Steven G’s logo of a red balloon signifies “only one way up,” says the Crenshaw native.
“This red balloon is going to take us wherever we gotta go. If you ain’t rockin’ with us, then it is what it is. But if you rockin’ with us, you know where we goin’. We don’t look back, we don’t look sideways and we don’t look down. We only look up.”
Steven G’s career began inflating when he finally acquiesced to a friend.
“One of my boys was doing music, trying to get me to go in the studio—I’d be like nah, nah,” he says. “So when my boy I was working with and he was like come to a real studio and I went. I recorded myself and after that, when I heard myself the first time, it was like ‘Yeah, it’s go time.’”
The rapper, inspired by the likes of Usher and The-Dream, first catapulted onto the collective social radar when he participated in the #SleepWalkinChallenge by fellow rapper Mozzy. Courtesy of StripJointsMusic.com, he spoke with ED Magazine on his new EP, and his mantra Show Great.
ED: Why is your new EP important to you?
STEVEN G: The other ones was just me following what everyone else was doing at the time. Now, it got serious. I got a name for myself. I really put my all into it. I waited a whole year to drop this, but it’s worth it.
ED: Who is part of your music production team?
STEVEN G: Of course my squad, Show Rep squad, 1500 or Nothing and J classic and Richie Fumes behind all my videos. That’s it, J Classic mixes, produces, backgrounds. He’s like a coach. Most engineers, they just push the button stop, play. He’ll be like ‘No, do it like this, or ‘Try to do something else.’ 1500 Boy, he’s different, he knows my sound. He knows exactly what I want, what I need and then 1500 or nothing, they’re just dope.
ED: What inspired you to create Show Great University?
STEVEN G: Show Great University is us basically going to college. We started from elementary (school) doing music, to middle school to high school. With the tapes and how far we’ve gotten. I never got to go to college, I wanted to live that life. Show Great University, we’re going to make our own campus.
