Rapper G-Eazy works his way to the spotlight

Three years ago, G-Eazy was flying just beneath the radar. He’d developed an underground following, drumming up recognition on YouTube and releasing two buzzed-about albums on an indie label. A 2014 profile in Rolling Stone wondered, “Is the spotlight not far behind?”

Now the 26-year-old is signed to RCA and has had two LPs show up on the Billboard charts. It’s been a gradual climb from cult success to mainstream recognition for the California-based rapper, whose spring tour hits the Spokane Arena on April 7.

“We went from 50 people to 200 people to 1,000 people to now 6,000 or 7,000,” G-Eazy said during a recent phone interview. “And we’ve opened up for artists along the way in rooms that I’m playing now. So we’ve had glimpses of all this, and I’ve always wanted to perform in venues at this scale. I’ve always had a vision of doing this. I mean, we literally started out just me and my manager driving his parents’ car.”

G-Eazy, real name Gerald Earl Gillum, was drawn toward hip-hop while growing up in Oakland, and he started writing his own lyrics and engineering his own beats when he was 13 or 14.

“It’s what I’ve been listening to since I was a kid,” he said. “Some kids were into sports, and I was into music. … I downloaded a bootleg copy of Photoshop and taught myself how to design album covers, and I was selling burned CDs out of my backpack.”

After studying music production and marketing at Loyola University and independently releasing two LPs and a handful of mixtapes, G-Eazy’s major label debut, 2014’s “These Things Happen,” went on to top the Billboard rap charts.

He’s currently touring behind his 2015 album, titled “When It’s Dark Out,” which boasts appearances from Big Sean, Chris Brown, E-40 and Too $hort. It’s already a Top 10 hit, as is his single “Me, Myself and I,” a collaboration with in-demand songwriter Bebe Rexha.

“It’s a step forward,” G-Eazy said of the newest album. “Musically, I think it’s a more sophisticated record. You work on your technique, you work on your craft. As far as the inspiration and what went into it personally, I’ve lived more. I’ve seen more, I’ve been around the world. My relationships with people have changed. My perspective has changed.”

“When It’s Dark Out” plays almost like a self-referential concept album about the agonies and ecstasies of superstardom, set in a world where backstage dalliances, free booze and A-list entourages are all part of the daily routine.

“I am materialistic,” G-Eazy admits on “One of Them,” before conceding, “I want all these things that I never had growing up.”

But this is also a record that’s unexpectedly tinged with regret and disillusion. For every all-night party, there’s the juggling of schedules, the questionable relationships and the impossible task of trying to stay grounded while soaring to stardom. It’s the work of an artist who’s as exhilarated as he is exhausted.

On “Everything Will Be OK,” G-Eazy details the suicide of his mother’s partner; “Drifting” concerns the ever-growing gulf between an international pop star and his friends and family back home.

“In a year I went from overlooked to overbooked,” he observes on “Sad Boy,” and he later steps outside of his G-Eazy persona to address himself: “Gerald, what you so sad for? / This is everything you asked for.”

“I think you see that as a theme in a lot of peoples’ second albums,” G-Eazy said. “It’s not a story you’ve never heard before. Fame is a lot to deal with.”

Despite being tied to a major label, G-Eazy maintains that he still has creative control over his work. He’s something of a control freak in that regard, having cultivated his own image from day one.

“The scale has definitely changed, but the way we operate and approach things creatively hasn’t,” he said. “That’s what I put my foot down about when we were negotiating the deal, that creative control meant a lot to me. Having done everything myself from a very young age, I pay attention to every single detail.”