Kevin Jerome Gilyard, better known by his stage name Kevin Gates, is an American rapper, singer, and businessman. His debut album under the name of his daughter, Islah, was released in 2016 and peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard 200. He has also released several mixtapes and co-owns the Breadwinners Association record label with his wife. . Gates has many tattoos on his body that tell his story. there are some tattoos on his throat and the sides of his neck that cannot be seen properly and remain a mystery. Let’s take a look at the ones he has and the meanings behind them.
tattoos on the face
1. ‘cross and tears’ tattoo
tattoo: the rapper’s forehead, right in the middle of his eyebrows, contains a tattoo of a cross. There are also two tears tattooed next to his left eye.
Meaning: People might think the tattoo represents their religious views, but the tattoo is the symbol of a soldier as revealed by Kevin in an interview. tears are a symbol of being eternally sorry and they also have a deep meaning for kevin.
2. ‘star’ tattoo
tattoo: the right side of his face, next to his eye, contains a tattoo of a minor star along with a crescent moon.
meaning: the crescent moon together with the star is the symbol of allah. According to the singer, this tattoo represents a human body that extends with the head, the arm and the legs.
neck tattoos
3. ‘eagle’ tattoo
Tattoo: The back of his neck has a tattoo of the American Bald Eagle.
Meaning: Gates got this tattoo as a tribute to his American culture and homeland.
back tattoos
4. ‘welcome’ tattoo
tattoo: the word “welcome” is tattooed on the rapper’s upper back.
meaning: the tattoo goes with the symbol tattooed underneath, as you will soon discover.
5. ‘symbol’ tattoo
tattoo: a symbol is tattooed right in the middle of kevin’s back.
meaning: the symbol is not a symbol, but is regarded as such and is the Arabic word for “allah”, which means god. the tattoo represents the rapper’s religious views. the welcome tattoo also goes with this one as it is an invitation to invite god into your life.
6. ‘name’ tattoo
Tattoo: There is a name tattooed on his upper back, just below the eagle tattoo on his neck. the name is, “islah koren gates”
meaning: Kevin tattooed his daughter’s name on his body to show his love for her.
tattoos on the chest, shoulders and stomach
7. ‘number and key’ tattoo
Tattoo: The number “1992” is tattooed on the rapper’s upper chest. there is also the treble clef symbol tattooed right in the middle of his chest, between the number.
Meaning: The treble clef is a musical note that represents Gates’ love of music and his career.
8. ‘elvis’ tattoo
Tattoo: The left side of Kevin’s chest contains a tattoo of Elvis Presley’s face.
meaning: kevin started listening to elvis and he liked it a lot. This led him to get a tattoo of his face right on his chest.
9. ‘eye’ tattoo
Tattoo: Kevin has a tattoo of an eye on each of his shoulders.
10. street fighter tattoos
tattoo: there are five characters from the popular game street fighter tattooed right on kevin’s chest. the one in the middle of his chest is “dhalsim”, with the skull necklace. to the right of it is “ryu” and to the left of it is “sagat”.
Meaning: Kevin was a huge fan of the game growing up, which led him to get tattoos of his favorite characters on his body.
11. ‘bwa’ tattoo
tattoo: below his chest are the letters “bwa” tattooed on his body.
Meaning: The letters, “bwa” represent the name of his and his wife’s record label, Breadwinners Association.
12. ‘house’ tattoo
Tattoo: The front of Kevin’s stomach is covered with a large tattoo of a house. the house is surrounded by trees and a lamppost to its right.
Meaning: This is the house Kevin grew up in. the house has a special meaning for him in his life, so he wanted to tattoo it on his body. the house can still be found in south baton rouge, louisiana.
13. tattoo ‘inshallah’
Tattoo: The word “inshallah” is tattooed on her waist, just below the house tattoo on her stomach.
Meaning: This tattoo also represents your religious views.
14. ‘faces’ tattoo
Tattoo: The left side of his stomach and body contains a tattoo of three faces. the faces are of the same person.
meaning: the tattoos are of the fictional character of luca brasi from the movie “the godfather”. Kevin got the tattoo on his body since Luca Brasi is his nickname. He also released a mixtape with the name Luca Brasi as the title.
15. ‘face’ tattoo
tattoo: the right side of the rapper’s body contains a tattoo of a portrait of someone’s face.
Meaning: The portrait tattoo on his side is a tribute tattoo of his face, for his good friend, og boobie black.
16. ‘portrait’ tattoo
tattoo: the side of his body contains a portrait of a child tattooed on it.
17. ‘boy’ tattoo
tattoo: the side of his body, in addition to the portrait tattoo, contains a portrait of a young NBA player, holding weapons in his hands.
meaning: nba youngboy is one of kevin gates’ friends. but she got this tattoo of him because she felt close to the boy. Kevin revealed that he sees a younger version of himself in the boy and wants to take care of him so he doesn’t make the mistakes he did.
18. ‘moon and portrait’ tattoo
tattoo: the back of his left shoulder contains a tattoo of a crescent moon along with the star. The left side of his back contains a tattoo of a portrait of a man’s face.
Meaning: The crescent moon tattoo along with the star is the symbol of Islam and represents the religious views of the rapper. the portrait on kevin’s back is by hoolio gates.
tattoos on the right arm
19. ‘trees and pots’ tattoo
tattoo: there is a tattoo of a tree on kevin’s right shoulder and spaces in the middle in the form of flower pots.
Meaning: The tattoo goes with the tattoo on his right bicep, as you will soon find out.
20. ‘elephant’ tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of an elephant’s face on his upper right arm.
21. ‘bob marley’ tattoo
tattoo: the rapper’s right bicep contains a tattoo of bob marley’s portrait.
Meaning: Marley has been one of Kevin’s idols since childhood, which is why he got the tattoo on his body along with the potted plants that cover his right shoulder.
22. face tattoo
tattoo: the back of the right upper arm contains a tattoo of a man’s face.
Meaning: Kevin got this tattoo of a portrait of Malcolm X on his body as a tribute to one of his favorite actors.
23. ‘writing’ tattoo
tattoo: The inner part of the rapper’s right forearm contains a tattoo of a scroll that has some words written inside. A long line of flame separates the scroll tattoo from the tattoo on the outer side of his forearm.
24. ‘doors’ tattoo
Tattoo: The outer side of Kevin’s right forearm contains a tattoo of the name, “gates” vertically tattooed in large red letters on a brick wall to give the effect of graffiti.
meaning: gates got his stage name tattooed on his arm to show it, as it is now his last name. Kevin’s real name is Kevin Jerome Gilyard.
tattoos on the left arm
25. ‘man and lamb’ tattoo
Tattoo: The rapper’s left shoulder contains a tattoo of a man, holding a stick and carrying a lamb on his left arm. The background of the tattoo consists of stars that cover the rest of Kevin’s left shoulder and upper arm.
meaning: kevin got this tattoo of jesus christ with a lamb on his arm that represents innocence and love.
26. ‘portrait’ tattoo
Tattoo: Kevin’s left bicep contains another tattoo of a portrait of a man’s face.
27. ‘lady and the tramp’ tattoo
tattoo: the upper part of the rapper’s left arm, just above the elbow, contains a tattoo of the two dogs from the famous movie, “lady and the tramp”.
meaning: the tattoo is from one of his favorite childhood disney movies, but it has a deeper meaning as it represents him and his wife, dreka, whom he adores dearly .
28. ‘spider web’ tattoo
Tattoo: Kevin’s left elbow contains a tattoo of a large spider web.
Meaning: The spider web tattoo on his elbow represents the time he spent in prison and shows the idea of how he was trapped in the system.
29. ‘charged’ tattoo
tattoo: the back of the left upper arm contains a tattoo of osama bin laden’s face.
30. ‘sumo’ tattoo
Tattoo: The rapper’s left arm also contains a tattoo of a cartoon sumo wrestler.
31. ‘flowers and portrait’ tattoo
Tattoo: Kevin’s upper left forearm contains a flower tattoo. there is also a tattoo of a portrait of a child’s face on the inner side of his left forearm.
32. ‘alphabets’ tattoo
Tattoo: The side of his left forearm has a tattoo of the alphabet, “ctc” tattooed on it. the letters are in red and done in a brick wall pattern just like the name, “doors” on his other forearm.
meaning: the letters “ctc” mean “cut the check”.
33. ‘name’ tattoo
tattoo: the upper part of his left wrist has a name tattooed on it. the name is, “khadreka”. there is also a musical note tattooed on the side of her wrist.
meaning: the name represents the name of his wife and son. the name was made by joining the name of his son, “khaza” and his wife, “dreka”. the tattoo represents the love he has for them and his family.
hand tattoos
34. guns and letters tattoo
tattoo: the upper part of both hands contain a tattoo of a weapon. the sides of both thumbs have the letters “idgt” tattooed on them.
meaning: the letters “idgt” represent the name of one of his songs titled “no me canso”
35. nuk tattoo
tattoo: the rapper’s left ear contains a tattoo with the name “nuk” tattooed inside.
meaning: the name “nuk” is the name of his cousin. Kevin got the tattoo to show that his love for his cousin was always with him. both are not on good terms at the moment and nuk is always accusing kevin and the videos can be found on the web.
