As G-Eazy’s double album, The Beautiful & Damned, hit No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and his single, “No Limit,” featuring A$AP Rocky and Cardi B, steadily climbs the Billboard Hot 100, the rapper found himself ending a partnership in the midst of starting his new clothing line with H&M.
“I was excited about H&M to put clothes all around the world and do something that I liked and was cool with, and then I saw that happened, and it was like I’m not cool with it,” he said during an interview Friday (Jan. 12) with The Breakfast Club radio show. The rapper announced Tuesday that he was ending his partnership with the company after a photo went viral of a black boy modeling a hoodie that read “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.” He felt the image was disturbing and “so racially and culturally insensitive.
During the interview, G-Eazy also discussed his past experiences with addiction, with Charlemagne Tha God asking about the constant references to substance abuse on his album. “I don’t know if its recreation or if you’re trying to escape something?” he asked.
“Well, I think that’s a blurry line, its not black and white,” G-Eazy said. “I think sometimes the line between recreation or just tapping in turns into leaning on or depending on or escaping from.”
DJ Envy followed up with, “What gets you out of that dark hole?” G-Eazy responded, “It’s a balance, it’s a vicious cycle, I’m not gonna lie. Sometimes I’ll just be smooth and tap out for a couple weeks and just be.”
On a lighter note, G-Eazy expressed how growing up in the Bay Area had a huge impact on his career, crediting rap legends Too Short, Mistah F.A.B. and Keak Da Sneak for inspiring him musically. “That hustle comes from the Bay. If y’all won’t give it us, we’ll make it ourselves. Too Short slinging tapes out the trunk, E-40 making SickWidit Records.”
Check out more from the interview here: