Rapper G-Eazy, real name Gerald Gillum, said getting Grammy award-winning singer Chris Brown to feature on his new album was a ‘surreal’ achievement, and explained he’s had advertising deals retracted due to his ‘dirty’ lyrics.
The 26-year-old recording artist and producer from California was mindful that despite chart success, and having opened for the likes of Snoop Dogg and Drake, it was important to stay grounded in reality and not to treat every night like a cause for a celebration whilst on tour.
”You’re the event, you’re the reason for this party, you are the centre of it in (a) sense, they expect you to be the life of the party and you kind of just have to chill sometimes, you know, because otherwise every night being Saturday, that’s not real life,” he said.
Getting rapper Chris Brown to feature on track ‘Drifting’ which appears on upcoming album ‘When It’s Dark Out’ was a ‘surreal’ experience for the 6ft 5in musician.
He said: ”I just remember being in the studio for the first time and I got the email and I played it, and like, I felt like man, how is this real life? I’m hearing Chris Brown on my song, like, and this is someone in a whole other league.”
When asked if he could forgo being a solo artist to join any rap collective, the Oakland-born recording artist replied: ”I’d be ASAP Gerald, or Heartbreak Gerald, shout out HBK, that’s family. Or, man, just the white guy in Wu-Tang. Why is this skinny lanky white guy in Wu-Tang, or the other white guy in D12, or skinny lanky white guy in G-Unit.”
The rapper’s track ‘You Don’t Own Me’ featuring Grace provides the soundtrack for the House of Fraser Christmas advert, an opportunity he admitted surprised him: ”That’s a really big thing, so when I saw it I was like, O shit, that’s tight, this will reach a lot of people.”
However not all advertisers have been as enthusiastic to work with the musician — he said that after car manufacturer Honda took a closer listen to some of his provocative lyrics the collaborative opportunity was withdrawn. Reflecting on the offer he said: ”They wanted to use one of my songs, but then they dug a little closer and they noticed my lyrics were kind of dirty, so they said no, so out went that idea.”
With his world tour kicking off on January 6th in Portland, USA, the American star revealed that he is still ‘amazed’ to find fans in Europe.
He said: ”We were in Denmark at Roskilde Festival, and there was like a crowd of 10,000 people and I’m like what the hell are you all doing, how do you all know my music, and they were all hype and they were all moshing and going crazy, and I’m like what are you all doing here? I was amazed. It was beautiful.”
‘When It’s Dark Out’ is released worldwide on December 4th 2015. (Reuters)