After the kind of year Kevin Gates had in 2013—finally signing with a major label when he inked a deal with Atlantic Records, releasing two critically-acclaimed mixtapes, becoming a father for the second time—you might think that he'd be in a better mood. This, however, would be a fundamental misunderstanding of the Baton Rouge rapper. Although his unflinching, often brutal dope-boy tales can find him struggling against his naturally pessimistic impulses, Gates' default mode is one of squinty-eyed suspicion, and the world he inhabits in his music is one where human connection only leads to betrayal and trust is something that gets you killed. But even with his Atlantic debut looming somewhere on the horizon and a higher profile than he's ever enjoyed, Gates sounds unsatisfied and more than a little paranoid on By Any Means, his third release in just over a year.
This isn't to say his latest project—or Gates's music in general—is a bummer. As with his previous two releases, By Any Means is packed with uptempo anthems and chest-pumping bravado, the only difference being that here the beats are both a little bigger and have more of a sheen to them. The album splits the difference between the radio-friendly melodicism of The Luca Brasi Story and the technical experimentation of Stranger Than Fiction, inching closer to the mainstream rap radio that one imagines is Gates' ultimate goal. The production still prioritizes the kind of lower frequencies that could level buildings, and it's not afraid to take the sounds usually found at the fringes of trap beats and make them the focus. Whether it's the cathedral organs of "Arm and Hammer" courtesy of the Runners and the Monarch or the eerie MIDI blues backdrop that Dun Deal provides for bitter kiss-off "Stop Lyin'", Gates tends to select tracks just to the left of the kind of beats other rappers would typically choose from the same producers, and it gives his music the advantage of sounding familiar but fresh at the same time.
That said, Gates could rap over boilerplate trap beats and he'd still manage to put his personal spin on them. Few rappers today as using their voices as well as Gates does; he's got an instinctive grasp on when to slip from his usual melodic cadence into a balled-fist croak that sounds like he took a cheese grater to his vocal chords. He pulls out this trick on "Homicide", a harrowing tale in which he exacts revenge after a botched job leaves his friend murdered and Gates in the hospital.
Gates' ability to say one thing with his lyrics and another with his voice has always been one of his greatest strengths. He can puff his chest out while simultaneously undercutting a boast, and this works especially well on an album that finds him ostensibly closer to his goals but somehow even more paranoid and isolated, caught somewhere between sheer disbelief that he's even made it this far ("Can't Make This Up") and an overwhelming suspicion it's too good to be true, especially for someone who knows himself well enough to know that the man he used to be is always lurking around the corner. "Be cool, you must want to see me incarcerated" he raps on "Keep Fucking With Me", but over the course of By Any Means, you get the feeling that Gates' is as worried about his own self-destructive tendencies as he is any external forces out to get him. With the exception of "Movie", an absolutely heartwarming account of the birth of his children, Gates rarely sounds as if he's enjoying his recent success, even while boasting about driving around in cars he once only saw on the big screen; you can tell he's trying, but relaxing is still foreign to someone like him.
On the flip side of "Movie" is "Posed to Be in Love", in which Gates narrates beating his girlfriend after discovering that she cheated on him while he was in prison. At best, the track can be viewed as an "All of the Lights"-style exploration of male rage and domestic violence; at worst, it comes across like a frightening glimpse into Gates' misogynist attitude towards women, which has reared its head before but never as brazenly as it does here. It's the kind of track that makes it obvious that an Atlantic sign-off wasn't required, as it's the kind of song they'd be terrified that an artist of theirs—one who sells himself as much the lothario as he does the hustler—was recording. Then again, Gates has never been one shy away from exposing the worst parts of his psyche, even if it's as disturbing as it is on "Posed to Be in Love".
There's also a sense that Gates is holding back somewhat. There are only a few guests, the biggest being 2 Chainz, who sounds like he's glancing at his watch while contributing a verse and the chorus to "Bet I'm on It". It's likely that Gates is saving them for the future rather than using up that major label budget now, but he doesn't really need them anyways—he's a fascinating persona all on his own. With By All Means he completes a three-release run that's as solid as any in recent memory, even if the answer to the question of whether he has another gear in him remains unanswered for the time being.
