Islah (album)

Islah
Studio album by Kevin Gates
Released	January 29, 2016
Genre	Hip hop
Length	53:25
Label	Bread Winners' Atlantic Dead Game Records
Kevin Gates chronology
Murder For Hire (2015) Islah (2016) Murder For Hire 2 (2016)
Singles from Islah
"Kno One" Released: July 9, 2015 "La Familia" Released: September 3, 2015 "The Truth" Released: September 3, 2015 "Really Really" Released: October 5, 2015 "2 Phones" Released: November 5, 2015 "Time for That" Released: September 9, 2016[1]

Islah is the debut studio album by American rapper Kevin Gates. It was released on January 29, 2016, by the independent record label Bread Winners' Association and Atlantic Records.^[2][3] The album was supported by six singles: "Kno One", "La Familia", "The Truth", "Really Really", "2 Phones" and "Time for That".

Singles

The first single from the album, called "Kno One" was released on July 9, 2015. It was first released as a digital download, however, the song is not included on the album's pre-order. The song was produced by IKENNA FuNkEn and The Featherstones.

The album's second single, called "La Familia" was released on September 3, 2015. The track was produced by Mxllzy.

The album's third single, called "The Truth" was released on September 3, 2015. The song was produced by Rvssian.

The album's fourth single, called "Really Really" was released on October 5, 2015. The song was produced by Alex Goose, Cook Classics and Jake Troth. The song peaked at number 46 on the US Billboard Hot 100. To date, the song became a certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[4]

The album's fifth single, called "2 Phones" was released on November 5, 2015. The song was produced by Mad Max. The song became Gates' first top 40 hit single, peaking at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100. To date, the song became a certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[4]

The album's sixth single, called "Time for That" was released on October 9, 2016.^[5] The song was produced by Swiff D and Nick Seeley. The song peaked at number 19 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]
Consequence of Sound	B[8]
HipHopDX	[9]
Pitchfork Media	8.5/10[10]
Rolling Stone
Spin	8/10
Tiny Mix Tapes
Vice	A–[11]

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.^[6] 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."^[11]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200, collecting 112,143 album equivalent units, with the first-week sales of 93,000 copies in the United States.^[12] In its second week, the album dropped to number 10, with a total of 40,427 album equivalent units that was collected and sold 24,000 copies.^[13] In its third week, the album moved to 36,298 album equivalent units, with 20,000 copies sold, charting at number 11.^[14] As of July 2016, the album sold approximately 690,000 album equivalent units, while selling 307,000 copies.^[15] On August 30, 2016, the album was certified Platinum by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for a shipment of 1,000,000 units in the United States.^[16]

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References