Just look at the cover of By Any Means, Gates’ project from March. In his music, Gates projects intimidation when he humorously vows to manhandle anyone who scuffs his shoes and, in a more serious sense, when he looks back on violence he’s seen in Baton Rouge and elsewhere. Gates, born Kevin Gilyard, admires and identifies with Brasi’s reputation as an enforcer.
In the 1970 movie, Brasi is merely played by Lenny Montana, the 6’6″ ex-pro wrestler who, in his heyday, had a chest as wide as a car’s hood. In Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel, Luca Brasi is “a man to frighten the devil in hell himself.” True, based on his infamy throughout the Corleone Family’s history, you’d think he’s some goon with horns, a tail, and balloon biceps. The Luca Brasi Story, the 2013 mixtape that propelled Baton Rouge’s Kevin Gates to his status as one of the South’s most exciting rappers, was named after the brutal Godfather character. Also included are new-release recommendations. While “Don’t Know” will not push Gates into the world of radio pop, it does serve as indicator of how and where the Baton Rouge rapper will progress over the coming months and years.In the second installment of his Trappers and Philosophers hip-hop column, Michael Madden profiles Kevin Gates with particular focus on the rapper’s musical and personal themes of depression and senseless death. That being said, the song has the ability to draw in a wider audience, dispensing of all that damn storytelling that can bog down a good pop song. Compared to Stranger Than Fiction, “Don’t Know” is a fairly straight-forward affair, lacking in both the production ingenuity and emotional affectivity the album offered. The beat is pretty standard 808 Mafia and/or Zaytoven and/or Southside fare, acting as a more than capable backing for Gates’ boasts and strangled singing. He delves into his deeply troubled past, although it’s largely in passing and the storytelling is milquetoast compared to what he shows on tracks like “Neon Lights” and “430 AM”. He shows braggadocio (“don’t know no bitch I can’t hit”) and street solvency.
“Don’t Know” isn’t the song that will send Gates on either of the aforementioned routes, but it does represent his variegated skill set. The next several years will decide whether Gates will take the Future route, evolving into an impressive radio monster that still retains a good deal of artistic integrity, or the Gangsta Gibbs route, a rapper with popular, yet a somewhat stultified career. At this point in his career, Gates might actually have more in common with Curren$y or Freddie Gibbs circa 2008. In that sense, Gates is an anomaly in today’s national rap landscape, a financially soluble artist with a groundswell of support that still does not have that song or that album attributed to his name.
Despite all that success, Gates did not have (to my knowledge) a single national radio hit and still has not released a major label album. He also appeared on songs with Migos, Starlito, Ty Dolla $, Pusha T, pushing his name into cities across the West and East Coast. In 2013, Gates released a mixtape ( The Luca Brasi Story) and a self-released album ( Stranger Than Fiction), both critically acclaimed efforts. Kevin Gates is an interesting figure, someone who has both captivated the rap listening internet and built a vast, homegrown fan-base in his native Baton Rouge.
0 kommentar(er)
