Courtsey Sterogum
Keven Gate’s “By Any Means” came out earlier this month.
This month’s SXSW (pronounced: South by Southwest) Music Festival was not the showcase for up-and-coming artists that it has been known to be in years past.
Although many independent artists showed up to the Austin, Texas, festival this spring, many fans and performers left the two-week event feeling as if mainstream music industry professionals had too much of an influence on this year’s activities.
Despite mixed feelings, SXSW is still a great barometer for what’s to come from each genre of American music. The list of acts that have used the festival to springboard successful careers goes on forever. John Mayer, Amy Winehouse, Ellie Goulding and Janelle Monáe were all able to gain massive exposure at SXSW.
Rap stars are no different. There is always at least one that uses his or her time in Austin to make a bold statement. This year, that rap artist was Kevin Gates.
Gates doesn’t utilize a wheelhouse that is drastically different from many of his contemporaries. He shares a similar knack for storytelling as street poets Freddie Gibbs and frequent-collaborator Starlito. Each of Gates’ collections comes complete with witty word-play, an ear for pounding beats and an angry, snarling delivery that encompasses the aggressive nature of Baton Rouge, La., in which he grew up.
Furthermore, his knack for melody is prominent, comparative to Young Thug and Chance the Rapper, two other artists who made appearances at this year’s festival. Where Gates sets himself apart is his ability to open himself up in a way that is unparalleled by most rappers.
Tom Brelhan of Stereogum.com wrote about his performance at the Southern Hospitality showcase in Austin during SXSW: “Gates seemed to deliver his songs in a kind of trance, going to some inner place while spitting twisty double-time verses or crooning craggy, almost bluesy hooks.”
The scene Brelhan describes is nearly identical to the atmosphere of The Lyric Theater last October, when Gates visited Oxford on a promotional tour for his album, “Stranger Than Fiction.”
Gates stood for much of the performance in the middle of the stage, eyes up in the rafters, clutching tight to two microphones, as he raised them to his lips. Wearing a white Polo t-shirt, an empty gun holster around his shoulders, large Ralph Lauren boxer shorts as proper pants and an uncharacteristically scraggly beard, Gates performed as if he were the only person in the room. It was almost as if the audience bought tickets to eavesdrop on a private moment. The artist very rarely acknowledged that there was an audience at all.
He opted to perform some songs without music, accompanied only by slaps and kicks provided by his tour DJ. His deep, rumbling voice ripped through the crowd.
The pain in his vocals has enough force behind it to grab gravel out of the ground.
“I deal with depression, so I have to make music,” Gates told NPR during their coverage of SXSW.
The illusion of candidness doesn’t end when Gates gets off the stage. Fans are sometimes subjected to hearing moments where his craft and his life overlap.
Before going into “4:30 AM,” a standout track from “Stranger Than Fiction,” Gates receives a phone call, just after pressing record to lay his verse. The voice on the other end is a young boy. “Keep all that,” Gates dictates to the engineer, after gingerly telling the boy that he’s busy recording a song. “It’s five in the morning, and your children are somewhere on the corner,” sings Gates in the chorus. His street reality is chilling. The introduction to the song orients the listener with a realm so cold that even children are involved in the seedy happenings. The images in the song are as dark as the hours before dawn that it commemorates. Furthermore, the fourth wall is non-existent. His music influences his street life and vice versa.
Last week, the Atlantic Records signee released “By Any Means,” a new mixtape that will likely keep the momentum from his stellar SXSW showing rolling. With each release, Gates seems to inch closer to finding a formula that will both showcase his strengths and resonate with a mainstream audience. The lead single, “Don’t Know,” employs a hard-hitting instrumental that should be right at home in the club, as well as high-end car stereo systems. More likely to crossover, however, may be “Movie,” a tune closer to Phil Collins’ contributions to the “Tarzan” original soundtrack than anything rap fans are accustomed to. With appearances by Rico Love, the late Doe B. and 2 Chainz, it shouldn’t be hard for at least one song to creep into heavy rotation on national radio playlists.
Whether it comes with this release or the next, there is no doubt that there will be a place for Kevin Gates atop the rap game by the end of the year. SXSW was just a warning for anyone who hasn’t yet made way.
