INTERVIEW BY DENISE MALLABO

EDITORS NOTE IRVIN RIVERA

G-Eazy's story speaks of the power of perseverance. The Bay area native is a hustler, on top of being a prolific storyteller through his music.

"My star's back shining bright, I just polished it

This shit'll get away from you if you ain't on top of it" (lyrics from the song "Tulips and Roses"

Gerald is an artist who has been pouring his heart and stories out since he started creating music. The inter-weaving narratives of his lyrics document the various timelines in the artist's life, providing the listener a peek into his mind and feelings during those particular moments.

Ambition paired with the incessant hunger to create, burning passion to share stories, and the desire to succeed are the inspiring themes that can be lifted from the story of G-Eazy's life.

Listening to the tracks and lyrics from his discography, you'll learn the value of finding what it is that you love in life and continuously falling in love with it by trusting the process, devoid of the fear of failure, and creating without bounds.

In this exclusive Collector's Issue, G-Eazy also speaks of balancing the hustle by resting and taking a break.

"You just have to find a way to step back and decompress, recalibrate, and take care of yourself." he says.

If our body and mind demands a hiatus, we should oblige as much as we can - as it is a necessary, but often neglected act, in the creative process. We hope you enjoy this issue and learn a little bit more about this inspiring artist.

-IRVIN RIVERA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ever since he released his comeback single “Tulips & Roses,” G-Eazy is raring to pick-up where he left off after about a year of much needed break. “I think we all need breaks from time to time. Breaks can be hard to take; we don't know when we need them necessarily. We're so pressured to keep our heads down, work, work, work, work, ‘It's never good enough! You can always work harder! Strive for greatness!’ And before you know it, you just drain yourself and you just burn yourself out,” says G.

The Bay Area native, who now resides in Los Angeles, began from the ground up in his career. He started rapping in middle school and by the age of 15, started to upload his music online. He’s a hard worker with high ambitions and a strong will to succeed, and his music career blossomed to the point where he was opening shows for rap giants like Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg.

G has put out six studio albums in addition to numerous mixtapes and extended plays, says that his music is all interconnected since they all came from different periods of his life. “They capture different times in my life when I was inspired by different things, wherein I was living in different places. That's like a snapshot or a time capsule from that window of my life. If you listen to my albums through and through, you would see the growth and narrative changes and those are all reflective of my life experiences,” Despite all of G's hardships and setbacks, he has come back stronger than ever, and his music is a big part of the reason why.

Shot at the iconic Culver Hotel in Los Angeles, the ever-stylish G fits right in with the building's vintage art deco aesthetic. Read on as the rapper and fashion icon discusses his approach to making music, his perfectionist nature, and more about his single "Tulips and Roses."

You’ve been creating music for more than a decade, what has the tenure in this industry taught you? What have you learned from it the most?

Two decades. Wow! I'm getting old. I could go on and on. I think it's important to forever stay in the state of curiosity and be hungry to learn more. I don't think you'd ever stop learning, at least I certainly haven't. There's always more to experience, to absorb, to take in, and to find out. I've learned so much obviously about the industry and all that but I'm more fascinated about learning new ways how to express myself for my life to find its way through my creative outlet to music and art.

Can you remember the first album that you’ve ever listened to that made you want to create your own music?

It was 400 Degreez by Juvenile and 2001 by Dr. Dre. Those were two pivotal albums for me. It was a few years later, the first album that made me take rapping very seriously was The Black Album by Jay-Z. That album is so good.

Tell us more about your single “Tulips & Roses”. Why did you decide to write this for your comeback song?

I don't go into a song with the intentions of what I want it to be about. I just let the music write itself and I just follow my instincts, I just follow my gut. I was in Paris and I had a break in between shows for a while and I didn't want to come back to the States so I just decided to stay in Paris and tried recording out there. I wanted to get away from Los Angeles. I want to try a different process creatively and just trust myself that this song was the first song I wrote when I got to Paris and it came out naturally. When there's anything coming out of you that easily, you have to trust the process.

Any plans of touring soon?

I'm playing a couple of shows soon, just small shows for my day one fans. To just say "Thank You" and "Welcome Back" in getting this thing going again. There will surely be a full pledge plan for a whole tour after I put the album out.

What are you most excited about, career-wise, this year?

Just putting out all this new music that I'm sitting on. I'm so excited. The response to "Tulips & Roses" has been amazing so I can't wait to keep the ball rolling and keep putting out the rest of it.