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| Cover Art (slightly customized) for Kevin Gates' "Murder For Hire II" |
Kevin Gates. Kevin Gates is a Baton Rouge, Lousiana born rapper, who, through a slew of mixtapes and strong social media presence over the years, built a fanbase that eventually launched Gates into international fame in early 2016 via a successful, record label endorsed, debut album called "Islah" (named after his first born daughter) which spawned two successful and catchy hits ("2 Phones" and "Really Really"). Threw his mixtapes, charismatic interviews, social media presence and general hustler mentality, Gates managed to grow organically as a rapper by first building a buzz from he's from first, then expanding nationwide and eventually worldwide.
"Murder For Hire II" was released in May of 2016, that same year as "Islah" but (unfortunately) it would be the last project that Gates himself released before going back to prison in October 2016 over allegedly kicking a woman in the chest at one of his shows.
This review I remember writing on the HHH forum and I decided that I didn't want to mess up my March Madness streak by not posting anything today, so here's another throwback (New reviews coming soon though, promise)
Anyway, enjoy this super short review I wrote in like 5 minutes...
WE ARE NOW GOING BACK TO 2016 JOSEPH S...
My review of "Kevin Gates - Murder for Hire 2"
(The first two tracks)"Fuck it" & "The Prayer" are the 2 best songs on here and funnily enough, they are the first 2 tracks respectively. Gates is at his best when he's being lyrical over hard hitting trap beats. Gates does hooks well when he keeps them simple as Gates can hold a note, but when he tries to do a hook like on "Showin' Up" (the seventh track on "Murder For Hire II") it fucking falls apart and it becomes unlistenable to me. Out of the "Fuck it" and "The Prayer" . "The Prayer" is the best song on here. I thought it was cool implementing the Arabic language into the song, as Gates is often seen in religious clothing on his Instagram.
The 3rd track "Believe In Me" is a Gates love song DONE RIGHT. Gates maintains the lovey dovey subject matter but still maintains his gangster edge throughout the song. That was one of my problems with "Islah". I'm fine with having love songs galore, but I want to hear my idea of a Kevin Gates love song and this is what a Kevin Gates love song is. Hard trap lyrics while still keeping an affection for a certain someone that's the type of love songs I want to hear from Gates. Cool song, but not as good as the first 2 tracks, but a worthy 3rd.
"Click House" (fourth track) has one of those hooks where you can't help but imitate it lol. And you'll either love it or hate it lol. It's the shortest song on the tape so it doesn't overstay it's welcome. But the whole "My Click House go stupid" hook can get annoying ESPECIALLY if you aren't in the mood to hear it like I was one of the times I was listening to this tape. But I can't lie, I like the hook. The only real noteworthy thing on here is the hook, the verses are average from both Boobie and Gates.
"Great Example" (Fifth Track) is a great example of a Gates' hook making abilities. Solid track with an interesting premise. I ain't have much else to say on this to be honestly.
"Lil Nigga" (Sixth Track) definitely has the most vivid lyrics on here lol I can't for the life of me fuck with this track. I don't want to hear about Gates tag teaming some chick with his homie. I'll pass. The production is decent though.
"Showin' Up" (Seventh Track) gets a gigantic 'HELL NO' from me. First off, Gates x autotune is something I do NOT NEED in my life, I ain't fucking with the hook. Then on top of that, he sounds different but in a bad way like he has a sinus infection or his nose is clogged up. He's flowing but his sinus flared voice is very off putting to me, he doesn't sound like his regular self. It gets better near the end of the song but too much of this song is Gates w/ auto tune and then Gates sounding like he needs some Robitussin (for legitimate reasons, not to go make some fuckin' lean) bleh, I'm passing on this.
"Off da Meter" (Eighth Track) gives the tape a quick recovery and allows it to end on a good note...wait...is that Gates in autotune for like 10 seconds? Ugh I hope he doesn't continue using auto tune. Please, for the love of Luca Brasi, don't use any more auto tune, please Gates. Anyway, it's a good way to close this project (except for those 10 seconds of auto tune, not bad).
(Overall, decent project but really forgettable at the end of the day, only hardcore Gates' fans should seek this out, everyone else, wait for the next album.)
I give Kevin Gates' 'Murder For Hire 2' mixtape a 5/10
Favorite Track(s): Fuck It, The Prayer, Believe in Me, Off da Meter
Least Favorite Track: Showin' Up
Listen to "Murder For Hire II" here.
written by Joseph Sanker II in 2016.
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Until next time! Peace out! One.
Written by Joseph Sanker II
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