Gerald Gillum

By: Thea McDarrah & Daniel Irwin

Early Life
-

Born May 24, 1989 in Oakland

Had a very tight group of friends
Would record in his room with his friends
Mother left his father in the first grade
His mother realized that she was a lesbian
Had a stepmom named Melissa
Melissa later overdosed on antidepressants and died
Wrote a song about her
He decided that when he was young that he wanted to be called G-E and soon
G-Eazy came along

Education
-

Went to Berkeley High School

Moved to New Orleans
Attended Loyola University
Missed school a lot to perform for people
Most of his professors were okay with it
He had one professor who was not and threatened to fail him if he missed
one more class
Graduated with a BA in the music industry

Where it all started

-

Produced his first big mixtape The Endless Summer in 2010

2012 Vans Warped Tour
Toured with Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg
Took notes on how they performed and interacted with fans
After seeing how successful they were he tried to recreate what they did
Decided he wanted to have a distinct style which included: a pompadour, a leather jacket, and either
mostly dark or black outfits

Poetic Themes and Devices

The most present themes throughout this poet's work include the rise to fame and
family problems.
The majority of Gerald Gillums songs and poetry are narrative.
He writes elegies for his family members who were close to him and passed away.
Gerald uses metaphors and hyperboles to draw images in the reader/listener's
mind to give them a better understanding of what he is trying to say.

Everything Will Be OK
In that first grade class they came and got me
"Your mom's outside, say goodbye now to everybody"
U-Haul was waiting with all of her things
At least what she could pack
In the time my dad's at work and before he came back
Way to young to comprehend what was happening
"Are we going to grandma's? When are we coming back again?"
Little did I know that we were leaving him by himself
And ten years would pass before Mom sees anybody else
Just us, in middle school I ain't understand
Who Melissa was and why she wasn't another man
Biased and confused they try to explain but nobody can
Wanted what I thought was normal, she had another plan
Such is life, even if it took time for me to accept it
No longer Dad now, but a woman with whom she slept with
Or for the years when a secret was how she kept it
I ain't get it, admittedly I was skeptic

I came around, happiness I see what you may have found

And that's what's most important
I dont wanna see you breaking down
I wanna see you smile, I don't wanna see you make a frown
If she loves you, then that's all anybody needs maybe now
By '05 things had gotten worse
Moved to the basement, deep depressions a rotten curse
Hiding in a dark space, her mind and her body hurts
Becoming more reclusive and the pills should have been alerts
So the worse it got, I became more and more afraid
Until one night, I went into that room, on the floor she laid
I shook her she was blue, her skin was cold, she wasn't breathing
Screamed, "Melissa wake up" couldn't fathom that she was
leaving
Mom and Bro was running down, I screamed "somebody help"
Try pumping her chest, CPR, but it didnt help
Toughest pill to swallow, but we lost, thats forced reflection
While in her life you made her happy, thank you for the blessing

Opportunity Cost
Everything costs something bro
Winning somewhere, somewhere else you just lost something though
The cost of opportunities is always good to know
But if you know that then you're good to go
Yea, no dreams too big
Chase anything you have the passion to do
Only a dream 'till it happens to you
Finally seeing money now I'm acting a fool
Never thought touring the world all year would be something I might actually do

Imagery Portrayed
-

Your moms outside say goodbye now to everybody U-Haul was waiting with
all of her things
I wanna see you smile, I don't wanna see you make a frown

Toughest pill to swallow

Citations
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-Eazy G-Eazy." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
http://www.billboard.com/artist/1493192/g-eazy/biography G-Eazy." - Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/meet-g-eazy-almost-famous-20140812 "Meet G-Eazy: A Rapper Who Outsells Phish But Is Still 'Almost Famous'" Rolling Stone. N.p., 12 Aug.
2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
http://www.last.fm/music/G-Eazy/+wiki "Last.fm." G-Eazy's Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016
http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Hip-hopper-G-Eazy-on-the-brink-5905101.php "Hip-hopper G-Eazy on the Brink." SFGate. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
http://www.shmoop.com/loyola-university-new-orleans/ Shmoop Editorial Team. "Loyola University New Orleans | About Me." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web.
05 Apr. 2016.
Website

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/12128597/Antidepressants-have-been-a-lifesaver-for-me.html Betts, Hannah. "Antidepressants Have Been a Lifesaver for Me." The
Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
http://www.azlyrics.com "Welcome to AZLyrics!" AZLyrics. Gerald Gillum, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.