Editorial: Did Kevin Gates take a trip without his luggage?

At this stage of my life, it takes quite a bit to make my jaw drop but watching the video of rapper Kevin Gates kicking a young teenage female fan while he was on stage, floored me. WTF was he thinking?! Has fame led to a weakening of minds amongst celebrities? Or is it just certain people with money? Does the Affluenza defense come into play here?

Eff that, there is no defense for what Gates did to that young girl. He took two steps back to a place in front of the girl then took two steps forward and kicked off…or at least that was the type of kick I saw. What’s really jacked up was, that when it appears his mind was made up to do this, he wasn’t even standing in front of her…he had to move to a spot that gave him an angle to get that brutal kick off. That makes it deliberate and pre-meditated. This was one of the most disgusting displays of flat out ignorance I’ve ever seen from a man to a female.

According to a piece on TheBoombox.com, After being charged with battery over the incident, the New Orleans native decided to address the situation through a song.

The 29-year-old rhymer released “The Truth,” a haunting track where, in his first verse, he defends himself and explains why he felt justified in kicking a woman. According to the lyrics, Gates claims that the woman was groping him repeatedly and he warned her to stop. Interestingly, he raps on the hook, “You should have respect for yourself. You a queen and you wasn’t respecting yourself.” Read More: Kevin Gates Addresses Kicking Female Fan on ‘The Truth’

There is a petition to ban Gates from performing in Florida, launched by one Lance Cooper on the Change.org site: https://www.change.org/p/florida-governor-barack-obama-ban-kevin-gates-from-hip-hop-and-performing-in-your-city?recruiter=371133200&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive

Cooper’s petition has garnered nearly 7,000 supporters according to data from the Change.org site. Mainstream media has picked up on the movement and the story has received attention from XXL, Fox News.com, Fox 13 news, ABC Action News, Daily Mail in the UK and multiple high profile journalists including a White House Correspondent.

My problem with the petition is that instead of sticking to the incident at hand, it includes some personal attacks along the lines of Gates’ private relationships, but the biggest mistake was giving Gates a position of leadership within the Hip-Hop community, indicating his presence in music could lead to more violence. Truth be told, Kevin Gates doesn’t mean that much to Hip-Hop for his actions to effect the culture in that manner. Now if the Zulu Nation leaders just finally said enough is enough and pushed the button…that may be different but Gates?! Nah!!!

I’m in support of Gates getting what karma and the universe have in store for him for his actions, but I’m not down with putting Hip-Hop on the shoulders of one person. Our culture is not about violence and certainly; lyrical standout that he is, Gates isn’t heavy enough to tag like that. As an individual he effed up in a major way and no reasonable person can deny it.

I don’t see anybody saying that the Vatican blessing Nazi tanks as they prepared to invade Ethiopia increased violence within the Catholic Church…ijs

Should Gates be banned from live performances? Should his actions cost him the ability to earn for his children? I can’t call that but, I believe as a community, Hip-Hop needs to see this red flag. Some of our young stars are lost and need to look at this situation…self-control will save you lots of heartache.

Lastly but most importantly, we have a young woman who has now been traumatized in the same manner as someone who just experienced their first domestic violence situation .…shocked, hurt and afraid, with an added twist of betrayal from someone she had on a pedestal…someone whom she felt safe reaching out to.

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Tags: Dark America, Hip Hop, Kevin Gates, Op-Ed, violence

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.