Music Review | Kevin Gate: Islah

Bigoa Machar, Arts Editor

Alantic Records | Score: A

One of the things I always stress when talking about musicians is growth. I usually rip on people for constantly bringing the same sound over and over again, which I have dubbed the Rick Ross conundrum. Although this serves as Gates’ debut album, he’s been no stranger to the rap game with his high quality mixtapes over the past couple of years. Known for his gritty, southern bangers, Gates has shown musical flexibility on this album. The track “Hard For” really stood out for me, as gangster rappers usually don’t rap over acoustic guitars, but Gates made this work and it actually sounded really good. “Thought I Heard” was the song that went the hardest on this album, mixed in with some really cool spacey beats throughout the album. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this album. This is a must listen for hip hop heads everywhere.