Born Kevin Jerome Gilyard, Gates was born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. You may not know his name yet, but he’s quickly making a name for himself by doing hit songs with Rihanna, Kanye West and other singers and rappers worldwide. From the outside, if you just saw him on the street, you would think that he’s the typical rapper: sagging jeans, oversized sweatshirt, etc. But on the inside, h’es much more than a persona. In fact, the up and coming hit rapper recently spoke on why he decided to go against what he was “supposed to do” and get married.
The now thirty-year-old reflects on his childhood. That’s where it all started from:
“People say ‘Why you getting married?’ A lot of the rappers tell you that you are supposed to have 1,000 women and get yourself a beauty model. But that’s not true. My woman is intelligent. Her beauty came with it, but we have very intellectual conversations. That’s what it was about first.”
MUST READ: Rapper Big Boi From Outkast Talks About Why He And Andre’ 3000 Will Never Be…
“It’s not about me being with a thousand woman. I never had a family and I always wanted that. Now I have beautiful little girl and a little boy and I have a beautiful wife. I never had that coming up. I used to wonder what it would be like when kids went home after school to their mother and their father. I never had that. I grew up with my grandmother and grandfather. I never had that regular family setting, so now I give that to my children.”
“I understand that this is just entertainment. When you see a video, you’re gonna have 1,000 women in the video, they’re going to give you the perception that you gotta be this ‘Big playa’, but that’s not me.”
“But if you’re someone like me, who’s father died of AIDS, you’d be more careful with yourself. I watched my father…
…die. He had to take 13 pills a day. If you sneezed around him, he’d get sick. And crazy part is, he’d say stuff like, ‘I had more hoes than clothes.’ He’d tell me things like that! But when I look at everything that came with that lifestyle, I don’t want that for myself or my children.”