Islah (album)

Islah is the debut studio album by American rapper Kevin Gates. It was released on January 29, 2016, by Bread Winners' Association and Atlantic Records.^[2][3]

Islah
Studio album by Kevin Gates
Released	January 29, 2016
Recorded	2015
Genre	Hip hop
Length	53:25
Label	Bread Winners' Association Atlantic
Producer	Go Grizzly Dreamlife Beats Alex Goose Cook Classics Jake Troth Mad Max Patrick Carmelo Millz Swiff D Nick Seeley DJ Chose Earl & E Rico Love Norris Buchanan D.A. Doman Rvssian IKENNA FuNkEn The Featherstones Ray Real
Kevin Gates chronology
Murder For Hire (2015) Islah (2016) Murder For Hire 2 (2016)
Singles from Islah
"Kno One" Released: July 9, 2015 "Really Really" Released: October 5, 2015 "2 Phones" Released: November 5, 2015 "Time for That" Released: September 9, 2016^[1]

The album was supported by four official singles: "Kno One", "Really Really", "2 Phones" and "Time for That". The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, earning 112,000 album equivalent units in its first week.^[4] The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[5]

Background

In an interview with iHeartRadio, Kevin Gates said:

"I named the album after my daughter because of the anticipation. It was so high. I remember before the birth of my daughter, the anticipation was so high. I was scared, I was excited. I was going through mixed emotions at the time. When people set a high bar because I put out so much good quality music, that bar was so high. I just didn't want to. I was afraid of being a letdown. I was afraid of not being good enough. I was scared to death upon making the album, upon releasing the album. The reason I named my album Islah was because it was my first album. My first real studio album, I guess, so to say. Everything else that I put out was mix tapes. The name Islah means to critique. To make better. A spiritual awakening. When my daughter came, she gave me all of those things.^[6] "

Singles

"Kno One" was released via digital download as the album's first single on July 9, 2015. The song was produced by IKENNA FuNkEn and The Featherstones.

"Really Really" was released as the album's lead single (second overall) on October 5, 2015. The song was produced by Alex Goose, Cook Classics and Jake Troth. It peaked at number 46 on the US Billboard Hot 100. To date, the song has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[7]

"2 Phones" was released as the album's third single on November 5, 2015. The song was produced by Mad Max. It became Gates' first top 40 hit single upon the charts, and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. To date, the song has also become certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[7]

"Time for That" was released as the album's fourth and final single on September 9, 2016.^[8] It was produced by Swiff D, alongside additional production from Nick Seeley. The song peaked at number 19 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.

Other songs

"La Familia" and "The Truth" were released as instant grats for the album's pre-order simultaneously on September 3, 2015.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10^[9]
Metacritic	81/100^[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[11]
The Austin Chronicle	^[12]
Consequence of Sound	B^[13]
HipHopDX	3.5/5^[14]
Pitchfork	8.5/10^[15]
Rolling Stone	^[16]
Spin	8/10^[17]
Tiny Mix Tapes	4/5^[18]
Vice	A−^[19]

Islah received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on 10 reviews.^[10] In Vice, Robert Christgau said the songs have a variety of moods, catchy melodies, and a strong level of detail from Gates: "Do I like everything he says, much less puts on Instagram? Not close. But his saga is an encouraging, fascinating, educational up. This is a guy who always brings his daughter on tour and thinks affluence is a big day at Bloomingdale's. He's emotional, tender, violent, sensual, fickle, determined, fatalistic, unpredictable, unreliable, hedonistic, and from Louisiana. In a land of 10,000 wannabes, he's an original."^[19]

Commercial performance

Islah debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, earning 112,000 album equivalent units, (including pure album sales of 93,000 copies) in its first week.^[4] In its second week, the album fell to number ten on the chart, earning an additional 40,000 units, (including pure album sales of 24,000 copies).^[20] In its third week, the album dropped to number eleven, earning 36,000 more units.^[21] As of July 2016, the album had sold 305,000 copies in pure album sales.^[22] On January 30, 2019, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over two million units in the United States.^[5] Billboard listed Islah at number 171 in a list of the decade's best 200 albums.^[23]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Not the Only One"	Kevin Gilyard Kevin Price Jan Branicki	Go Grizzly Dreamlife Beats	4:41
2.	"Really Really"	Gilyard Alex Goose William Lobban-Bean Jake Troth	Goose Cook Classics Troth	3:52
3.	"2 Phones"	Gilyard Brittany Hazzard Rick Witherspoon, Jr.	Mad Max	4:00
4.	"Pride"	Gilyard Matthew Paisley-Mallia	Patrick Carmelo	4:05
5.	"La Familia"	Gilyard Jamil Alleyne Theron Thomas Timothy Thomas	Millz	3:50
6.	"Time for That"	Gilyard Steve Thornton Norman Payne	Swiff D Nick Seeley^[a]	3:28
7.	"Thought I Heard (Bread Winners' Anthem)"	Gilyard Payne	DJ Chose	3:24
8.	"Hard For"	Gilyard Earl Hood Eric Goudy II Rico Love	Hood Goudy Rico Love Seeley^[a]	4:06
9.	"Ask for More"	Gilyard Norris Buchanan Richard Norris	Buchanan Norris^[c]	3:27
10.	"One Thing"	Gilyard David Doman Jim Stewart	D.A. Doman	3:19
11.	"The Truth"	Gilyard Tarik Johnston	Rvssian	3:30
12.	"Kno One"	Gilyard Marlin "Hookman" Bonds Ikenna Udemba Justin Featherstone Christopher Featherstone William Featherstone Matthew Featherstone	IKENNA FuNkEn The Featherstones	3:34
13.	"Told Me"	Gilyard Alleyne	Millz	3:04
14.	"Ain't Too Hard"	Gilyard Hood Goudy Payne	Goudy	3:25
15.	"I Love It"	Gilyard Donny Flores Adrian Santalla	Drop Phe	3:31

Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)^[24][25]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Jam" (featuring Trey Songz, Ty Dolla Sign and Jamie Foxx)	Gilyard Tremaine Neverson Tyrone Griffin, Jr. Jamie Foxx Micah Powell Belinda Lipscomb Boaz Watson Kenneth Edmonds	Powell	3:34
17.	"Excuse Me"	Gilyard Paris Jones Reynard Tarleton	Ray Real	4:37
Total length:				60:51

Notes

• ^{^[c]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Musicians

• Kevin Gates – vocals
• Jeff Vaughn – background vocals (track 2)
• Holly Seeley – background vocals (6)
• Earl Hood – keyboards (8), programming (8)
• Eric Goudy – keyboards (8)
• David D.A. Doman – drum programming, keyboards (10)
• Jim Stewart – additional guitar, additional keyboards (10)
• Micah Powell – all instruments (16)

Technical

• Chris Athens – mastering
• Joe Fitz – mixing (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 14, 15, 17)
• Jaycen Joshua – mixing (2, 6, 9, 12, 16)
• Dan Weston – mixing (4, 10, 13)
• Millz – mixing (11), engineering (2, 4–6, 10–15, 17)
• Courtney Horton – mix engineering (5), mixing assistance (3, 7–9, 14, 15, 17)
• Brandon Thomas – engineering (1, 3, 6, 9, 15)
• Joshra Collins – engineering (1, 3, 16)
• Alex Toval – engineering (2)
• John Schullman – engineering (2)
• Thurston McCrea – engineering (5, 8)
• Christian Garcia – engineering (7)
• Kenneth "KP" Pruitt – engineering (16)
• Maddox Chimm – mixing assistance (2)
• Ryan Kaul – mixing assistance (2)
• Jeff Vaughn – engineering assistance (2, 3, 6, 7, 12)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[26] 16 US Billboard 200^[27] 2 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[28] 2 US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)^[29] 7

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position US Billboard 200^[30] 16 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[31] 5 Chart (2017) Position US Billboard 200^[32] 85 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[33] 67 Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position US Billboard 200^[34] 171 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[35] 35

References

1. "Kevin Gates Drops 'Time for That' Video, Reveals 'Islah' Album Is Certified Platinum - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
2. Baker, Soren (November 6, 2015). "Kevin Gates "Islah" Updated Release Date & Cover Art". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
3. . iTunes. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
4. Caulfield, Keith (February 7, 2016). "Rihanna's 'Anti' Rules at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
5. "American album certifications – Kevin Gates – Islah". Recording Industry Association of America". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
6. . Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
7. "Gold & Platinum - RIAA". RIAA. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
8. "Kevin Gates Drops 'Time for That' Video, Reveals 'Islah' Album Is Certified Platinum - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
9. "Islah by Kevin Gates reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
10. "Reviews for Islah by Kevin Gates". Metacritic. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
11. Jeffries, David. "Islah – Kevin Gates". AllMusic. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
12. Spearman, Kahron (March 18, 2016). "Kevin Gates: Islah (Atlantic)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
13. Madden, Michael (January 26, 2016). "Kevin Gates – Islah". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
14. Ketchum, William III (February 3, 2016). "Kevin Gates – Islah". HipHopDX. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
15. Greene, Jayson (February 4, 2016). "Kevin Gates: Islah". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
16. Weingarten, Christopher R. (February 5, 2016). "Islah". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
17. Pagnani, Renato (January 25, 2016). "Review: Kevin Gates Needs No Assists to Fuse His Yin and Yang on 'Islah'". Spin. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
18. Russell, Brooklyn. "Kevin Gates – Islah". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
19. Christgau, Robert (May 20, 2016). "Baton Rouge, Big Beats, and Beyoncé Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
20. "Charts Don't Lie: February 17". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
21. "Charts Don't Lie: February 24". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
22. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-07-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
23. "Decade-End Charts: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
24. "iTunes - Music - Jam - Single by Kevin Gates". Itunes.apple.com. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
25. "iTunes - Music - Excuse Me - Single by Kevin Gates". Itunes.apple.com. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
26. "Kevin Gates Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
27. "Kevin Gates Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
28. "Kevin Gates Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
29. "Kevin Gates Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
30. "Top Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
31. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
32. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
33. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
34. "Decade-End Charts: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
35. "Decade-End Charts: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2020.