Kevin Gates will say anything as long as it’s true. It's only in the interest of self-preservation that he’s sometimes got a filter. In 2014, on his Luca Brasi 2 mixtape, Gates devoted an entire song to some familiar gangsta advice: “I don’t talk on phones,” he chanted on the hook, rattling off his justifiably paranoid reasons. With the standout single from his debut album, “2 Phones,” Gates has eased up on the no-phone policy—he’s juggling at least four of them now—but he still treads carefully. “I got two phones, one for the plug and one for the load,” he belts out. It’s a street anthem about compartmentalizing business and pleasure, and Gates’ phones are always ringing.

Like Islah itself, “2 Phones” cleanly packages every bit of the Louisiana rapper’s charms without sacrifice. The hook is perfectly singable, carrying the type of obvious melody that makes it easy to forget someone had to think it up. Unsurprisingly, the hook is a Gates original and he tucks little chunks of clever singing into his verses too. It’s not his first hit, but “2 Phones” feels like Gates’ biggest for all the right reasons.