Instead, he uses the story of when he decided to take music seriously to explain what drives him.
“So I’ve been on this lonely quest ever since with as much ambition and drive as anybody.
But I aspire to the greats.
G-Eazy revisits past work on new album ‘These Things Happen Too.'.Credit: Nabil
Those are who I study the closest.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why make a sequel album at this point in time?
G-EAZY:Well, to me, the album represents a full-circle journey.
Nabil
How do you seeThese Things Happennow?
Do you look at it as your breakout?
These Things HappenI recorded primarily while living out of a suitcase.
I was funding my own music videos.
I paid for the album art out of money I’d saved up.
I was living with very few possessions.
Was there an effort to maybe get back into the same headspace you were in when you madeTheseThings Happen?
I went back to some of the same places I recorded the first one in.
I worked with a lot of the same people I recorded the first one with.
You also just re-released two of your past albums with new songs.
Did revisiting old tracks there inspire this project, or was it the other way around?
I’ve been working on this album for the past three years.
It’s not like I really set out with that in mind before I start.
I just got started creating.
I don’t take a stab at overthink it.
I just let it come to me.
You have a song with Lil Wayne on this new record.
How did that happen?
Did he give you any advice about making a sequel album?
He’s an expert at it.
And it was so sweeping and inspiring to feel his energy.
To live in his city around that time was a pretty big deal.
You just felt his impact everywhere.
So getting him on this album was a huge moment for me.
He’s kind of like the Wizard of Oz, he’s so legendary.
I did a tour with him a few summers ago, or not a few summers ago.
I did a tour with him eight or nine years ago now.[Laughs].
I was the opener of the opener.
There were five other people performing after me.
But it felt great just to come full circle with him.
And at the end of the day, his verse says everything.
It’s pretty self-explanatory.
The two of them are two of my favorite, favorite, favorite rappers of all time.
How has the reaction been to that single?
It’s been incredible.
It’s been so inspiring and it feels really good.
It makes my heart warm to know that it’s helping other people.
At the end of the day, we’re all human, and that record is honest and vulnerable.
These lyrics are deeply revealing for the good and the bad.
How do you relate to them?
Do you seek that key in of relationship or common ground with all your collaborators?
I think a certain amount of common ground and relatability and chemistry is important when collaborating with people.
I don’t think it’s a requirement.
I think great things can come from two or more [vastly] different people.
It’s hard as a public figure because it becomes very difficult to protect your privacy.
And it becomes nearly impossible to ever close them.
So that lets everybody else get a look inside what should be your private personal life.
And it almost becomes everyone else’s business.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I think the timing of doing this record with Demi was powerful.
And at the end of the day, it’s not hidden information.
Do you feel like you’re at a turning point right now?
This album doesn’t feel as “live fast, die young” as your past work.
I want this album to represent the maturation of Gerald.
To show my evolution, both in my artistry, but also in my identity as a human being.
And as a grown man.
This is my fourth album.
I’m not just a wild kid anymore.
At some point you’ve got to become a grown man and handle your adult life and take responsibility.
But I like that it’s not quite like, “Here’s a whole new me.”
Oh no, no.
These things take time.
But yes, we all live and grow in our own ways.
Is that something that you’ve been focusing on?
Or, alternatively, do you see your hooks as a chance to provide a platform to up-and-coming artists?
Well, I’ve always loved the dynamic of rap verse into melodic chorus.
But it also kind of came out of necessity because I could never sing.
So I didn’t have a choice.
Finally, is there anymore about this project that you’re excited for people to experience?
I think this is ultimately a statement of, “I hear what they say.”
And this is who Gerald is."
This interview has been edited and condensed.
