The Ones: Kevin Gates’ “Double Dutch - In Amsterdam Witt It”

The must-hear rap song of the day
Kevin Gates
Kevin Gates, (Photo by Rick Kern/WireImage)

With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear curated by the Levels team. We sort through all the new songs—across all the platforms and subgenres—so you don’t have to. Thank us later.

Kevin Gates - “Double Dutch - In Amseterdam Witt It”

Kevin Gates has lived long enough to up his paygrade on “Double Dutch - In Amsterdam Witt It”; the long-time Luca Brasi-invoking rap enforcer has transitioned from a more modest foot-soldier lifestyle to “seeing things, living foreign, sippin’ teas.” “I’m important,” he concludes. He relishes the simple things, which makes the finer things feel imperial. But this upgrade doesn’t come without a price. He’s paranoid and penitent. The first lines out of his mouth are, “Every  night I pray to God that the Lord forgive me/Somebody  try me and don’t top me‚ then they coming with me.” His commanding voice rings out through producer Pi’erre Bourne’s sinister arcade game synths. Rarely has Gates worked with a beatmaker as skilled and distinguished as Bourne, and Bourne hasn’t worked with any rapper this gifted. Both make the most of the opportunity. The rapper is nimble in spots, bullish in others, roaring and scoffing and singing, as the beat swirls and whirrs around him like a 16-bit wind tunnel. “I been thuggin’ all my life, this a cold sport/Big ol’ Muslim up in rank and I’m like Jeff Fort,” he raps, as if making his hall of fame speech or accepting a lifetime achievement award. On “Double Dutch,” a grueling life as an underworld hatchet man finally starts paying off.


Check out previous Ones, and listen to new rap from Kevin Gates and more on our Spotify playlist, Apple Music playlist, and SoundCloud playlist.