On Taking Rap Seriously:

Kevin Gates: “I never really were took it seriously until, I believe, I came home from jail in October 2011. That’s when I took it serious. Other than that I would go to the studio make 3 songs and go back to what I was doing. Go in there and make a few songs and then go back to the mall. I’d just stop in and do it and I’m glad I never looked at it like that because the people that do, they try. And if I can make beautiful music effortlessly, just the way I live, I appreciate that in itself.

“[My music] was already doing what it was supposed to be doing. It’s just I didn’t realize the effect I had on people. But when I saw it, when I came home, I was able to see like, “Wow! This is what’s going on.” I noticed one thing, when I came home from jail and I saw that, I started trying to make music and the music wasn’t as good as it felt it should’ve been.”