This year’s Endless Summer Tour is headlined by tour founder and Oakland emcee G-Eazy. He’ll be joined by Philadelphia trap star Lil Uzi Vert. Though the tour is slated to hit 32 cities as it makes its way across the country, this Mountain View stop is sure to be one of the most lit since G-Eazy hails from the Bay. It may also be charged with some serious sexual tension, as G recently parted ways with Halsey (who is slated to play Friday at Shoreline). Ty Dolla $ign, YBN Nahmir, Bay Area spitter P-Lo and DJ Murda Beatz will also be in the building.

G-Eazy & Lil Uzi Vert
Sun, 6:30pm, $29.50+
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View

Hometown hero, Gerald Gillum, better known as G-Eazy, gave an explosive, breathless and sometimes emotional performance to a capacity crowd at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on Friday night. Tearing through a cameo-packed set—in which he brought out tour mates Yo Gotti and YG, as well as “super-duper-hyphee” Oakland rapper Keak Da Sneak—Eazy, who also hails from Tha Town, proved that he is a force to be reckoned with in today’s hip-hop scene.

When It’s Dark Out, G-Eazy’s latest full-length album, released in November of 2015, was certified platinum last month.

G-Eazy came to Mountain View on the “Endless Summer Tour”—a nationwide tour co-headlined by Maryland emcee, Logic, and featuring Los Angeles rapper YG and Memphis spitter Yo Gotti.

Check out pictures of G-Eazy, Logic and fans below. For the full gallery, click here. All photos by Greg Ramar.

G-Eazy.

Logic.

DJ Rhetorik

G-Eazy

G-Eazy

For the full gallery, click here. All photos by Greg Ramar.

We’re baaack… It’s the “Hit List”—a weekly roundup of the hottest concerts, new music, art exhibits, parties and events in Silicon Valley. Be sure to check in with to this weekly feature on Metro’s Activate blog to stay up on the latest and greatest in entertainment news in the South Bay. This week: G-Eazy, YG and Yo Gotti bring their Endless Summer Tour to Shoreline Amphitheatre, the Soulstice EDM fest returns to the City National Civic, Bubba Sparxxx brings his Southern charm to the BackBar SoFa, and Stanford Repertory Theater brings you the latest in their series, “Theater Takes a Stand,” with the classic Charlie Chaplin film, Modern Times. All that, plus much more… 

G-Eazy, YG, Yo Gotti
Fri, 6:30pm, $35-$405
Shoreline Amphitheatre
The Endless Summer tour is easily one of the hottest hip-hop tickets of the season. Oakland native Gerald Earl Gillum, better known as G-Eazy, began his music career in 2008 and launched his second world tour earlier this year. His single “Me Myself & I” peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Also on the tour is is YG, best known for his latest album, Still Brazy and his songs, “Toot It and Boot It” and “Who Do You Love.” Rounding out the bill is Memphis emcee Yo Gotti, whose latest LP, The Art of Hustle, includes the E-40-featuring “Law” and “Down In The DM.” (DM)

Soulstice
Fri, 7pm, $45-$70
City National Civic, San Jose
Over the past few years, Vital Events has built a reputation for assembling stellar lineups for their bass music massives at the City National Civic. The performers slated for Soulstice 2016 are no exception. Headlining this show is Mija, a seafoam green-haired Skrillex prodigy from Phoenix whose badass SoundCloud bio describes her production style as “shredding a tidal wave of whiskey on a surfboard made out of don’t care.” Right on! Branchez, Hermitude, Illenium, Oshi, Luca Lush and PRXZM round out the bill. (MH)

Bubba Sparxxx
Sat, 8pm, $15-$25
BackBar SoFa, San Jose
The gospel-inspired chorus of Bubba Sparxxx’s 2001 hit, “Ugly,” proudly proclaims the emcee’s Southern heritage. Though it’s tempting to write off his initial success as some kind of Y2K cultural glitch, there is little disputing the fact that his Ying Yang Twins-featuring “Ms. New Booty” bangs—it went certifiably gold and boasts upward of 7 million views on YouTube. It would seem that Bubba is still here. What’s more, he appears to be planning a follow up to 2014’s Made on McCosh Mill Road. The Georgian emcee signed to Slumerican, Yelawolf’s Interscope imprint, in March. (MH)

Record Swap
Sat, 9am, Free
Streetlight Records, San Jose
In the past two years, vinyl sales have only gone up, which bodes well for the return of Streetlight’s Record Swap. After a short hiatus, the event returns to the parking lot of the Bascom Avenue store, where music lovers from all over the Bay will come to dig through the crates, exchange knowledge and admire the work of numerous private collectors. It’s a free event that includes live sets from Travis Hayes, Fourth Son and Callow throughout the day. If there’s an LP you’re looking for, you’re likely to find it here. (MH)

Forgotten Gods
Sat, 9pm, Free
The Caravan, San Jose
There comes a time when even the forgotten must say goodbye. For the Lovecraft-ian sounding Forgotten Gods, that time will come this Saturday, when the stoner rock trio play their final show with longtime drummer Kevin Swartz at San Jose’s de facto home of metal—the Caravan. The cover of their last record, 2015’s Twin Sisters, looks like a particularly trippy Hammer horror film, and matches that trippiness with a 10-minute epic called “Kaleidoscope Woman,” which finds a groove somewhere between Mastodon, Sabbath and Torche. It’ll be a night for headbangers, heshers and hash. Plus all the PBR you can drink. (MH)

Obon Festival
Sat-Sun, 12pm, Free
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin
In Japan, the story of the Bon Odori began when Mokuren asked the Buddha to free his departed mother’s soul from purgatory. Buddha advised Mokuren to make offerings to Buddhist monks on the 15th day of the seventh month. Mokuren did as he was told and danced with joy when his mother’s soul was freed. The Bon Odori or “Bon Dance” is the main attraction at the San Jose Obon Festival, which commemorates the richness of Japanese culture. A cultural celebration would not be complete without traditional food and games, as well as three taiko performances. The festival runs through Sunday. (ST)

Island Reggae Festival
Sat, 10am, $70-$160
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose
Summertime is synonymous with music festivals. The same goes for island vacations and the bouncy grooves of reggae. As such, the annual Island Reggae Festival is a perfect fit for sunny skies and warm weather. This one-day, all-ages festival stands out from the rest with island dance competitions, lei-making demonstrations, carnival rides and a tattoo showcase, featuring some of the most talented Polynesian tattoo artists in the Bay Area. Headliners include Common Kings, Tarrus Riley and Collie Buddz, whose 2007 hit “Come Around” celebrates that glorious moment when your weed man finally gets off the couch and hits you back. (ST)

Celebrating Ella
Sun, 2pm, $15-$35
Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford
The sultry and timeless voice of Ella Fitzgerald captured the hearts of music listeners around the world. The first successful woman in jazz, she collaborated with some of the best jazz musicians of her time, including Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. She won 13 Grammys and her album sales exceeded 40 million. Her talents extended beyond jazz music and onto the big screen. She appeared and sang in the Abbot and Costello film, Ride ‘Em, Cowboy, and made a cameo in the film Pete Kelly’s Blues. The Stanford Jazz Festival honors Fitzgerald’s legacy with vocalists Kenny Washington, Bobbe Norris and special guest Alex Brandenburg. (ST)

Modern Times
Mon, 7pm, Free
Cemex Auditorium, Stanford
Pioneering actor, director, producer and composer Charlie Chaplin is undoubtedly one of the most important figures in film. His iconic character, The Tramp—a lovable hobo, known for his bowler hat, baggy pants and big clown-like shoes—faced adversity and overcame obstacles with comedy and good humor, but also depicted the real-life struggles Americans faced during hard times. As part of its 2016 summer festival, “Theater Takes A Stand,” The Stanford Repertory Theater will showcase Chaplin’s silent film classic, Modern Times, which finds The Tramp struggling to adjust to the industrialized work world. The festival runs through Aug. 15 and will also feature The Grapes of Wrath and American Dream. (ST)

G-Eazy paid his dues. In the last seven years, the Oakland rapper shotgunned 11 projects at the Internet, starred in mega-popular music videos and established himself as a social media somebody—all before putting ink to a contract. His Web-based rise epitomizes the way recording artists get big nowadays. His proponents paint him as a reverent student of hip-hop history and a genuine wordsmith, who paired undeniable charisma with a single-minded work ethic to achieve success.

There is, of course, another narrative. The one about how G-Eazy—just like Macklemore and Vanilla Ice before him, and just like Eric Clapton and Elvis Presley before them—is simply another white guy repackaging an originally black art form for a predominantly pasty crowd. Detractors dismiss him as a polished practitioner for white families to compromise on. He’s safe enough for mom, but edgy enough for junior. With his greased hair, clean chin and fitted cuts, G-Eazy (born Gerald Earl Gillum) is as tamely dangerous as a boy-band bad boy.

Then again, it’s 2015, and questioning a rapper’s authenticity based on his skin color feels a bit disingenuous. We’ve already wrung our hands over this. At the turn of the century, Dr. Dre cosigned Eminem’s dizzy lunacy and the pale savant became the highest-selling rapper ever. Kanye and Drake came from the middle class. And a couple years back, the President kicked off the annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner by walking in to DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.”

Hip-hop has long been more popular than rock & roll. Middle-class white boys grow up listening to it. Some try their hand at making it. And a few get good at it. But if hip-hop has expanded to include artists like G-Eazy, the real question is how and where does he fit within the genre. On Dec. 4, he submits his second full-length album, When It’s Dark Out, for our collective consideration.

The 26 year-old’s second major label LP kicks off with “Random,” a Drake-lite banger with baroque chorus blasts, regal, plodding horns and gut-punching kick-snare combos. Then comes the single “Me, Myself and I,” which rides an undulating, super-slow-mo melody into a hard candy EDM hook before exhaling into sneering bars smacked over double-dutching drums. Both tracks blurt the album’s thesis: He’s been grinding hard, and now he’s going to celebrate by consuming a bunch of nice things that won’t end up making him happy.

The theme is entertaining at times. But ultimately, just like the fast women and hard substances that populate the record’s 17 tracks, it isn’t really satiating.

The record’s bright spots include “Some Kind of Drug”—a bouncy, smoldering bedroom ode to truly bomb sex—and “Don’t Let Me Go,” which features a robo kazoo, druggy existentialism and a gale-force hook by GRACE, a gal with the pipes of a two-story tall organ. “Sad Boy,” confronts his fame-related melancholy and wrangles with superficial disatisfaction, substance abuse and his strained relationship with his up-and-down mother.

“Everything Will Be Okay” marks the most personal turn. The third verse unspools a crushing yarn about his mom leaving his dad for a lesbian lover—a woman whom Gillum eventually discovers, blue and overdosed, on the bathroom floor. He tries and fails to revive her. This intricate trauma seems ripe for further spelunking, but it’s one of few descents into the deeper recesses of what makes G-Eazy, G-Eazy.

And here is the crux of When It’s Dark Out’s failings. The title promises a deep dive into a morose mind, but it’s the same surface-level struggle rap he’s always made. It’s like expertly performed scales—technically impressive, but not terribly revealing of the human being behind the noise.

For someone who has released hours of himself talking, I wish I had a better of idea who he is. Too often, he plants songs in already exhausted soil documenting… ..his grind, greed or misbegotten evenings with nameless women. And there’s plenty of postmodern… fun to be had with those moth-balling tropes, but he takes them too seriously—boxing himself into tired creative territory. He either needs to exponentialize the extravagant debauchery or unfurl deeper reflections that could only come from his angle. Lyrically, he just has to do something to cultivate an identity beyond handsome, hardworking, well-moneyed white guy—if he wants to be remembered. If he wants to be profitable, he’s doing just fine.

Race and class matter less than ever in questions of who can make hip-hop, but just because you’re allowed through the door, doesn’t mean you can take a seat. G-Eazy is an industrious student of the genre, who has yet to submit anything worthy of tenure. Instead, he’s taken what others have done, wrapped it in his palatable package and sold it to a generation of musically omnivorous hipsters attracted to his accessible, but infrequently challenging sound.

When you profit from an art without adding much to it, diehards will dismiss you. If you’re eating, you got to bring something to the table.

One idea: Clean-cut white guys have just started to rap. But clean-cut white guys have been biting black sounds for as long as there has been black music. Yet despite hip-hop’s subsistence on sampling, these artists have been left mostly alone. This is where G-Eazy can grow sonically. If he is going to dress up like Elvis, why not scramble up some of The King’s old standards—or Johnny Cash’s gospel, or perhaps some of the Rolling Stones’ Chuck Berry imitations—into new beats?

His breakout and, in my opinion, best single, “Runaround Sue,” did this by modernizing Italian-American Dion Dimucci’s do-wop—a style with black origins. Music feels hollow without roots in a deeper culture and G-Eazy’s place in hip-hop (reluctant though he may be to admit it) is as the latest extension of an ancient, rarely confronted American tradition of white men practicing black art. He could zag away from the current trap/autotune glut and make a novel, nostalgic turn that few other rappers can. If he taps into his cultural predecessors, G-Eazy could make an honest, singular statement, expand hip-hop’s sonic palette and embrace the obvious: he is an outsider in his own genre. He should investigate the noises that come out of the elephant in the room. By highlighting that what he’s doing has been done before, he can do something new.

G-Eazy: ‘When It’s Dark Out’ plays on Dec 4 at RCA Records