Kevin Gates is a rapper who used his own painful experiences to create emotional, honest lyrics about the struggles that he faced very early on in his life.
Despite the mistakes he has made or the pain he has felt, he knew that the only way things would get better is if he used his time and experiences productively.
Kevin Gates serves as an example of why you should never give up on yourself, no matter how badly you’ve messed up.
What Is Kevin Gates’s Net Worth?
Kevin Gates’s net worth is $1 million, after years of being a musician, rap manager, and student.
Sadly, Gates’s career was put on pause for years due to the incarcerations that the rapper was sentenced to throughout his life.
Gates began getting in trouble when he was just 13 years old, after being found in the passenger seat of a recently stolen car.
This wouldn’t be the last time that Gates would be incarcerated, later facing allegations of battery, assault, and gun charges.
Despite his controversial past, Gates has managed to pull himself up and gained the recognition necessary to succeed in his dream career.
The rapper had to be honest about the mistakes that he made and would often use them as dark inspiration for his music.
He was once noticed by Lil’ Wayne’s recording label, Young Money, but they wanted to hire Gates as a managerial member of the recording label rather than a recording artist.
While this did make Gates a little disheartened, he saw it as an opportunity to learn the trade from the inside in hopes of starting his own record label.
Before Young Money took Kevin Gates in as a manager, he had been a signed rapper for Dead Game Records in 2007.
It was during this time that Gates released his mixtape Pick of da Litter, alongside his label-mates Boosie Badazz and Webbie.
In 2013, Kevin Gates began his own record label called Bread Winners’ Association or BWA.
His record label was on the rise when Gates was arrested and incarcerated once again, halting the work he had done up to this point.
However, nothing could stop his entrepreneurial spirit.
Gates once even made an energy drink, following the path of many other rappers.
In recent years, the rapper has calmed down noticeably.
The Dead Game Records Years
Kevin Gates first signed with Dead Game Records in 2007, just five years after Tommy Jones and Travis Johnson founded the local record label.
The record label was started to help the local, up-and-coming artists of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
With no regional labels to compete with, Dead Game Records managed to get all of the best local talent, including Boosie Badazz, Webbie, and Max Minelli.
The most famous of their recording artists, however, is still Kevin Gates.
Dead Game Records is where Gates met two of his closest musical friends, Boosie and Webbie.
While under the same label, the trio worked on Kevin Gates’s first album, Pick of da Litter.
After Gates’s album was released, Boosie quickly rose in popularity in Baton Rouge.
This helped increase Kevin Gates’s popularity as well, as the trio were never really far from each other.
With a little more help from his friends, Gates released All or Nuthin’.
This album focuses heavily on the struggles that Gates faced while he was growing up.
Kevin Gates had an extremely unfortunate childhood, which began without his father.
He was raised by his mother and grandmother but was prone to causing trouble.
He was arrested for joyriding in a stolen vehicle when he was 13 years old.
Sadly, the young rapper was thrown in jail.
He claims that going to jail at such an early age desensitized him to the fear of going to jail.
If the police officers had chosen to take the driver to the police station, left him in the car, and taken him home to his mother, he probably wouldn’t have ever done another crime.
In All or Nuthin’, the rapper soulfully laments about the tragic childhood that he grew up with and how he wonders if things could have been different.
His Time With Young Money
Although his first two mixtapes didn’t find much commercial success outside of Baton Rouge, his success was enough to keep him afloat.
However, trouble arose when Gates and Boosie were both charged with crimes at the same time.
This was the first major halt of his career.
He was convicted for being a felon with a firearm and was surrounded by dangerous controlled substances.
Gates could have faced 10 to 15 years in prison, but only served 31 months in prison and was released on good behavior.
While in prison from 2008 to 2011, Kevin Gates completed his master’s in psychology through a prison program.
He also took this time to find mentors who would help him better himself.
Once he was released from prison in 2011, he began working on his next biggest mixtape, Make ‘Em Believe, which would release the following year.
Make ‘Em Believe was the album that caught the eye of Lil’ Wayne’s record label, Young Money.
Gates was incredibly excited to join the Young Money team, but he didn’t realize that they wanted him as a member of the managerial wing rather than a recording artist.
Although it felt like a painful blow at first, Kevin Gates quickly realized that this was the stepping stone that he needed to succeed.
While it may not have been the direct path to stardom that Gates was hoping for, deciding to see the managerial position with Young Money as a learning experience was the best decision Gates ever made.
While working for Young Money, Gates discovered the work and dedication that it would take to run his own recording label.
If he owned the recording label, he could produce his own music.
After an inspirational talk with Birdman, Gates knew what he needed to do.
Bread Winners’ Association And The Florida Concert Incident
Later that same year, Kevin Gates released The Luca Brasi Story on his own and the mixtape was given high critical acclaim.
This is what led to Gates being discovered by Atlantic Records, who helped him release Stranger Than Fiction.
Stranger Than Fiction is what brought Gates the most fame, reaching number 17 on the Billboard 200 in 2013.
Gates was on a roll in 2013 and even went on to start his own record label, Bread Winners’ Association.
Kevin Gates had started the idea with his wife, Dreka Gates, back in 2010.
It wasn’t until 2013 that Atlantic Records partnered with the Gateses to bring Bread Winners’ Association to its full potential.
Gates is the only recording artist of his label but has other artists featured in his songs, such as Moneybagg Yo and Dermont Kennedy.
Through Bread Winners’ Association and Atlantic Records, Kevin Gates produced his album Satellites.
Gates also released his mixtape By Any Means under Atlantic Records and BWA.
Gates also released his 13th album called Luca Brasi 2, which featured Gates’s first song to go gold.
I Don’t Get Tired became a hit and became the name of Gates’s Southern American tour in 2015.
That same year, he released the third entry in the Luca Brasi series, which was named Murder for Hire.
Trouble struck again for Kevin Gates when he kicked a female fan in the chest.
She was 18 years old.
When Gates was taken to court, she admitted to tugging on his shorts, which was the reason that Gates gave for deciding to kick her in the chest.
Gates was sentenced to 180 days in the Polk County Jail.
After serving jail time, Gates announced his newest album, Islah.
No matter what else happens, Gates always keeps moving forward.
Islah And His Conversion To Islam
In 2015, Kevin and Dreka Gates made the public announcement about converting to Islam and visiting Mecca for Hajj.
Mecca is the holiest city in the Islamic faith and followers make a pilgrimage there during Hajj.
Once there, Kevin Gates was invited to touch and kiss the Black Stone as a part of the Tawaf ritual.
The Black Stone dates back to the times of Adam and Eve, and it is considered an honor to touch or even visit.
There was a video captured of his experience touching and kissing the Black Stone.
The rapper was moved to tears by the honor and acceptance that he felt on the trip.
This helped inspire and empower him for the journey he’d go on with his album, Islah.
Islah was a massive success thanks to his loyal fanbase.
In 2016, it outsold 25 by Adele, This is Acting by Sia, and Nine Track Mind by Charlie Puth.
Kevin Gates had landed in the number two spot for the most popular album in the United States.
Nobody expected the album to do as well as it did, especially after the controversy of the rapper’s startling confession that he had dated his cousin knowingly for two years.
Although the pair did not know that they were related for the first three months, his grandmother revealed the information after learning about their romantic relationship.
However, Gates believed that he and his cousin made too good of a pair to break off the relationship.
The relationship began in 2006 and went on until 2008 because Gates “didn’t want to ruin a good thing”.
Islah eventually gained platinum certified status.
The album was named after his daughter and featured artists such as Jamie Foxx, Trey Songz, and Ty Dolla $ign.
Islah was his first platinum recording of any kind.
I’m Him And Only The Generals
After the groundbreaking album that was Islah, Kevin Gates refused to stop working on his music and released the sequel mixtape, Murder for Hire 2.
It served as a continuation of his Luca Brasi series.
He decided to release the album soon after Islah because Atlantic Records wouldn’t let him release a new album until the following year.
However, Kevin Gates was thrown in jail over weapon charges for what was supposed to be 30 months.
Gates only served nine of the 30 months before being released from prison on good behavior, being barred from owning weapons.
While he was in prison, his wife and co-owner of Bread Winners’ Association released his next mixtape, By Any Means 2.
In 2019, Kevin Gates joined Cardi B for part of her tour and could be seen at the Tulsa, Wichita, Lincoln, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Charlottesville shows.
It was during this time that he announced his latest album, I’m Him, when he released a music video for the leading tracks.
That same year, Gates released an extended playlist called Only the Generals Gon Understand.
Fans began to get excited for what was to come.
While the album was received with as much grandiosity as Islah, fans of his work seemed to appreciate more of what they’d come to expect with Gates.
The topics of his songs range in subject from an apology song to his daughter to a love letter to his wife.
Like many of his other albums, his songs go from talking about the struggles he feels while fighting depression to songs that are labeled explicit due to their sexual nature.
Despite having 17 tracks on the album, he has no other artists featured on the entire album and wrote each song himself.
Other Business Ventures
With help from Bread Winners’ Association, Kevin Gates released an energy drink based on his song I Don’t Get Tired.
The pineapple flavor was designed and approved by Gates himself before they could test the waters at concerts.
At shows where Gates would be headlining, they would offer I Don’t Get Tired as a drink option for the audience and would sell out at every single show.
After it was clear that there was an audience for the drink, Bread Winners’ Associate decided to distribute the drink to select retailers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana.
The energy drink was also sold in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.
Each can was priced at $1.99 and came in single-serving, 8.4-ounce cans.
Despite being an energy drink, it is healthier than most people may imagine.
Rather than just being pumped full of caffeine and sugar additives, Gates’s drink uses a combination of vitamins to help keep the consumer alert and give them the boost of energy they need.
I Don’t Get Tired has vitamin B12, vitamin B6, caffeine, niacinamide, taurine, potassium sorbate, glucuronolactone, sodium citrate, inositol, sodium benzoate, filtered carbonated water, and high fructose corn syrup.
Most consumers were able to feel the effects of the drink 20 to 30 minutes after consumption.
Those looking to order an entire 24-pack of the drink were expected to pay $55.99.
Although the drink was once sold on his own website and Amazon, it longer seems to be in production.
His Family
Kevin Gates met his future wife, Dreka Haynes, early on in his rapping career, while he was still with Dead Game Records.
In 2015, the long-time couple got married and converted to the Islamic faith shortly after.
Before they even got married, Dreka Gates did everything she could to help Kevin Gates succeed as a rapper.
In his early years, she even served as his booking manager after doing intense research on how to best help her partner.
The couple had already proven that they could handle a music career together, which made her the obvious choice for a business partner for Bread Winners’ Association.
Dreka Gates stated multiple times that her best relationship is with her husband, which gives her the determination to help him succeed.
Despite having a sexually explicit video release between Kevin Gates and another woman, their relationship was unbothered.
The rapper has explained in the past that their relationship is built on their friendship, not just sexual relations.
Both Kevin and Dreka Gates are very close to their son and daughter, Khaza and Islah.
Islah was a newborn when her father released the album named after her.
The decisions that Kevin Gates has made may be unique to himself, but staying true to himself has always been at the core of who Kevin Gates is.
He is an entertainer unbothered by his past and who carries himself forward to his next art piece, allowing nothing to keep him from his art.
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Kmt says
Also I would love seriously love to have a one on one with you Mr kevin. If you got a degree in prison it almost makes me want to laugh. I grew up with no parents and my dad in prison on line of Texas and Mexico with alot of cartel. He served my whole life there. I am far from perfect but for some reason you have intreed me with your behaviors and you have a degree in phycology? Let’s get real. Please see if you could have any time in your schedule to meet a small time Tennessee girl to actually have a conversation and believe you are truly real. I listen to you every night but need more of explanation how I can listen to someone that I believe hideing your problems and not being truthful with this world and to your fans. Contact me if you have time. Thankyou