Kevin Jerome Gilyard or just Kevin Gates is a singer, rapper, and entrepreneur born on February 5, 1986. He released the debut album Islah in January 2016 which was so famous, it peaked second at the US Billboard 200. Before that, Kevin released several mixtapes such as By Any Means, Stranger Than Fiction, and Luca Brasi 2, with all of them were included at Top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Gates was born to an African American father and a Puerto Rican mother. The family lived in New Orleans, Louisiana before finally settling down in Baton Rouge. Gates’ upbringing was rather tumultuous as he was arrested during his teenage years for joyriding a stolen vehicle.
In October 2015, Gates tied the knot with Dreka Haynes who is his long-time girlfriend. They were gifted with two children Khaza and Islah. Gates and his wife is practicing Muslim and even went to Mecca last 2016 to perform Hajj.
1. “True wealth is not of the pocket, but of the heart and of the mind.”
2. “Anything lost, can be found again, except for time wasted.”
3. “When you come up in the slums, having nothin’ make you humble”
4. “I’m not made out of concrete. I’m a real person.”
5. “Don’t get mad at me for being the best of what I was created to be.”
6. “Never break or fold, that’s what it takes to be major.”
7. “Why accept failure when success is free?”
8. “If you associate yourself with peer pressure or complacency, you’re destined for failure.”
9. “I don’t sleep much. I don’t sleep much – I work, I work, I work.”
10. “I don’t pay attention to sales because it’s not about that for me. It’s about the music. Music is all I have.”
11. “I suffer from deep depression, so my only release is music.”
12. “I could care less about the particular. I like to make music.”
13. “A hot producer might not make a hot beat for me. I just love music.”
14. “Music is all I have.”
15. “I know I write a lot of my best music in the car, like late night. Three, four in the morning.”
16. “Marriage is the most wonderful thing ever.”
17. “Some may consider this a problem, I easily fall in love.”
18. “I like being with my family. That’s my party.”
19. “I live by the ten percent rule. Save one, you save a thousand.”
20. “You can’t make everybody else happy and still stay on top.”
21. “You can learn from a dummy. You can watch a dummy and learn what not to do. I’ve always been an observant individual. You don’t know how much you love something until you can’t do it. That’s one thing I can say that I learned. I learned how much I love music.”
22. “I’ve had mixtapes that have been better than albums I’ve heard from other artists. I take my time; I put my heart into it.”
23. “Out my window.. I see everything I dream about and wished I had”
24. “I’m inspired by everything that goes on around me. I’m a sponge. I’m very analytical. I notice the things that most people don’t notice.”
25. “Wise men change, fools stay the same.”
26. “You have to be intimate with a person to know that person.”
27. “Knowledge is provided but only to those who need to know.”
28. “Without an understanding of bad…how can one truly have an appreciation of good.”
29. “Prison was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
30. “Bein’ logical gave me a reason to doubt.”
31. “I’m not afraid to make mistakes.”
32. “Breathing is so important with physical activity, then how much more important is it with psychological activity?”
33. “My daily conversation, it consists of hustle. Grinding from the bottom sick and tired of struggle.”
34. “Jail and the streets go hand in hand. You can’t have one with out the other. They coincide.”
35. “I got 6 jobs I don’t get TIRED!”
36. “To be honest I am not looking to be romantic, already got someone at home.”
37. “It is illegal to steal my feelings and leave.”
38. “I love God, I love everybody else around me as myself, and I love my enemy.”
39. “I experience great hurt, this hurt allows me to know I’m alive.”
40. “I was built for that pressure.”
41. “If you not in your own lane, create one.”
42. “She says I’m a dog, but it takes one to know one.”
43. “I don’t really like talking. I like to execute. I’m not a talking person. I’m an action person.”
44. “Loves a battlefield it’s not a one night stand.”
45. “I put my flaws on front street. So the world accepted my flaws, so I don’t have any flaws.”
46. “If I told you I was different would you understand the difference?”
47. “I have trust issues with allowing other individuals to know my innermost secrets for fear of how I may be viewed. Everyone has this.”
48. “The only frustrating thing about jail is that I can’t make music.”
49. “I never go into a situation with any type of expectations.”
50. “Don’t let nobody know that you a monster. Keep it on the tuck and then surprise ’em.”
51. “I believe that life is a journey and for me to tell you my plans; things never go according to plan.”
52. “Came from the bottom, we aim for the stars.”
53. “Use the things that make you angry — as fuel to make you better.”
54. “When you’re in prison, you want to know that you were thought about.”
55. “The ones that hate you most tend to be the people you know.”
