I've been listening to this Kevin Gates tape for the past week or so, but more intently the past few days on my commute to work and at the office today. He flows similar to Wayne during his late 2000s mixtape run, while his voice fluctuates between a near carbon-copy of Young Buck and a raspier B.G.. He is from Louisiana (Baton Rouge to be exact), so the influences are there from Trill Ent, No Limit and '90s Cash Money.
The start of "The Luca Brasi Story" is pretty fast-paced and non-sympathetic. With bravado raps detailing gun toting and trap houses, it's nothing new to the ear, even when Gates' flow makes it enjoyable and melodic with great hooks. When you name your project after an enforcer of The Corleone family, why would it be about emotional topics? Still, the early part of the tape paints a shallow picture of Gates until you reach songs like "Neon Lights" or "Twilight". There, he's discussing early love, friendships, deep relationships, life's next steps and his belief in those above and around him. The way his voice goes up and down in pitch and raspyness, while rapping and singing, gives you a window to the emotional toll day-to-day life takes on him. It's this part of the tape that resonates with me the most. It offers the breadth of talent he can balance on and between each record.
Even though I've listened to it a lot, it's the type of project that probably takes a couple more listens to catch a rhyme or two that you missed and wonder how you let it pass it in the first place. Gates just signed a deal w/ Atlantic Records and is with Ca$h Money on the management side, so I hope those enterprises support him properly. That should mean they want to start selling his music, but "Luca Brasi Story" is only available for free at this time. If Def Jam can sell ~14,000 copies of Trinidad James' free mixtape, I don't see why Atlantic doesn't follow suit, even without a single. Fans want to support.
"Couple n***s I loaned money, say that got me, ain't never get me." - Kevin Gates on "I Need It"
Thank you to David Drake of Complex and Wesley Case of The Baltimore Sun for tweeting enough about this tape for me to take notice and become a believer. Of course, thank you to the folks at Dirty Glove Bastard for being so knowledgeable when I have questions about artists.
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