Kevin Gates

About

Kevin Jerome Gilyard (born February 5, 1986), known professionally as Kevin Gates, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is currently signed to Bread Winners’ Association with a partnership with Atlantic Records. His debut studio album, Islah, released in January 2016 and peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Prior to Islah, Gates also released a number of mixtapes, including Stranger Than Fiction (2013), By Any Means (2014), and Luca Brasi 2 (2014), all of which peaked in the top 40 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Kevin Jerome Gilyard was born on February 5, 1986, to a Puerto Rican mother and a Moroccan father; his family name is that of his mother’s. He and his family relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana, before settling in Baton Rouge. Gates was arrested for the first time in 1999 at the age of 13 for joyriding in a stolen vehicle as a passenger. He lost contact with his father at a young age, but he later reconnected with him. When Gates was a teenager, his father died of complications from AIDS, which he contracted from sharing needles during drug use. Gates has spoken about having been sexually abused as a child. When he was 17, he briefly…