G-Eazy – “Helium” review

Oakland, California rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & actor G-Eazy making up for the delays of his 8th studio LP. Breaking out into the mainstream with his 3rd album These Things Happen in 2014, this was followed up a year later with When It’s Dark Outas well as The Beautiful & Damned back in 2017. Scary Nights was a subpar prelude to These Things Happen Too, Everything’s Strange Here easily stands as his embarrassing body of work yet & the These Things Happen sequel was only better by a small margin. Freak Show was one of the worst albums of 2024 & is putting out Helium only 11 months later.

“GRWM” was a mediocre trap intro talking about hoes calling him & asking them to pay him whereas “Kiss the Sky” gives boom bap a shot only for him to miss with a weak homage to the iconic Jimi Hendrix cut “Purple Haze”. The title track gets into his signature pop rap style pleading for this woman’s love leading into the underwhelming boom bap/rap rock crossover “Outside” featuring Diany Dior staying out for the summer.

Finishing the first half, “Dream About Me” tells his ex not to even think of him in her dreams over a generic trap instrumental just before “Fight & Fuck” gets back on the pop rap vibe once again describing a toxic relationship where he & his partner argue only to make lover afterwards. “Nada” wound up being a close contender for one of the worst singles to come out in 2024 partying when he wants, but then “After Dark” expresses his desire to be understood.

“How Can You Sleep?” gets it going on the final minutes of Helium with an acoustic pop rap cut finding G-Eazy admitting that he can’t move on from this woman that he said he would try to leave in the past & I found the lead single “Vampires” to be a tiring closer addressing toxic relationships once again although I don’t really mind the moodier sound all that much nor did I have any issue with the Bahari hook/bridge.

Conceptually built around the highs & lows of love & life, the sliver of optimism I had regarding this one wasn’t really done any justice even if it was released the day prior of G-Eazy’s birthday & the birthday of his brother he was closer than close too. The boom bap portions are actually average at best & the idea of parties never lasting forever being worth it in the end is a valid life lesson, except neither the trap or the pop rap cuts don’t really scratch the itch.

Score: 1.5/5

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G-Eazy – “Freak Show” review

Here we have the 7th full-length studio LP from Oakland, California rapper G-Eazy. Breaking out into the mainstream with his 3rd album These Things Happen in 2014, this was followed up a year later with When It’s Dark Out as well as The Beautiful & Damned back in 2017. Scary Nights was a subpar prelude to These Things Happen Too, Everything’s Strange Here easily stands as his embarrassing body of work yet & the These Things Happen was only better by a small margin. Almost 3 years later, G’s bringing the Freak Show to our ears.

After a cringeworthy intro, the first song “Showbiz” has a general hardcore sound than what I typically expect from him describing his musical influences whereas the title track featuring French Montana is where shit really starts heaping up in piles gratingly talking about having 3 hoes each over an uninteresting trap instrumental. “Femme Fatale” featuring Coi Leray & Kaliii samples “Heaven & Hell’s on Earth” by the 20th Century Steel Band discussing feminism although Coi has the best verse, but then Lancey Foux washes G-Eazy harder than Coi on the grimier “Say Less” advising to do simply that.

“Backseat” clouding reminisces being in the backseat of a taxi in New York during the fall with an ex who left him asking if happiness is possible to achieve when it most certainly is while “W.T.F.D.I.K. (What The Fuck Do I Know?)” turns back into trap turf trying to persuade the audience he’s grown when he’s still dropping corny bars like he’s the Johnny Cash or Elvis Presley of hip hop when his music has never been enjoyable as either late artist prior to “South of France” returning to the boom bap asking what he is if he isn’t a star, which I can answer with a below average pop rap artist with a proving discography who went multi-platinum.

Leon Bridges’ hook on “1 Day” might be my favorite on the album nor do I mind the kicks & snares, it’s that I’ve heard the theme of giving his partner the world done better previously. “Love You Forever” produced by Apex Martin was a genuinely heartfelt single dedicated to Gerald’s mother while the 3rd installment of the “Love Killers” trilogy takes it back to his pre-fame roots. “Anxiety” atrociously ends the LP butchering a sample of the London Callingtitle track by The Clash like he wants to be MGK to talk about getting high to ease the pain away.

The Outsider & The Endless Summer have always remained as the most I’ve ever enjoyed any of G-Eazy’s output & granted both of those mixtapes are average at best, none of the EPs or full-lengths he’s offered us over a decade of mainstream popularity have been able to surpass them in quality by punching under their weight & Freak Show sure enough adds on to the pile. Gerald occasionally displays some cool personal moments outside of his usual corniness like “Showbiz or “Love You Forever”, the guest performances are 50/50 & the production makes me appreciate These Things Happen Too’s more by a hair.

Score: 1/5

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G-Eazy – “Scary Nights” review

G-Eazy is a 30 year old rapper from Oakland, California that broke out into the mainstream with his 3rd album These Things Happen in 2014. This was followed up a year later with When It’s Dark Out as well as The Beautiful & Damned back in 2017. But to prepare listeners for the sequel to the album that got Gerald where he is today, he’s giving fans an appetizer with his 4th EP.

The title track that kicks the EP off whines about how they don’t want him to shine over a sinister Boi-1da instrumental whereas the next song “I Wanna Rock” with Gunna finds the 2 boasting over a dime a dozen trap beat. The track “Full Time Cappers” with Moneybagg Yo is as generic as it gets both musically & lyrically while the song “Big Ben” with Preme sees the 2 flexing over a comatose instrumental.

“K I D S” with Dex Lauper talks about how neither of them ever sleep over an airy instrumental & even though the song “Hittin’ Licks” makes sappy Bonnie & Clyde comparisons over a banging instrumental from Charlie Heat. The penultimate track “Demons & Angels” with The Game sees the 2 talking to their significant others over a soulful boom bap instrumental & then the closer “A Very Strange Time” talks about losing his mind over a tasteless trap beat.

Even though this might be his darkest work yet, it’s still not very good. I understand Halloween‘s around the corner & that Gerald’s in the holiday spirit which isn’t a bad thing, but his trite lyricism & bland production from his past material all remain intact to the point of boredom.

Score: 1.5/5