Islah (Deluxe) by Kevin Gates on iTunes

17 Songs, 1 Hour, 3 Minutes

EDITORS’ NOTES

The Baton Rouge rapper Kevin Gates has never been much for jokes. Earnest, unsparing, and intensely personal, his full-length major-label debut is a downcast trip through tales of the grind (“La Familia”) romantic woes (“Pride”), and the trials of balancing the two (“2 Phones”). He delivers it all with enough charm and hope to keep things from getting too dark or gritty. “Man in the mirror you way outta order,” he raps on “The Truth”—fitting words for an artist who named his album (and his daughter, for that matter) after an Arabic word meaning to improve.

EDITORS’ NOTES

	TITLE		TIME
	Not the Only One		4:41
	Really Really		3:52
	2 Phones		4:00
	Pride		4:05
	La Familia		3:50
	Time for That		3:28
	Thought I Heard (Bread Winners' Anthem)		3:24
	Hard For		4:07
	Ask for More		3:27
	One Thing		3:19
	The Truth		3:30
	Kno One		3:34
	Told Me		3:04
	Ain't Too Hard		3:25
	I Love It		3:31
	Jam (feat. Trey Songz, Ty Dolla $ign & Jamie Foxx)		3:33
	Excuse Me		4:36

4.3 out of 5

655 Ratings

Noliaboy0469

All albums and mixtapes are solid, but the BWA queen picked the best lineup thus far!!!! Balance, wisdom, & master street knowledge!!!

Angelboy787

This album is nothing but fire music , he talks about some weird stuff but still is good

Bwwwwwaaaaaa

Peace and blessings 🙏🏾❤️

About Kevin Gates

Transferring the reflective style of rappers like Drake to the genre of gangsta rap, Louisiana-based MC Kevin Gates spent five-plus years on the mixtape circuit before climbing into the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 album chart with his 2013 release, Stranger Than Fiction. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Gates made his mixtape debut in 2007 with Pick of da Litter. Mixtapes with titles like All In and I Don't Know What to Call It, Vol. 1 appeared over the next few years. After he dropped the popular The Luca Brasi Story mixtape -- one of the first releases on Bread Winners' Association, a label he co-founded with wife and booking manager Dreka Gates -- things changed quickly. It led to appearances on high-profile mixtapes from Pusha T and Gudda Gudda, and Gates subsequently signed a contract with major label Atlantic. Stranger Than Fiction, the first of several releases to bear the logos of Bread Winners' Association and Atlantic, was released that same year. It featured guest spots from Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J, and Starlito, and debuted at number 37 on the Billboard 200 chart. Plies, 2 Chainz, and Doe B helped deliver his 2014 mixtape, By Any Means. The next year saw the single "Kno One" preview Islah. Gates' proper debut album, it was issued in January 2016, debuted at number two, and was certified gold before the rapper returned with an EP-length mixtape, Murder for Hire II, that May. The single "What If," whose main hook referenced Joan Osborne's 1995 hit "What If God Was One of Us," appeared in March 2017. The track appeared on By Any Means 2, which appeared in September. ~ David Jeffries