Gerald Earl Gillum known by his stage name, G-Eazy (or Young Gerald), is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer from Oakland, California.[1] His major-label debut album, These Things Happen, was released in 2014 and peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard 200. His second hit album, When It's Dark Out, was released on December 4, 2015. Early life When Gillum was in the first grade, his mother left his father (who is an art ... Show more...

Gerald Earl Gillum known by his stage name, G-Eazy (or Young Gerald), is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer from Oakland, California.[1] His major-label debut album, These Things Happen, was released in 2014 and peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard 200. His second hit album, When It's Dark Out, was released on December 4, 2015. Early life When Gillum was in the first grade, his mother left his father (who is an art a**ociate professor at CSU Fresno)[2] to move Gillum and his younger brother (James Wolcott Gillum) in with his grandparents in Berkeley, California. They later moved to North Oakland, although Gillum continued attending school in Berkeley. When Gillum was around 12 years old, his mother began dating a woman, Melissa Mills, which initially confused and embarra**ed Gillum who didn't understand the change in his mother's personal life.[3] However, as he came to accept Mills as a part of the family and grew close to her, Mills became depressed while on d** to treat her manic depressive disorder. One day, Gillum came home to find Mills deceased due to a fatal overdose. Gillum details his experience in the last verse of his track, "Everything Will Be OK", on his second studio album, When It's Dark Out.[4] Career Career beginnings Gerald would begin producing a numerous singles, while he was still attending as a sophomore at the Loyola University at New Orleans.[5] He would gain some recognition, being a part of this new hip hop scene at the East Bay Area; joining side with artists, such as Lil B, Crohn, and The Cataracs.[6][7] During his early years, he became a member of a local hip hop group, called "The Bay Boyz" (who they; at the time been releasing numerous songs on their Myspace page).[8] G-Eazy performs at the Lollapalooza Music Festival in 2015 G-Eazy performs at Lollapalooza 2015. In 2010, Gillum started gaining popularity, when he was given an opportunity to opened for some well-known artists.[9] Most notably, he opened tours for fellow rappers Lil Wayne[10] and Snoop Dogg.[11][12] Gillums mixtapes in this period of time, were met with limited success. The most notable tracks from this time, included "Waspy" and "Candy Girl".[13] In 2011, one of those tracks attained over 400,000 plays via Myspace.[14][15] In August 2011, G-Eazy released his mixtape, The Endless Summer via his official site. The mixtape sampled a number of songs, most notably an updated version of 1961's US No. 1 hit song, "Runaround Sue" performed by Dion DiMucci, which garnered over four million views via YouTube. The music video for "Runaround Sue" featuring Devon Baldwin, was directed by Tyler Yee.[16] The mixtape features guest appearances from Greg Banks, Erika Flowers and a American Idol contestant Devon Baldwin.[17] In November 2011, Gillum embarked on his nationwide tour with Shwayze.[18] Released on Dreams and Dream k**ers by Circa '87, as well as G-Eazy's The Outsider; the track, "My Life Is a Party" was featured in the game Saints Row: The Third. The song "My Life Is a Party" was heard on one of the in-game radio stations, "95.4 KRhyme FM".[19] On June 16, 2012, Gillum performed all United States dates on the annual Van's Warped Tour on the "House of Marley" stage.[20][21] On July 25, 2012, the Excellent Adventure Tour was announced, which featured Hoodie Allen and G-Eazy. The two performed in cities such as Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Columbus, Des Moines, New Orleans, Atlanta, Austin, and Philadelphia.[22] On September 26, 2012, Gillum released his first independent album, titled Must Be Nice. The album landed at number 3 on the iTunes Hip-Hop Chart, which was completely independent of a label.[23] On December 15, 2013, G-Eazy and Master Chen B performed the song, "Lotta That"; which included from Gillum's album, These Things Happen, in New York City. On July 9, 2013, Gillum opened for Lil Wayne's "America’s Most Wanted Tour"; alongside 2 Chainz, which concluded on September 1 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California.[24] On January 15, 2014, G-Eazy announced the his "These Things Happen Tour" with MMG's Rockie Fresh, KYLE and Tory Lanez. The tour ran for 40 stops throughout the United States and Canada from February until April 2014.[25] 2014–15: These Things Happen and When It's Dark Out On June 23, 2014, G-Eazy released the major-label debut album, titled These Things Happen. The album topped the US Billboard '​s Hip-Hop/R&B and Top Rap Albums charts, also earning him the number 3 spot on the US Billboard 200 and the Top Digital Albums Chart, selling nearly 265,000 copies to date.[26] On October 21, 2014, Gillum embarked on his sold out "From the Bay to the Universe" tour. The tour led across the globe to countries like Australia and New Zealand for his first headlining tour overseas. During summer of 2015, Gillum played some of the main stages at a series of notable music festivals such as Lollapalooza, Electric Forest, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Made in America and Austin City Limits. With the rise of his music career, Gillum has also taken up in interest in fashion by releasing a collaboration with Rare Panther in the fall of 2015 and being named GQ’s top 10 most stylish at New York Fashion Week last year.[27] Gillum’s sophomore album, When It's Dark Out, was released on December 4, 2015.[28] Personal life After graduating from Berkeley High School, Gillum moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University. While enrolled, he took cla**es on marketing, production and business. In 2011, Gillum graduated from Loyola University with a BA in Music Industry Studies.[29]