You probably haven’t heard the name G-Eazy in a while, and there’s a good reason for that. The Oakland-born rapper went on hiatus following the death of his mother in November 2021, and aside from the April 2022 tribute single “Angel,” he hasn’t really released anything since his 2021 album These Things Happen Too. It turns out he spent at least some of the last year in Paris, and that seems to have inspired his brand-new single, “Tulips & Roses,” which debuted inside the Top 20 of the Genius Top Rap Songs chart.
G-Eazy produced the song alongside John Michael Rouchell, and he opted to sample “Blame” by the British American soul-jazz-gospel trio Gabriels. According to a press release, G-Eazy is a big fan of the band, and since “Blame” and “Tulips & Roses” both explore “ideas of fault, shame and indulgence,” the sample made perfect sense.
As the song opens, G-Eazy is very much in indulgence mode. But if everyone cooperates, you’ll never learn the specifics of his partying.
Sittin’ on my terrace in Paris
Sun risin’ up as strangers leave my hotel
Afterparties, thank God for NDAs, everything you saw tonight, don’t tell
Understand the urge, but would you please not share this?
Later in the verse, G-Eazy cops to some recreational drug use and name-checks a fancy luggage company whose suitcases retail for more than a grand.
I was faded when I wrote this, off the microdoses
Mushrooms, chocolates, and bottomless Mimosas
It’s been a decade since I knew what being broke is
Being livin’ out RIMOWAs, and I barely know what home is
In the chorus, G-Eazy admits to feeling some anxiety regarding his prolonged absence from music.
When you walk away, they’ll miss you
But stay away too long, they might forget you
’Cause nothing ever lasts forever
Nothing ever lasts forever
But as the second verse begins, G-Eazy is ready to get off the sidelines and reclaim his career.
Clout’s a hell of a drug, I’m so off of it
My star’s back shining bright, I just polished it
This shit’ll get away from you if you ain’t on top of it
Take too long stirring the sauce, you get lost in it
A little further on, he pleads for “no more comparisons,” insisting, “We can all coexist.” He never says which rappers he’s worried about being compared to, but at the end of the verse, he sidesteps such chatter by arguing for his peerlessness.
Should already know this, I’m really one of the coldest
So I need all my respect, I need my tulips and roses
I made my record label fortunes and I met all my quotas
Been a while, had to come remind y’all who the G.O.A.T. is
“Tulips & Roses” arrives with a stylized black-and-white music video in which G-Eazy and his girlfriend live the glamorous life in Paris. Except she’s in cahoots with some local baddies who burgle G-Eazy’s hotel suite, perhaps setting the stage for a second episode.
You can read all the lyrics to “Tulips & Roses” on Genius now.
