I played shows in front of like 25, 50 people, and it's a lot harder to do your thing in front of a crowd that's small.
— G-Eazy
When you're literally staring at the person right in front of you, you're connecting with them on a personal level. I even jump into the crowd sometimes and perform with them, sing into the mic with them and share the experience with them.
I don't go in the studio to make music that won't matter. I go in every night to try to make a point and make the best music that I can make.
Me personally, I'm real close to my mom. She raised me. It was a single-parent home situation. She did everything: cooked, worked two jobs, came home late, but she loved me to death.
You'd die very sad if you tried to make everyone in the world happy, you know what I mean? You can't; no one can.
You don't need mainstream media outlets, the big TV looks, or the magazine covers.
I grew up with the Pack. When they released 'Vans,' it was a seeing-is-believing moment.
I actually went to high school with Lil Uno.
It's one thing to turn up and jump around stage and give people a good time - that's obviously a big part of this - but I'll always get deeper than that as an artist.
I think being a rock star is a little bit different than being an athlete or even a movie star.
I wanted to make an album that plays from the top to bottom and feels together and complete. That's just something that felt important.
Music is one of the toughest industries, so I respect everybody who has travelled any distance, come far in this music business and achieved anything because it is so hard, and there are so many people out there these days.
Being in a position to bring people together like we do is a beautiful thing.
I'm really attracted to girls who are passionate about music because that's what I'm obsessed with.
Rapping was something I always wanted to do, so after school, my friends and I would catch the bus to my house and just sit there writing songs, every day.
I fell in love with hip-hop at an early age as a culture, as a sound, both from the perspective of a fan and a creative outlet.
I've been in love with music since I was old enough to establish my taste.
Albums serve as paragraphs in an artist's autobiography.
Anything back in New Orleans is definitely nostalgic. I really played my first shows of my life and learned to perform here. I learned how to work a stage and how to connect with a crowd. It all started here.
My friends put me on to Mobb Deep when I was a little kid. I've always been a big fan.
I think my music is so personal that it lets people in. And they identify with me more because of that, you know, so it's like my story; it's who I am as a person.
When you're from the Bay Area, there's this chip on your shoulder that you inherently come up with, because us, as a region, we've been overlooked in the grand scheme of the history of the genre and the culture.
The gatekeepers don't control the gates, and the powers that be aren't as powerful.
If you're not out living, then you've got nothing to talk about.
I've always been an outsider to some extent.
I would never consider myself a role model in the wide sense of the word.
I grew up watching Kobe Bryant.
When I sample something, it's just me drawing from what I'm actually into. It's whatever sounds like a good track.
I just have more Yves Saint Laurent in my closet, but it is pretty much the same - I just wear black almost 365 days of the year. I am married to it.
I thought everybody unanimously hated this man. I don't know anyone who was like, 'Go Trump.' I was surprised.
A halfway decent haircut will go a long way!
Sometimes you wake up the next morning after making a lot of bad decisions and have this nonchalant reaction like, 'These Things Happen' - what can I say?
I'm not inherently the most politically or, like, socially conscious rapper, you know? You're not just going to wake up tomorrow and be Common.
What I actually do put much more weight on, in all honesty, is not being critically acclaimed - it's being respected by my OGs. When I talk to E-40 on the phone, every time I talk to him, I'm like, you know, if he tells me I'm doing good, I'm doing good.
That raw connection between the two performers is something you can't fully plan. You just go with it and get lost in that moment and feed off of each other.
When you're making an album, it's, like, exciting every night you make something new, but you're the only one who gets to hear it.
Growing up in the Bay, I was still looking for a lot of East Coast hip-hop. I had an older homie put me on to a lot of stuff like Nas' 'Illmatic.'
Some people will like it. Some people will hate it. Some people are indifferent. And you have to live with that as an artist. You wanna be appreciated, you wanna be liked, but you know, it's just not realistic for everyone.
You have to be dope; you have to find an audience and reach that audience with your identity and your message.
When I was 12 or 13, the hyphy movement was beginning to bubble. And you had local acts such as the Federation or E-40, Mac Dre, and Too Short that the local radio station would play all the time. You'd hear E-40 as much as you'd hear Jay Z.
I'm just making music, and I'm paying my bills.
I've never fit in anywhere in my life. Ever.
New money is something fun to celebrate if you never had it.
It's an honor to be able to tour with somebody I grew up listening to and somebody I look up to. When you're around somebody like E-40, all you can do is watch and learn, and soak up game.
I've always dreamt big and the dream is to keep making music.
I got my start in small dive bars in New Orleans.
It's on the people to dictate what is relevant and what is moving.
I stick with a '60s vintage aesthetic of letterman's jackets, plain T-shirts, and good jeans.
I'm just doing the only thing I know how to do. There was never a plan B.
I've never been critically acclaimed. I've never been nominated for no Grammy. I've never been on no magazine cover. It's almost taboo to say I'm actually good.
