I was with my homie from New York, from the Bronx, and I’m like, “Yo did she just say, ‘Put a white boy on a song?’” He’s like, “Put a white boy on Sazón, I might turn G-Eazy out.” I was like, that’s way more fire. That’s clean!

Make a record with Young Gerald. Tour with Young Gerald. Take a pic with Young Gerald. Make some clothes with Young Gerald. Put Young Gerald in a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio. Feel me? Man, Young Gerald is cash cow. Whatever I do, I supply myself too. When I say, “Fuck with me and get some money,” that’s what we’re doing over here. I ain’t got time for nothing else.

Young Gerald is my alter ego. Young Gerald is the good guy. G-Eazy is the crazy, psycho, rockstar staying up three days straight partying and shit. When I wake up out of my slumber, Young Gerald.

In the Bay, it’s not the only place that calls girls boppers. I grew up with, “She’s a ripper,” “She’s a runner,” “She’s a bopper.” That’s a girl that gets around. That’s pretty self-explanatory.

I went into the ‘Rari dealership—Beverly Hills Ferrari—and the guy was like, “Have you ever sat in one?” I was like, “Nah.” He was like, “Get in!” And then he was like, “Yeah I’m a really big fan. I’m waiting on your new album.” I’m like, either this is the coolest moment of my life, or you’re a killer salesman, brother. You’re killing it because I’m feeling myself right now. I’m sitting inside the ‘Rari saying, “What? You’re a fan?” He was like, “Man I thought you would have had three of them."

That shit was just crazy. I test drove it. I was like, “Yeah I gotta get one.” It’s just mandatory. I’ve been talking about a ‘Rari for so long. I was like, “This shit is fire.” I took it around Beverly Hills, just accidentally going a 100 just in a residential street. I was like, “Whoa. That shits fire.”

It just sounds cliché. I mean, you hear so many people talk about Lambos and ‘Raris and McLarens and all this. Personally, I always seen Ferrari and associate it with Apple or Saint Laurent. Or a Nike or Rolex. Just, the class of that tier. The most iconic. The most timeless. And I’ve always been in love with Ferraris. And going down there, I was like, “Fuck it! I’m just going to Ferrari today. At Beverly Hills.” And I just walked in and I was looking at cars. Having the dealer, he knew my music and all this. Just taking it for a test drive and being like, “Damn. I can get this? For real?” That’s definitely a moment in life where if you went in a time machine and told my 14-year-old self, who was selling mixtapes out of my backpack, that one day you might be able to turn these bars into this. It’s just certain points in life. Certain benchmarks. Certain things that stand out. Like, taking care of moms. Putting her in a house. Getting her a brand-new car off the lot that I used to drive past on the bus on the way to school every day. I took her to the same lot that I took the bust past every day. I bought her something fresh, off the lot. And not just to place it on material things, but at the end of the day, Ferrari is Ferrari. Should I go red or black? I’m Batman, black on black.

There’s a lot of ways New Orleans and the Bay connect. But just for one, the independent hustle. You hear legendary stories in the town about Too $hort slanging tapes out of his trunk. And Mac Dre with Thizz. And E-40 with Sick-Wid-It Records. I think the similarities with New Orleans and the Bay is a very strong unique sense of style and identity. Just some, “Fuck all y’all. We’re doing this over here.” And when you have a culture that rich and that strong, there’s an independence in a number of ways. There’s an independent attitude. “Fuck the majors. If y’all don’t get us? Then we don’t need you.” We’re just gonna build this on our own and do it our way. And not have it watered down for nothing. So, that kind of approach to the game and doing it our way kind of thing. Like I said, the music in New Orleans from the ‘90s. From No Limit to Cash Money and all that, always resonated. Another thing is the tempos of a lot of New Orleans music and a lot of hyphy got that same 95-100 beats per minute, 105 beats per minute—up-tempo dance music. I think there’s always been that sonic connection and relatability between New Orleans and the Bay.

A flip on Too Short’s line in the 3rd verse of Burn Rubber