Rapper G Perico

Episode notes

G Perico at Maximum Fun. Photo by Kevin Ferguson.

This interview originally aired in September 2021. 

G Perico is a gangster rapper from Los Angeles. That puts him firmly in a tradition of artists stretching from Ice T and the DOC in the 80s, through Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg in the 90s, and onto hitmakers like The Game and YG in the 21st century. 

Like Snoop in the LBC and YG in Compton, G Perico maps out the landscape of his particular piece of Los Angeles. He raps about the LA he grew up in.

G Perico was born Jeremy Nash in South Central. There are cookouts and car shows, but there’s also danger. He grew up in the kind of neighborhood where, broadly speaking, you either had friends who rolled with gangs or you didn’t have friends. 

The South Central rapper has been arrested. He’s been to youth authority then to jail and then to prison. He’s been shot at and been shot. And when you listen to his music, it’s all there. The echoes of thirty-some years of records about cruising, barbequing, and repping your set in the streets of LA. 

When G Perico raps, he’s a master stylist. His nasal voice cuts up on heavy beats. It’s the force behind his breakthrough in 2016 with S**t Don’t Stop. That record established him as the vanguard of LA street rap.

In the span of seven years, he’s recorded nearly a dozen albums. He’s worked with Freddie Gibbs, Kamasi Washington and E-40. In his latest project “Hot Shot: Gangsta Grillz,” he worked with DJ Drama. 

When G Perico spoke with us back in 2021, he’d just dropped his record “Play 2 Win.” He joined Bullseye and reflected on his upbringing, the music he listens to, and embracing his imperfections. Plus, he talked with Jesse about the people in his life that influenced his signature hair style.

His new record is called Hot Shot: Gangsta Grillz, it’s available to stream or purchase online now.