Staying “fresh” never was so G-eazy.

Recognize the name Gerald Gillum? No? Well, maybe you know him better as Loyola’s own budding rap superstar, G-eazy. This music industry studies freshman’s video for his new single, “Fresh,” can be seen on YouTube and heard on Myspace.com/BAYBOYMUSIK. There you’ll also find other songs from his forthcoming EP of the same name, which will be available for download on iTunes.

But getting to Loyola to cultivate his music wasn’t always trouble-free for the Oakland native. Gillum grew up in the diverse Bay Area public school system and was heavily influenced by some of the negative aspects of the hip-hop culture. Consequently, the crime in his surrounding area caused him and the tough crowd he was hanging out with to fall into a rough situation.

“I got arrested and I went to juvenile hall and when I was in there, I felt like I fit right in which was scary because nobody was on no college s-, and most of them were talking about it like they already knew they were going to do hard time when they grew up,” Gillum said solemnly, a change from his usual comedic demeanor. “So for me when I got out, I really had to just tell myself, do I want to be on that path or do I want to be on the path to be able to further myself because that’s the way our society operates.

“That was the turning point in my life that really made me want to take school seriously and go to college. Without an education, you’re nothing. Sometimes negative things can work out for the best.”

During those tough times and throughout high school, G-eazy and his rap group, The Slap Doctors, continued to record and sell their own CDs. And for this producer turned rapper/producer, recording became the one thing to look forward to after school.

“It became a everyday thing where I would come home early from school and start making beats … and it was fun to write songs and be able to record them like from thin air,” Gillum said.

“It became a passion real fast.”

Once his friend Tyler Yee, theater sophomore and part-time model, spotted his passion and talent, the two decided to team up and shoot a video for his single, “Fresh.”

“It went a lot better than I thought it would be,” Yee said of directing his first video, “The first night was not planned out at all. But other than that, it went very smoothly.”

The shoot took place over two days at a local club, The Republic, and St. Raymond’s Shopping Center. It featured Loyola students as extras – most notably, Gillum’s real-life girlfriend Ashleigh Barice, sociology junior.

But Gillum and Yee weren’t alone in handling the organization and planning for the video. They recruited Loyola’s own artist services student business, Noitavoni (innovation spelled backward and without an extra “n”). This group is headed by international business sophomore Matt Bauerschmitt (also part-time DJ last heard spinning at Loyola’s Masquerade Ball), finance sophomore Malcolm Curtis, and marketing sophomore Jasmine Bailey. Their company focuses not only on music artists, but also fashion designers and videographers among other things.

“We’re a full artist services company,” Bauerschmitt said. “We leave them to their art and we find a way to make them marketable.”

So with his first music video behind him, all Gillum has to worry about now are those inevitable comparisons to Eminem and Vanilla Ice. But Gillum has a positive Heidi Montag-esque attitude that any publicity is good publicity.

“There will be comparisons, and there’s nothing you can do about that,” Gillum said. “I mean, I’m white and I rap, obviously. But I look at haters and fans in the same light because it’s all publicity and it’s all attention and if my name is in your mouth, then I’m doing something right, you know? So, I don’t ever let negative attention get to me.”

Gillum has even been accused of stealing New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne’s rap style.

“I either get that I sound like Wayne, or that I sound nothing like Wayne and I’ve got a unique voice,” Gillum said. “Wayne is a big influence, and I’ll be honest, on certain records I do sound a little bit like Wayne… But certain types of songs that I do, you would never hear Wayne doing.”

But G-eazy, who draws inspiration for his songs from his own life experiences, has certainly made an image of his own, sporting a thick gold chain and wearing glasses with no lenses.

“It’s something I’ve done for a long time, even back home when I was in high school growing up,” Gillum laughed. “And when I got here, it was different. I was looked at like it was weird and different and it kind of caught on that that’s him, that guy with glasses and no lenses. It became my type of image and you kind of got to stick with it once people see that and they classify that as G-eazy. So if you wear your glasses with no lenses, then you look like G-easy, you feel me?”

But despite his “unique” attire, Gillum’s future is full of promise as he slowly gains respect from his peers for his music.

“G-eazy is going places,” Bauerschmitt said. “He can be a major player in the music scene in the next couple of years.”

Gillum has come a long way from selling his CDs out of his backpack, and he feels that by having fun, making music and reaching fans, he’s already made it.

“He is hands down, one of the most talented guys I’ve ever met,” Yee said. “He’s, like, the entire package and he’s going to go far. I’d put money on it.”

Briana Prevost can be reached at [email protected].