G-Eazy Discusses the Crazy Year He’s Had Leading Up to ‘When It’s Dark Out’

G-Eazy's sophomore album, When It's Dark Out, lived up to expectations with a top five debut on the Billboard charts. The follow-up to 2014's These Things Happen has kept the Bay Area rapper busy for much of the year. XXL sat down with the 25-year-old to recap his wild 2015.

With two successful projects under his belt, G-Eazy isn't letting his foot off the gas and walks around with a chip on his shoulder that has carried him from a regional MC with a buzz to a headlining act on tours. "I didn't just land year by accident," he tells XXL of his success. "This is hard work and dedication. This isn't some science experiment or some shortcut."

The rapper has been dealing with the ebbs and flows of fame and living the fast life for the last two years. "If you think about it, this has been the craziest year of my life," he shares. "It's been wild, it's been a roller coaster, really. There's all kinds of highs and lows and how you deal with this new found fame or whatever you want to call it. Sometimes you want to escape it and sometimes it's the funnest thing in the world."

G-Eazy also discusses working with Southside in Atlanta and the pressures of putting out a sophomore album that lives up to higher expectations. "It's harder this time around. I think the second album is when a lot of people get caught up. You have your whole life to make the first one, then all of a sudden shit gets popping and you have this pressure and expectations and you have to turn around the second one. I let that motivate me instead of psyching me out and we just went in and did the work."

Watch above as G-Eazy reveals why he looks up to Drake and Kanye West, the parallels he sees between his career and Johnny Cash's and much more.

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