Kevin Gates returns with “Beautiful Scars,” a teaser track from new album, By Any Means 2. He taps PnB Rock to sing the chorus. 

The “Bread Winner” is back. That’s Kevin Gates, who experienced a breakthrough with his 2016 album, Islah.  Gates returns with By Any Means 2, which follows up the first installment of By Any Means, released in 2014.  The rapper released several teaser tracks in advance of the album, including “Beautiful Scars,” featuring PnB Rock.  

“Beautiful Scars” commences with an intro by Kevin Gates:

“You know what it is / You know how we hittin’ / Just know that we alright.”

Okay. Moving on, PnB Rock sings the chorus.  Overall, it’s a respectable, well-performed chorus, but NOT the second coming.

“Tatted your name, now I do know who you is / If I had to I would do it again / My partner died but on my arm he still lives / I wear my heart on my skin, can’t forget where I been / You gave me scars / Beautiful scars / On my back and all / You see how far I come.”

Gates follows the action with a solid flow throughout his verses. As far as his rhymes, he has his moments.  Still, he doesn’t exactly ‘wow.’  Calling his performance thrilling or particularly memorable, particularly compared to a hit like “2 Phones,” would be an overstatement.  The spoken word portion, about “being a stand-up guy” truly irks, for whatever reason.

Final Thoughts 

Ultimately, “Beautiful Scars” is okay at best.  The production is decent, PnB Rock delivers a respectable chorus, while Gates has a solid flow.  As aforementioned, Gates doesn’t deliver the performance of his career, and “Beautiful Scars” lacks the feel of being a surefire hit.  It’s not vintage or classic memorable.

Kevin Gates • By Any Means 2 • Atlantic • Release: 9.22.17 

Photo Credit: Atlantic