On this day, July 16, in hip-hop history...

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2013: Kevin Gates drops off Stranger Than Fiction, an album that helped solidify the Baton Rouge, La. artist's status as one of the very best his region had to offer.

Being Gates' tenth mixtape, Stranger Than Fiction saw the rapper in peak condition as he flaunted detailed lyrics about love, betrayal and a life of crime. Gates kicks off the project, which checks in at 14 tracks, with "4 Legs and a Biscuit," an unbelievable showcase of the rapper's poignant storytelling skills.

"Back when we was little, want us a Pickle Dilly/Innocent making faces in the window while having dinner/Who'd ever think that we'd grow up and turn out to be killers/Barrel extensions, tool is narrow and slender/Compact in my jacket, even flinch I might hit ya/Shot too hard in the heart, my emotions are ruined," he raps on the track.

Gates' rap wizardry doesn't stop with the first track, either. On songs like “Tiger," gates delves into the dimensions of loyalty. On "Thinking With My Dick," he links with Juicy J and heads to Memphis. With this versatility on full display, Gates once again proved to be a force to be reckoned with.

While Stranger Than Fiction didn't reach nearly the commercial heights of his platinum-selling 2016 effort, Islah, it was another strong entry into Gates' catalog and a look into the future of a 2014 XXL Freshman and a legit rap superstar.

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