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Last Updated on January 9, 2023

The Twitterverse is filled with tweets from Kevin Gates. Even his social media posts are worth sharing. But what makes him such a celebrity and a rich source of quotable quotes?

Kevin Gates is an American rapper and singer from the Red Stick of the Pelican State. Growing up in the hood, he had to make tough choices in life, even as a child. Still, he grew up with a love for art and music. His rich life experiences have given him the wisdom he now shares with no holds barred.

Let’s get to know more of this talented man.

 

Growing Up in the Hood

Born on February 5, 1986 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Kevin Jerome Gilyard grew up in an area far from ideal. It was a volatile environment that’s not ideal for children. His mother, Martha Green Gates, raised him on her own, but he really didn’t spend much time with her.

Instead, he turned to the streets hustling with his friends. He was exposed to social vices, gang wars, drugs, and violence. And while he did eventually meet his father, the latter passed away when Gates was 17 years old. They weren’t able to have enough time together to forge a strong bond.

 

Settling Down

In high school, Gates met Dreka Haynes who he would eventually marry. Gates has shared many times how meeting Dreka saved him from getting involved deeper into gangs, drugs, and violence. 

He attended Baton Rouge Community College and exemplified academic excellence. However, his interest in rap and music consumed much of his time, causing his grades to drop. However, he still managed to earn his college degree and even earned a master’s degree in Psychology while he was in prison from 2008 to 2011.

By the time Gates and Dreka got married, tThey already had two children, Islah Koren Gates and Kahza Kamil Gates. Dreka has also become a social media celebrity and is an active booking manager. She helped Kevin establish their own record label, Bread Winner’s Association, in 2010. They are still happily married today.

 

Topping the Charts

Kevin’s music career started in 2005 when he signed with Dead Game Records, a local record label. Since then, he has released 2 studio albums, 3 extended plays, 16 mixtapes, and 28 singles. His songs are mostly inspired by his street survival experiences. 

He is currently signed under his own record label, Bread Winner’s Association, which is working in partnership with Atlantic Records. In 2019, they released his second studio album “I’m Him”. The album has 17 tracks and reached #4 at both the US Billboard 200 and the US Rolling Stone Top 200.

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Facing Controversies

Although he had mellowed down compared to his childhood days on the streets, Kevin still had several run-ins with the law during his career. He has been in and out of prison due to criminal cases, including gun possession.

In October 2016, he was convicted and sentenced to jail. Although he was sentenced to jail in 2016, he was released early, after over a year, for good behavior.

Despite his rough childhood and the countless controversies surrounding his life, he inspires other people to live their best. Here are quotes from Kevin Gates about music, success, life, and even tattoos. They just might amuse you, inspire you, compel you to action, or simply make you laugh.

 

  1. “I’m nowhere close to perfect, of this I’m sure, but God is!” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Sometimes the best move is no move.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I know a lot, but there’s some things I don’t know.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Entertainment and the streets don’t go together.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Ice box where my heart used to be. Eskimo city, no feelings, I’ma igloo.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “When trying to destroy you, they destroy themselves in the process. F**k em’ – work harder!” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “And the drugs don’t really make the problem ever shrink. But they do release the endorphins that help me not to think.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I experience great hurt, this hurt allows me to know I’m alive.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “You the only one that my dick could get hard for.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Some’ll say life is a gamble, which means love is a casino. Everybody just playin’ to win.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Climbin’ forward, strivin’, I’m a grinder. Rearview watchin’ what’s behind you: Peripheral, watchin’ what’s on side you.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “All things are obtained by Wisdom and Knowledge.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I have trouble with letting go. That’s my problem.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Don’t let nobody know that you a monster. Keep it on the tuck and then surprise ‘em.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I know I write a lot of my best music in the car, like late night. Three, four in the morning.” – Kevin Gates
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  1. “Anybody that’s borderline brilliant – they’re gonna suffer with depression. ‘Cause you don’t see the world how other people see the world. You see it for what it is. You see it different.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Out my window… I see everything I dream about and wished I had.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Fat, black, nasty, who your baby daddy? Sure as hell ain’t Puerto Rican Gates.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Wealth is not of the pocket. It’s of the heart. It’s of the mind. I live like that.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I walked a hundred thousand miles, long way from home. Miss my niggas, some dead, some ain’t comin’ home.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I don’t pay attention to social media. So if I do something I do it from the heart. I don’t do it for any feedback, I did it ‘cause that’s how I felt.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “When you come up in the slums, having nothin’ make you humble.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Bein’ logical gave me a reason to doubt.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “You mean to tell me if you’ve been f**king with someone for three months. Everything beautiful and your grandmother come tell you one day that’s your cousin, y’all done? Why f**k up a good thing?” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “When you follow your heart, you always win!” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Without true pain, one could never know true happiness.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Would you still be my friend when I’m lonely?” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I believe that life is a journey and for me to tell you my plans; things never go according to plan.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Whenever someone says something about you, whether it’s direct or indirect, don’t entertain this. Don’t let no body trick you out of your position.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I was built for that pressure.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Women say they love but never more than the ice.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I was saying that if I loved a woman, I’m supposed to lick her toes, ego, pussy, and eat her booty.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I’m not made out of concrete. I’m a real person.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “You learn fast or you die young.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I love vampire novels by Anne Rice but I also love Nicholas Sparks.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Get it, get fly, I got six jobs, I don’t get tired.” – Kevin Gates
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  1. “If it matters to you, pursue it aggressively.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “She says I’m a dog, but it takes one to know one.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I could give a flying flip about doing promo because, no disrespect, nobody put me in the position that I’m in. I was doing sold-out shows before I got radio play.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Some may consider this a problem, I easily fall in love.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Loves a battlefield it’s not a one night stand.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I got partners that got life sentences at a young age, and I had to step up to the plate and take care of their children. I’ve always been a caretaker of young people.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Music’s the most therapeutic thing for me. Because I suffer with depression, and it’s my only form of releasing it.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I like where we at now – but I’m in love with where we going.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “God made it impossible for me to be anything other than what I am.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Anything lost, can be found again, except for time wasted A vision without action is merely a dream Action, it’s the grind, it’s the hustle, it’s the persistence.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Knowledge is provided but only to those who need to know.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Everybody round you pretendin that they your partner, let you have a problem they won’t even help you out.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “If you associate yourself with peer pressure or complacency, you’re destined for failure.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Emotionally I’m an introvert but it come off as aggression.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “My daily conversation, it consists of hustle. Grinding from the bottom sick and tired of struggle.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “It is illegal to steal my feelings and leave.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “I don’t have a religion. I ain’t nothing wrong with church as long as they selling chicken. ‘Cause I read the Quran, I read the Kabalah, I read the Bible. They all got the same three basic principles: Love God, love your neighbor as yourself, and…As far as me being, I live by those principles.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “The ones that hate you most tend to be the people you know.” – Kevin Gates

 

  1. “Never break or fold, that’s what it takes to be major.” – Kevin Gates