Bay area rap star G-Eazy (real name Gerald Gillum) has been prolific in quarantine, covering songs by the likes of Radiohead and Bob Dylan, hosting live stream events, showing up on late night talk shows and in gossip columns, and even completing a surprise project, Everything’s Strange Here. But that hasn’t kept the platinum chart topper, who has almost 20 million monthly listeners, from checking out his favorite TV and movies during the pandemic.
In fact, he told me that the opening track of Everything’s Strange Here, a cover of Beck’s “Everybody Gotta Learn Sometime,” was inspired by his favorite movie of all time, the superb 2004 Michel Gondry-directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet.
Here’s what else he’s been watching (and rewatching).
Steve Baltin: What made you cover the Beck song?
Everything about that movie I’ve always loved. And that song has been one of my favorites of all time. But I feel like, in a way, those lyrics speak to what’s going on in our world right now, probably in a different way than it was intended.
I went on a horror binge recently. We watched Rosemary’s Baby; this old French film — it’s a classic — called Eyes Without a Face; The Shining. Just a ton of horror.
G-Eazy: Mad Men, hands down. I just restarted it again. I love Mad Men [laughs].
G-Eazy's Binge Watch Playlist
Steve Baltin has written for Rolling Stone, Forbes, Billboard, Los Angeles Times, MOJO and more, as well as hosted the Amazon Prime series ‘Riffing With’ and the podcast ‘My Turning Point.’ He is a Southern California-based writer who loves a great sitcom.