Kevin Gates Quotes

Pop culture mirrors culture, and, I think, as a rapper, hip-hop in a lot of ways mirrors the things that are happening in urban neighborhoods.

I like the way hip-hop is now. It's grown up enough so that it can get involved with politics if it feels like it.

I started rapping since, like, 14. But I've been obsessed with rap from when I was 11. I heard 'Baby Don't Cry,' I'll never forget.

I think hip-hop does a very good job of infusing comedy and humor and wit into music, a lot more than other genres.

I listened to a lot of Jay Z and Nas, stuff like that, so I was always New York-influenced. I think I have that New York flow.

If we want to mumble rap, we can mumble rap.

My core thing is gangster rap, but a lot of my music is melodic and carries a message of survival.

I don't like political rappers.

I don't like rap that doesn't have a story behind it.

I think, in a lot of ways, hip-hop is interesting to me because it's like the modern-day folk music.

I was just trying to fit into a certain spectrum. Just like, basic rap.

The way I rap is very west coast.

When I was 13, before I got in high school, I was writing mad raps. I didn't really know if it was good or not, so for a year, I just held them. When I got in high school, I started spittin' bars.

I still to this day get the most inspiration from rap lyrics.

If you're really a rapper, you can't stop rapping.

The materialism, the brashness, the misogyny - everything in hip-hop is amplified. Misogyny is a good example of something that is completely amplified in hip-hop. I do think there is more than enough of a balance, though, for fans who are willing to search it out.

Hip-hop is the last true folk art.

I feel like I changed hip-hop.

I mean, when it's time to rhyme rhyme, I can get down for mine.

I'm into the lyrical side of rap. I listen to some old Eminem songs and think, 'Wow, he's a genius.' He's one of the greatest poets of our time. Even when he's out of control, like on 'Cold Wind Blows,' it's incredible.

But I've been freestyling and messing around with rhyming since I was 13. That's when I really started listening to hip-hop music.

That's what hip-hop is: It's sociology and English put to a beat, you know.

Hip-hop was my first audience - I would rap in the mirror, walk down the street and listen to my Walkman.

I think that rap is narrative, when it's done right.

One thing I always loved about hip-hop music was the raw, boom-bap element - it felt powerful and manly.