15 Best Kevin Gates Songs You’ll Absolutely Love

If you are new to Kevin Gates’ music, or perhaps you’re even a longtime fan, then you may be interested in discovering the best Kevin Gates songs from his entire discography.  If so, then you then you’re in luck, as we’re going to provide fifteen favorite Kevin Gates songs that we think are so memorable that you’ll want to add them to your music playlist immediately.

Best Kevin Gates Songs You Will Love

Let’s begin with the track “I Don’t Get Tired.”

1)  I Don’t Get Tired

I Don’t Get Tired is the perfect anthem for hustlers everywhere. It is a track about working relentlessly to achieve your ambitions. Gates doesn’t get tired because his motivation is unyielding. Throughout the song, he speaks about managing being a family man while solidifying his place in the game. I’d have to say that he’s done an excellent job at doing both, as he was able to distribute fire on this beat. 

Since this song came out in 2014, It has motivated me while working at the gym, and even picked me up before going out with friends. Whenever I hear this song, it takes me back to high school car rides with my friends and no destination in sight. 

The composition of this song is perfect, with a dazzling bell sound to beautifully contrast the heavy bass pounding in the back. Meanwhile, Gates immediately punches the gas with heavy cadences and a fun hook. Each verse covers his mentality and work ethic. It’s his story of triumph and perseverance that always encourages me to want more for myself.

• You Might Also Like: Best ASAP Rocky Songs

2) Really Really

This next song goes Really Really hard. The song is Gates’ 4th single off his debut album Islah and is meant to show that he is really about the life he speaks of. This song is directed at all the doubters and haters that don’t believe in Gates. The diamonds he wears are real, he Is pulling beautiful women, and he is absolutely ballin’. This is a “talk your s***” track from the rapper to flex his money and influence on the rap scene. 

The elements of this track become almost overbearing to your ear in the best sort of way. Gates raps circles around this bombastic beat and builds up to a powerful hook. It’s almost impossible to not feel gangster when playing this track.

Really Really is a great song to play when you’re at your most powerful. Anytime I play this song I feel like working out or starting trouble. It gives a kind of unbridled confidence that most songs can’t invoke nearly as well. 

• You May Also Like: Best 80s Rap Songs

3) PTOE

For anyone arguing that Kevin Gates fell off, I implore you to listen to this track.  Gates starts off by speaking about his feeling of isolation and struggles with self-doubt. Despite his past, he holds it down and success follows. 

His second verse shows success in his endeavors and leads to the confident man that he is today. He’s found love and a daughter to look after.  Despite that, he knows where he came from and isn’t afraid to talk about it.

PTOE is my favorite track on Gates’ new album, Khaza, and displays a level of sensitive humility with Gates’ patented style. The intro in this song really sets the mood with a somber tone, but then quickly picks up with the high-hats and bass drop. The song is definitely a success story but feels a little bitter-sweet as the rapper reflects on his past.

I have been playing this song on repeat recently and keep catching bars that make me stop and think. At this point in my life, I feel as though I’ve had my share of success and loss. Each of these experiences brought me to where I am, and I’ve learned to come to terms with that while looking toward the future. 

I think Gates’ intro really encapsulates this feeling:

Perspective was out of focus; I’m frequently losin’ focus.
Feelings in the way as I battle with old emotions.
Ten toes down, I’m standin’ up in devotion.

This song takes you on a sentimental road trip and I highly recommend you give the rest of the album a try as well!

4) John Gotti

This song is a staple in Kevin Gates’ discography with his classic gangster rap components. The title is named after notorious gangster John Gotti.

The rapper begins his verse with a scratchy throat that gives you chills as he references some pretty nefarious acts. The hook almost breaks up the busy beat and Gates quickly goes to work bodying the following verses displaying his skill. 

Listening to this track always has me feeling like the calm Don, calculating his next move with tact and precision. The heavy beat adds to that power trip while Kevin Gates’ flow effortlessly carries throughout the track. That sinister ego is extremely contagious. 

• You Might Also Like: Rap Songs About Money

5) Satellites

Kevin Gates shows us a softer side with this track, as he talks about connecting with a woman. He gets vulnerable when talking about people “switching up” on him in his past. Something about this new lady feels different to him, but her friends give them both the business. Regardless, there’s undeniable chemistry that draws the two together, so he’s willing to bet on love.

Satellites is a favorite track of mine for two major reasons. The first is the hook made up of catchy lyrics and an electronic beat. The second is Kevin Gates’s “talk-singing” throughout the track. The compelling beat and way he sings on this track make it really easy to sing along. To put it simply, I absolutely love the vibe that this track creates. 

The song is relatable as it focuses on fun in the bedroom and a good thing ruined by outside influences. We’ve all had relationships where unnecessary drama puts weight on good chemistry. Despite that, Gates’ headstrong attitude carries him through this relationship and encourages me to do the same with my own.

6) Walls Talking

This song is an honest discussion about the rapper’s mental health. Some events in his past include disloyalty from his family and being locked up.  Any one of these can mess a person up, but Gates endured more struggles than many of us have borne. 

Despite all odds, he soldiered on in life which led to his success. However, this song is clearly an outlet for Gates to grieve his hardships. That realness makes it a great comfort song for when I’m also feeling down or depressed.

By the time Gates’ 2019 album, I’m Him, came out; he had already been open about his past on many tracks. However, I think the sole focus on his insecurities and battle with his demons is what really sets this track apart. The rapper speaks about bad decisions, past problems, and other negatives that ultimately bettered him. The storytelling on Walls Talking is next level.

Regardless of our pasts, I think we’ve all felt trapped in our heads at times. This song really helped me through a rough patch in my college years. Gates’ willingness to face his past mistakes and learn from them inspired me to look toward the future. It’s okay to take the time to process your trauma, but it’s also important to move on and grow. As Kevin Gates put it:

Sometimes it’s painful to relive the past.
But sometimes you gotta relive the past in order to heal from it

• You Might Also Like: Female R&B Singers of the 90s

7) Time For That

This song is about Gates doing his best to convince a girl to take him seriously. He doesn’t want to play any games as he lists off activities they could partake in. It’s a mature take from the artist showing that he doesn’t need anyone, but he’d like to be with her. He lists off qualities that make her attractive to him, and the differences in their backgrounds. This leads to some difficulty communicating, but they ultimately understand one another. 

Gates’ smooth melodies pair well with the theme as you can see him act almost distant toward this woman. In traditional Kevin Gates fashion, the hook on this song is also excellent. His singing on the hook really emphasizes frustration and longing, while his verses reflect a calm swagger in his approach.

I love the storytelling on this track. It paints a picture of a nonchalant approach from a seasoned veteran in the dating scene. I often play this track in the evening when I’m unwinding and reflecting on my values in life. Relationships can be tricky, but it’s important to remember what you want to gain from them.

• You Might Enjoy: Rap Songs About Heartbreak

8) Wish I Had It

Wish I Had It is exactly what you think it is. True to its name, the song shows the wants and needs of a young Kevin Gates—the man in the trenches looking toward tomorrow with a fire lit beneath him. The scrappy, young man was always hustling and thinking two steps ahead in order to make his dream a reality. Just as pressure makes diamonds, Gates is a “product of a broken home” who learned that “nothing comes from sleeping.”

This is the very first Kevin Gates song I ever listened to, and I still go crazy over it. The build-up from the bridge to the hook really gives that underdog hunger that you see from Gates’ earlier raps. This track focuses on the wants that Kevin Gates has along with the traits that set him apart from other mainstream artists. He’s unapologetic in his delivery as he claims that he’s still about that life despite the success. 

• You Might Want to Read: Alternative Hip Hop Artists

9) Big Gangsta

Big Gangsta is another massive track in Kevin Gates’ arsenal. Now the last track we discussed above showed what it took for the artist to get to where he is today, but Big Gangsta tells me that he’s not moved on from his old ways. The rapper talks about pushing substances on a larger scale throughout the song. He’s never afraid to talk about drugs, guns, women, and his rockstar status.

His flow in this song switches effortlessly from verse to hook keeping me engaged when I listen. The hook is less impactful in this song, which really brings more attention to the rapper’s flow over an absolutely nasty beat.  

10) 2 Phones

If you’re a rap superstar like Kevin Gates, you might be in need of a second phone to separate business from “pleasure”. Gates is both a rapper and entrepreneur, leading to stacks of money piling everywhere. But he speaks about the two activities overlapping constantly. 

Being a “thug” can get in the way of recording and vice versa. The stress that comes from non-stop hustling is rough and isolating, but he’s dedicated to putting food on the table for his family.

This song is always fun with company, as it gets you moving with its club sound. It’s the perfect song to play at a party for both hip-hop heads and mainstream pop listeners. I know that I was playing this banger whenever I had the aux in 2016 and I still like to revisit the hit.

• You Might Like: Black Male Singers of the 70s

11) Out the Mud

This song is a love story about Kevin Gates and money. However, the tale is anything but gentle with this gritty beat. He chases cash single-mindedly and does whatever he can to win it over.

I always enjoy a good success story, especially when that story is accompanied by a bouncing beat and smooth rhymes. This song chronicles Gates’ rise from the south to superstardom across the nation. The song is more relatable for the average dream chaser as it focuses more on hard work and motivation in a lot of the lyrics.

The changing tempo and cadence in the rapper’s verses are some of my favorites out of his entire discography. The lyrics are truly inspiring, and I highly recommend this track for any late-night work that needs to be finished. 

• You Might Like: Tik Tok Rap Songs

12) Bad For Me

Love is a powerful emotion which is why it has the power to lift you up or tear you down. In this track, the rapper gets vulnerable and talks about a woman he loves. For better or worse, he shows his commitment to this person and bares it all. 

This song really showcases all of Gates’ strengths, be they soulful melodies or action-packed verses. Only Kevin Gates can convey such strong emotions and still be a gangster. 

• You Might Also Like: Sad Rap Songs

13) Me Too

Always a man of the people, Kevin Gates gave us a fun song with vibrant instrumental in Me Too. The premise of the song is Gates seducing a woman who is as freaky as he is. The rapper gets sexual in this track—there are no safe spaces (or boundaries) when it comes to this one. It’s no wonder that this is the same artist who spoke openly and honestly about loving Rihanna’s cranium. 

I really enjoy the vibe this song gives. I love that Gates doesn’t take it too seriously, choosing to focus more on his sound meshing with the beat than lyrics. Yet, he manages to stay true to his crazy character in the song making it all the more enjoyable. 

14) Adding Up

Plenty of rappers will say that they’re running the game, but the bars in this track dismiss anyone claiming to be on Gates’ level. This song is about Gates doing whatever he wants because he can.

The verses in this song are a simple, rugged, and powerful earworm that grant secondhand confidence. While the verses in this track are that classic style that we are used to with Gates, I particularly like the adlibs added between the bars. I think it really adds to that omnipotent feeling that Gates is displaying. Gates’ gritty delivery gives hard jabs throughout the track and the hook leaves you on the canvas. 

15) Power

To round this list off, I included another track that gives depth to the artist: Power. The name is ironic as it alludes to the rapper’s weakness toward the opposite sex. Despite Gate’s gritty lyrics, he has always maintained that he has absolute respect for women and believes they hold immense power in their femininity. With that said, he understands his own shortcomings as a man and acknowledges his lust as a weakness. 

Gates gives a passionate delivery in this track to pair with his sensual lyricism. I love the humanity in this song and keep it in rotation for late-night listening. 

• You Might Also Like: Best Japanese Female Singers

Conclusion

After understanding the best elements in the tracks above, it’s undeniable that Kevin Gates has found that sweet spot in his music between gritty hip-hop and introspective lyricism. His nonstop barrage of heavy-hitting raps and catchy hooks often reveal deeper meaning beneath the surface. In my humble opinion, the best Kevin Gates songs showcase his sensitivity along with that hard exterior. 

The variety in Gates’ music is a part of what makes him unique, and I love that he is always evolving his sound. It almost feels as if I grew up with him as his artistic expression has matured. Even if you’re brand new to his music, his unique sounds throughout the past decade will get you curious to catch up with me. And now that you’ve been introduced to some of his best work, I know you’ll be eager to check out more.

If you enjoyed the article, be sure to subscribe to my Devoted to Vinyl YouTube channel and Facebook page.