G-Eazy has been making his rounds in the festival circuit this summer, performing for tens of thousands of fans across Europe, but he’s about to change up the pace. The rapper is set to join Bud Light’s Dive Bar Tour, which will take him to New Orleans on August 30 for a much more intimate experience with fans as well as a first-listen to his new music.
Complex hopped on the phone with G to talk about the show, New Orleans, his special "Gerry’s" merch capsule collection and his upcoming album The Beautiful and the Damned in preparation for what’s sure to be an absolutely epic night in NOLA.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The shows that have been played on the Bud Light Dive Bar tour are super intimate. When’s the last time you played a room that tiny?
It’s been a while but that’s how we came up. I played rooms smaller than that. I’ve played living rooms, backyards, basements, I’ve played dive bars, I’ve played small clubs. I came up in that DIY environment.
New Orleans is such a special place to you and where you spent a lot of time coming up. How does it feel that this is the place you’ll be having this experience in?
New Orleans will always have a special place in my heart, it’s basically my second home. My mom lives out there now, my little brother lives there, a lot of my best friends that I came up with are still out there. It’s definitely cool to come full-circle to a lot of these places that I first performed at. There’s a lot of memories and nostalgia.
What can you tell us about the “Gerry’s” capsule collection that you partnered with “Famous Among Friends” for? What was that creative process like and how do you want fans to experience it?
In this case, I wanted it to almost feel like a dive bar. Obviously you go during the day and it’s a merch experience, but anytime we do a pop-up I want it to feel like you’re stepping inside an extension of me. We did it in a certain area downtown where I used to stand outside and sling mixtapes out of my backpack. We had a coffee shop inside, a barber shop, and a retail experience for the merch. I want it to be a reflection of an aspect of my lifestyle. You’re stepping into a space that represents me.
You’ve also been playing a ton of festivals this year. What’s been your favorite experience?
Europe was crazy. The fans in Europe are just a different kind of energy. I missed a connecting flight on my way to a festival in Poland because of weather and the plane had to land in another city, so we had to route a jet last second just to make it for the fans and we still missed our set. They moved us after the Foo Fighters and we were playing literally after the festival was supposed to end on the main stage. I was worried nobody was gonna stay but there were still 50,000 people going crazy.
The Beautiful and the Damned is expected out in fall—what can fans expect from this chapter of Gerald?
It’s basically a double-sided album that explores my Gemini, my personality. It’s a back and forth of Gerald vs. G-Eazy throughout the whole thing. It’s the next step in my creative maturation. I think the music has evolved a lot and the project as a whole is going to surprise fans.
If you're not in New Orleans to experience the show first hand, don't worry. Bud Light will be streaming the set on their Facebook page and you can check out pieces from the "Gerry's" capsule collection on G's e-shop later this month.
