Born on February 5, 1986, Kevin Jerome Gilyard, popularly known by his stage name, Kevin Gates is a well-known American rapper, singer and successful entrepreneur. Gates made his debut into the music industry in 2016 with his studio album, ‘Islah’.
The songs gained him a huge popularity among the mass and was peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart. Prior to the success of ‘Islah’, Gates released few mixtapes including ‘Stranger Than Fiction’, ‘By Any Means’ and ‘Luca Brasi 2’. Each one of them peaked in the top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart. Currently, Gates is signed with Bread Winner’s Association and a partnership with Atlantic Records.
Born to a Puerto Rican mother and an African American father, Gates had a tumultuous upbringing. At the age of 13, Gates was arrested for joyriding in a stolen vehicle. Gates was 14 years old when he lost his father who died of complications from AIDS. Gates attended the Baton Rouge Community College at the age of 17.
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In 2007, Gates began his career by singing to local label Dead Games Records. And in 2012, Gates earned some buzz with the release of his mixtape ‘Make ‘Em Believe’ which caught the attention of Lil Wayne’s record label, ‘Young Money Entertainment’. In the early 2013, Gates released another mixtape. ‘The Luca Brasi Story’ which gained critical praise from Pitchfork. In the same year Gates was signed to Atlantic Records and released his major label mixtape ‘Stranger Than Fiction’.
The release of his 13th mixtape earned his third Billboard listing. The mixtape featured the single ‘I Don’t Get Tired’ which made its debut in the Billboard Hot 100. Later in 2015, Gates announced his debut album Islah which was dedicated for his daughter. Islah received a lot of positive reviews with Inverse calling it the “Best Album of 2016 So Far”.
Gates proved that despite having a difficult childhood, if you have the right determination and courage to improve your situation, then you’ll surely be successful in your life. If you’re going through a difficult situation in your life then here is the list of some Kevin Gates quotes that will surely motivate you to pursue your dreams and make some good life choices.
1. “Don’t get mad at me for being the best of what I created to be.”
Hard work is the key to succeed in your life. You cannot achieve anything in your life without working hard for it. The ones who are siting on the top level of the hierarchy has paved their way with hard work and determination. Your jealousy and rage won’t be able to bring them down. Success won’t come knocking at your door if you are lying idly on your couch. Channelise your anger into your efforts and one day you will receive the fruits of your efforts.
2. “If you associate yourself with peer pressure or complacency, you’re destined for failure.”
Surviving into this Gen-Z generation we all are aware about peer pressure. The urge to be acceptedand valued by other people can clearly have an impact on your mind as well. It’s the natural human tendency to feel valued by other people but that doesn’t mean you have to associate yourself with the constant pressure to feel accepted. Peer pressure is destined to be your doom.
If you want to achieve success in your life then forget about impressing others. They don’t matter because once you achieve success in your life everyone will feel the need to be accepted by you.
3. “I don’t sleep much. I don’t sleep much – I work, I work, I work.”
Do you want to know what is the difference between a dreamer and achiever? Dreamers only dream about their goals while achiever works hard on achieving their goals. If goals could have been achieved just by dreaming about it then no one and I mean it no one in this world would be living a mediocre life.
You have to work hard for your dreams. Nothing is achieved in this world without hard work. So don’t wait for a miracle instead start working towards the achievement of your dreams.
4. “You can’t make everybody else happy and still stay on top.”
That is the harshest truth about life. We all live in the delusion that achievement of success will solve every problem in our life but that is only the tip of the iceberg. As you climb towards your goal, more and more people will be jealous about your improvement.
You cannot make every person on this world happy. There will always be someone who will never be satisfied by your efforts. The soon you will realise it, the better your life will be.
5. “You can learn from a dummy. You can watch a dummy and learn what not to do. I’ve always been an observant individual.”
Dummies are perceived as the foolish ones. They are not recognised as the mature human beings. No one wants to take any kind of advice/suggestion from a foolish person because that will be equal to digging up on your grave. But if observed carefully, you can learn a thing or two from them. Knowledge is everywhere, you just need to be a careful observant in order to learn something out of it.
6. “I’m inspired by everything that goes on around me. And I’m a sponge. I’m very analytical. I notice the things that most people don’t notice.”
We all are aware the way a sponge works. It can observe as much as liquid as it wants. In life, we all must adapt this ability from a sponge. As mentioned earlier, knowledge is scattered everywhere. You have to be a careful observant. If you’re observing your surroundings carefully, you might learn few things that you will never learn from your textbooks.
Just like a sponge, try to absorb as much knowledge as you can, you may never know when and where you might need it.
7. “Why accept failure when success is free?”
Just because you have failed once doesn’t mean you have to accept it. Failure is the pillar of success. On the road of success, you will meet failures. They are meant to teach you about your progress. All of the successful people have faced failures in their life. No one can achieve success in their life without tasting failure.
8. “I always had music growing up, but music was also like a journal. It was like my personal diary or personal journal. A lot of the things I couldn’t express to an individual, I would express them in my music.”
Every person in this world has a lot of things hidden deep inside of their minds. You will never find any suitable words to convey your feelings. In those situations, we all search for a medium to express thoughts. For some it could be art while for some it could be music. This completely varies from one person to another. When words seem to fail, we find solace in art.
9. “I like being with my family. That’s my party.”
in the modern life when people are more outgoing and reliant over others and think of their family as a burden, this quote reminds us that at the end of the day family will stick by your side when face obstacles in your life. Through thick and thin, through highs and lows, in happy places and sad places.
We have observed in our day to day lives there are instances where family are the only ones that stick by your side, and shows loyalty where it matters the most. As a sign of respect for the loyalty shown to us we should also be loyal to them and cherish each and every moment we spend with them.
10. “Wise men change, fools stay the same.”
Adaptability is the best survival skill that humans have taught themselves. The same rules that used to be applied in the pre-historic period can also be applied in today’s modern society. If you cannot adapt to the changes and become a better person than before, the society gradually rejects you and you perish in this everchanging chaotic world.
11. “Love’s a battlefield it’s not a one-night stand.”
Being in love is truly the greatest emotion one could feel in their life. The thought of being appreciated and valued can surely send butterflies to anyone’s stomach (not literally). We have read or seen at least multiple books and movies about love.
The way love has been described over decades by many people the word that pops right into our mind is – ‘magical’. But is love truly magical? Well, as the quote describes love is a battlefield. You have to be mentally strong enough to endure the hardships on the battlefield. You cannot win love with one night stand. Love requires efforts and dedication. You cannot achieve love with numerous one-night stands.