While a thousand or so people wait outside of Portlandās Roseland Theater for G-Eazy, I sit up the street at a local pizza spot, waiting for Gās management to call me in for my interview. āWeāre running about 20 minutes late, standbyā a text message reads. Iāve come to expect delays, so I walk down and grab my passes from will call, after which I receive the green light to head back to the bus.
As I step on, Iām met with two all too familiar things in terms of rappers: the pungent smell of marijuana and various members of the artistsā camp. This time itās his manager telling me that Iāll have just a few short minutes to conduct my interview due to G recording music. While excited at the thought of new music, I cringe internally due to the shortened interview time. I begin walking to the back of the bus, mentally crossing out the āunnecessaryā questions that I came prepared with. But when I arrive, the mood shifts for the better. āHowās it going man? I remember you from the first show we did here!ā, G exclaims. He quickly yells out to his manager that the time limit is no longer necessary, and after a short conversation, we begin the interview.
To start off, congrats, I remember the first time I saw you, you played for ~400 people; it's been crazy watching you grow.
I'm going to bring you back in time for a second. Stop me when you know what I'm reading.
āYes. Iām the rapper you found on your girlfriendās iPod and couldnāt help but say that shit is dope.
Oh god, stop, stop. *laughs* MySpace man, oh that's bad. That's crazy.Ā How did you find that?
So, what's changed since then?
You know what? I've had a āfake it ātil you make itā attitude since I started making music when I was 14. I always wanted to be a star, and I pretended like I was. Even when the music wasn't there, even when people weren't following or paying attention. I just always wanted it. And it's one of those weird things, where if you just believe in something enough, and you work towards something for long enough, and you're in love with it for the right reasons, not just the return or wanting to be famous. But the actual work that goes into it, the process, the studio time, the attention to detail, the focus. Eventually, it's like anything else: you get better, and if you work smart and make the right steps, decisions and investments, it starts to come together. I'm still the same guy I thought I'd be back then, but it's only now finally becoming a real thing.
Is it still a āfake it ātil you make it' type of thing?
Oh for sure, this mountain is mighty big. Iām not Drake; Iām not Kanye. I think itās all about perspective, man. And whatās funny is sometimes your perspective will look foolish. Like I sounded foolish saying that because I wasnāt on anybodyās iPod. You know what I mean? No one was listening. But you know, you chase something you want really bad and eventually you catch up to it.
You touched on it a bit, but is there anything you wouldāve done differently, looking back?
Itās tough to say, man. Because you gotta fall on your face to get tougher, get back up, get wiser, and figure it all out. You gotta be told no 100 times before it finally works.
Moving on to the new album. You speak on some old topics and re-visited some stuff. Was this closure for you to be able to speak on these topics on a bigger platform?
You mean like taking a song like Just Believe, which had a previous version?
Exactly. So funny you mention that; I was just about to bring that up. That was The Epidemic, right?
The Tipping Point actually-
The project before the Epidemic. Wow.
Yeah man, you really know your shit! Thatās crazy you know that. But yeah, it was like this is my introduction to the world, my debut project. This is kind of like taking all of my previous works, and combing through them and taking out whatever good idea I may have had back then and kind of updating it, re-inventing it and re-approaching it now. You know, so to kind of say, These Things Happen was almost a summary of everything Iāve done before, and all the ideas I touched on, just updated and brought to life now.
For me as a listener first, thatās always been one of your biggest strengths as an artist. Youāre so good at portraying what situation youāre in, whether you were the broke college kid teetering on success on Must Be Nice, or These Things Happen where you are just about there but you talk about the shitty aspects of that as well.
I think honesty is important. Itās a 50/50 for me, because if you listen to any of my albums, thereās two characters. Thereās Gerald and G-Eazy. Gerald is the honest guy, who lays it all on the table and is vulnerable as can be, but thatās where people identify and relate to it, for better or for worse. When youāre just being real, people connect with it. But then thereās G-EAZY, and heās invincible. Heās a dark hero; heās a badass. But people connect with that as well.
Itās just finding a balance at that point.
Moving back a little, what role did the internet play in the grand scheme of things for you?
Word of mouth is the strongest form of marketing, and you canāt buy it. But itās easier in todayās world because itās so much more conversation. Twitter is one massive fuckinā conversation, Instagram is one massive conversation, so sharing is a little easier now. So obviously social media and all that helped a great deal for my career.
On the topic of growth, I personally saw you go from a coffee shop to a sold-out crowd of 1,500 people here at the Roseland, to opening for Drake and Lil Wayne at Red Rocks for 10,000 people. Whatās that been like?
Hereās the thing. Even if Iām walking out to a coffee shop for 250 people, I still approach it the same way as if Iām walking out at Red Rocks. Itās all about energy, conviction, and performing like youāre a star, you know, carrying yourself like one. Going out there with confidence and bringing that energy.
Speaking of tours, right now youāre co-headlining with E-40, which is huge in its own right. I saw how hyped you were when you got the news that he had hopped on the feature for Far Alone, I canāt imagine what it was like for you to get the tour news.
Itās insane. Thatās someone I grew up listening to, someone I idolized. So for me to tour with him, itās an opportunity of a lifetime. I was jumping up and down like a little kid.
Whatās the best advice heās given you?
I just watch and learn from him, man. I mean, heās one of the most consistent and prolific artists in the genre. He just turned 47 the other day, and when you think about it, thereās him, thereās Jay-Z and thereās Snoop. Thereās really only a couple people that lasted this long. Itās just consistency and work ethic. Like, I went to his studio, we were doing a song, and heās got a huge pile of yellow notebooks, all full of verses, next to his mic stand. Literally a pile, three feet tall. He just works.
On that note, do you think youāre past mixtapes at this point?
Yeah, I mean Iām all about free music, but I prefer doing things like I did the other day, where I just put out two or three songs at a time for free. It doesnāt have to be a cohesive mixtape, I can just throw shit out there every now and then.
Whatās next? We know touring doesnāt stop for you, but what else?
We really havenāt stopped. *sighs* But when you get used to that pace, you get conditioned for it. Like Iām not really that tired because all Iāve known for the last two years is the road or a studio. Days off donāt exist, and thatās how you gotta be to be competitive and to chase this thing. Because if youāre not working, someone else is. I was told that the work youāre doing today will eventually sink in six months from now and youāll feel the effects of it, but if youāre not working today youāll feel the effects of falling off six months from now. You just have to stay on it. But whatās next? Working on the new album.
We concluded our conversation, and as we wrapped things up, he invited me to listen to the song he had just recorded prior to the interview. Since I met Gerald in 2012, he has remained one of the most genuine people Iāve come to know, and the song he played was a perfect example of everything I like about him as a person and an artist. As we discussed the song and his plans for the next album, one thing was certain. These Things fuckinā Happen. ā
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