don’t care what nobody say. I got memories. My life is exciting.

"[Music] is a release for me. It’s the only thing that truly makes me happy. The moment that I’m making music—not with people asking me questions. I hate that. I hate when people ask me questions. When I’m making music is the only time that I’m happy. Any other time I deal with depression. That’s my only way of dealing with my depression.

"All I can do is make the best music I can make today, who cares about what’s going to happen tomorrow. Who cares. I might not be here. I know what I want. I’m not hard to please. It don’t take a lot to make me happy. As long as I can do what I’m doing I’m cool. I can do that, do my little drugs, I’m good.

Drugs and Religion

Kevin Gates: "I ain’t gonna lie. I’d rather not even say [my drugs of choice]. I don’t want it to be an issue. It’s just really one drug, but I don’t go public, like “yeah this is what I do.” It’s just something I do in my personal time. I feel like the world should respect me for it because I’m not endorsing the drug like “yeah, do this!.” I do this for me, I don’t do this for y’all. I don’t think this makes me look cool. I really don’t care what people think about me. Because I’ll never see them, or be around them, or be in the same room with the person who said it. I don’t have arguing competitions. I’m not good at fussing."

"I don’t do the religion thing. I feel like everybody should be respected for the beliefs that they have. That’s what I believe. I love people. I hope that this perspective that I have, the love that I have for people, doesn’t hurt me in the long run. For right now, I can say I really love people.

"Some of [my family is religious]. I got Catholics, Christians, Jews, Muslims, I know a lot of people. Everybody that I talked to really had the same principles. Having a love for God, having a love for self, having a love for others. That’s what I believe. I treat people how I want to be treated. I believe when you treat someone the way you want to be treated, then that is God."

Friends and Family

Kevin Gates: "[Interrupted by a phone call.] That’s my Uncle, calling me from jail. His name Lee Lucas, you heard me. He’s been in there for like 17 years now. This is an individual I looked up to as a child. Always wanted to be like him. So me and him talk a lot. I can say he’s one of my life coaches, one of my advisers. I got a lot of advisers, Birdman one of my advisers, Master P one of my advisers. Anyone who is older than me, that has been living longer than me, I obtain wise council. Certain individuals I respect, certain individuals I don’t. If you never did it, I really don’t want to talk to you about what you never did. I don’t even care to hear your opinion because you never did it.

"I have a background and a history in the streets; [Master P] stood with people that are related to street-oriented individuals. One of his people got at me, I accepted, we sat down, talked about some things. We did what we did. That ain’t nobody that I just sit around and talk about all day, because at the end of the day, he’s a man like I am. But he did it already, so I respect the fact that he did it. I asked him what mistakes would you tell me not to make. I try to learn from the individuals that went before me, I try to learn from other people's mistakes. That’s one thing that I try to do.

"I got some children. I’m real real close with them. I lay in the bed with them, hold them, love on them. It really doesn't make sense to say [how many kids I have]. Not in a bad way, but it’s not like the public will ever get to see my children, and if they do see them, they aren’t going to know they’re mine.

"Later on, maybe, I get to the point where I share it with the world. I hate to say it, but not too many people live the type of life I’ve lived. It’s kind of exciting, so I might just say something just out of saying it, this or that, and they’ll be like “Wowww!” taken aback by something that’s just normal to me. So to keep it from being that, some questions I just stay away from, because it really doesn’t make sense. If I name my children, no one will ever get to meet them, so why does it even matter? Me making a great song tonight, that will be what’s up, that’s all I try to do. Make a song that can make me forget about the last song. It’s like starting a new relationship every time, got to make the best of it."

Building a Following

Kevin Gates: "We passed the music out, we went hand to hand. We went to different neighborhoods, wherever we went, passed them out. There was a time I used to pass CD’s out, me and my team and people threw them on the ground. Kids wouldn’t listen to it, but me and my team kept pushing.

"Boosie’s from out the neighborhood, so he showed love [when recording "Get in the Way"]. Me and my team asked him what he wanted and he could’ve knocked our dick in the dirt, but he didn’t. He kept it real. He didn’t charge us an outrageous number. He didn’t charge us a number that he might charge someone from somewhere else. I salute him for that.

"[I noticed people starting to pay attention to my music] when I came out of jail [in 2011]. Before that people were listening to it, but it was people out of my neighborhood so I was cool. I wasn’t tripping. So I held it down for my neighborhood. Now it has expanded."

Success and Recording with Lil Wayne

Kevin Gates: "You’ve got to move different. When you go from being a boss, to being a prince, to being a don, you’ve go to move different. I never wanted to be a King. Kings get their head cut off. I holler “Kevin Gates for president” all the time. Let me be the president of the streets. That’s really where I’m at with it. Somebody could take something from my music, it maybe gave them enlightenment. I painted a great picture. I gave insight to a world they will never live in. I did my part. I don’t look at myself as something bigger than what’s going on around me. I just look at myself as the small piece of the puzzle.

"It’s just something that always stuck. That’s just been a part of my campaign, Kevin Gates for president. Forever I will be campaigning. If they were ever to elect that a position, I’m going to always put a mixtape in somebody's hand, tell them “Look, Kevin Gates for president”. That’s one thing with me, I’ll never let go of my grind. Never. Even when everybody knows me, there’s more that can be done. I’ll never get in the mindset that we made it. Cause we never made it. I didn’t have a plan.

"To be honest, I never see the attention. Right now, I’m about to go in the hotel, I’m probably going to make a few phone calls and look for a studio to get in. I don’t get to see the attention. I don’t walk in the mall and people say “Hey, Kevin,” I don’t get to see that. I’m sorry if my attitude will never be, “Man, you’re hot right now,” I wouldn’t know yet. I ain’t been to the MGM Grand yet, I haven’t performed there yet. I’m not doing that touring outside of the United States so i don’t know.

"I’m just going to do whatever it do. Somebody call me and say “Hey, you want to do a show in Japan,” then I guess I’m going to be there. I don’t look at it like that, because if i start saying I want to get outside my state, I’m going to start doing things to grab fans outside of the state I’m in, and I don’t want to do that. I want you to gravitate towards me organically, I don’t want to have to shout out or say a certain landmark in your city to make you listen to me, No. I want to make good music and people are going to listen to me because I make great music. That’s all it’s got to be. Great music and everything else will fall into place.

"Came out of jail, met a few people, met [Lil] Wayne. Me and him sat down and we talked, and I look at Tunechi like a coach almost, so to say. We recorded together a few times, a few times."