walking upstream…
G-Eazy
sourcesWikipedia · WhoSampled · Broward Palm Beach New Times
Gerald Earl Gillum was born in 1989 and raised in the Oakland and Berkeley area of Northern California, later studying music-industry at Loyola University New Orleans while building a following through mixtapes. He fashioned a signature persona around a slicked-back, monochrome greaser look and beats that half-time old doo-wop and rock-and-roll records under booming drums, breaking through in the mid-2010s with the album 'These Things Happen' and the hits 'Me, Myself & I' and 'No Limit.' His run made him one of the defining pop-rap crossover figures of the 2010s, marrying Bay Area hip-hop with a self-consciously retro rock-and-roll image.
the sound in question
2017
No LimitG-Eazy
walk the tributaries ↓
Dion1960s · Doo-wop / Rock and roll / Pop
G-Eazy grew up on the doo-wop and oldies his mother and grandparents played and built his earliest buzz by flipping vintage rock-and-roll records; his 2011 track 'Runaround Sue' is built directly on Dion's 1961 hit of the same name (documented on WhoSampled), and his slicked-back greaser image is drawn from that same late-'50s and early-'60s rock-and-roll world.
listen: upstream & here
1961
Runaround SueDion
2011
Runaround SueG-Eazy
listen forCue Dion's 1961 'Runaround Sue' and then G-Eazy's — the older record's bouncing doo-wop vocal bed and shuffle carry the whole thing, with the drums slowed to half time and heavy 808s slid underneath.
Eminem2000s · Hip-hop / Rap
G-Eazy has repeatedly named Eminem as the artist who made him want to rap, recalling in interviews that hearing Eminem as a kid led him to bleach his hair and that meeting him fulfilled a childhood dream; he has described Eminem as a 'literal living rap god' whose confessional, technically dense delivery was a formative blueprint.
listen: upstream & heresource: Billboard ↗
2002
Lose YourselfEminem
2014
I Mean ItG-Eazy
listen forThrow on Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' and then G-Eazy's 'I Mean It' back to back — both hang a clipped, determined verse over a tense, minor-key piano loop, with the rapper narrating his own hunger and self-doubt rather than bragging.
Drake2010s · Hip hop / Contemporary R&B / Pop rap
G-Eazy has called Drake 'one of the greatest of all time' and recounted messaging him after 'God's Plan' dropped; his own melodic, half-sung hooks and low, introspective verses about fame and isolation follow the sing-and-rap template Drake pushed into the pop mainstream.
listen: upstream & heresource: GRAMMY.com ↗
2011
Marvins RoomDrake
2015
Me, Myself & IG-Eazy
listen forPut Drake's 'Marvins Room' next to G-Eazy's 'Me, Myself & I' — both slide between a sung, hook-driven chorus and a low, conversational verse, turning success into something lonely and late-night.