West Coast Rapper Shut’s Down Irving Plaza In NYC
It’s been two years since the Oakland native graced the stage of Irving Plaza as an opener for Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky. “I imagined in my head what it would be like growing up in New York. A place with so much Hip Hop history,” he shared with us before hitting the stage. “I told myself damn it would be pretty dope of I could come back here as a headliner and sale this shit out,” but G-Eazy did more then that he gave a performance that literally was just everything.
Before hitting the stage for his set the These Things Happen emcee made a 5 second cameo on stage with one of the opening acts in which the crowd completely lost their minds. However, that hasn’t always been the case as the Bay area rising star tells That’s Enuff, “it’s just been a process like paying dues and just working hard over the years and building a brand. That’s the dream that’s what you build for.”
As Heavy Hitters/ Hot 97’s own DJ Quiz and Wallah wrapped up their set the crowed began to chant his name only to erupt in complete chaos as he hit the stage. As Eazy performed tracks ranging from the beginning of his career up until now, as well as a few tracks off his upcoming debut album, These Things Happen, like these things literally happened (and we mean literally). From a girl throwing her zebra print D-cup bra on stage; a mini riot breaking out in the middle of the crowd over his fitted; and a grand finial that ended in confetti, crowd surfing, a mosh pit, water guns, balloons and smoke from a fog machine we literally were not ready for the craziness that took place.
But before this all went down we got a chance to chop it up with G-Eazy in which he took us down memory lane with early concert experiences, his passion for music, challenges of making a statement on the east, how he preps before hitting the stage and more.
On his first performance:
I opened up for Afro-man in college in New Orleans [Loyola university 2008] and it was like 300 people. To me that felt like an arena, like man I was so nervous before I went on stage. It was so many people there in my eyes and I just remembered being so nervous before going on stage; and then walking out one stage all of that anxiety just disappearing and having the most fun I ever had. When the show was over I was like this is all I want to do for the rest of my life I just want to preform. It felt amazing.
I was a freshman on campus and I thought I was the shit cause I was opening up for somebody. Like at least he was an artist some people had heard of. I felt like shit I’m opening up Madison Square garden or Jay Z shit [laughs].
On how he preps before hitting the stage:
Whisky! I’ll drink a couple of whiskies before I go on stage; maybe have a red bull to get a little hype.
On preforming on the west coast vs. east coast:
As like as a west coast artist, I’m not exactly sure what the reason is, but your music just resonates with people on the west coast little more I think. So it’s always a challenge for a west coast rapper to come and do something crazy like in New York. And it’s the same with a lot of east coast rappers that can’t come and you kill it in LA the same that they would be in New York. So its like we always play bigger shows out there [Cali]. We do a little better there then we do out here.
On his most memorable performance so far:
This one right here and I haven’t even performed yet [laughs]. Probably my favorite show was when we played the Fillmore in San Francisco about a month ago. That was like my hometown bay area show; it’s just a legendary venue its so much history and we sold it out a month in advance. It was hella crazy!
On what inspires him as far as writing:
Mainly first hand experiences in life; I was lucky enough to get to travel and spend so much time on the road and meet people and see so many different places and cultural you know what I mean and I just try to take those experiences and put them back in my music and tell stories.
On the music icons that influenced him growing up:
Well some of the bay area legends of course, E-40 and Mac Dre [has track with E-40] yeah that was a real big deal for me he’s Jay Z in my eyes you know, and the icons of the east coast. Even being from the bay I’ve always had this deep admiration for east coast hip-hop. Like I use to listen to Nas and Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, Jay Z, and Mobb Deep a ton of east coast shit and all that.
You can check out G-Eazy’s These Things Happen Tour featuring MMG’s Rockie Fresh and Toronto native Tory Lanez as they are set to performer in NC tonight as the round out the last leg of their tour.
