G-Eazy is officially entering a new era of his career — and for the first time in more than a decade, he’s doing it outside the traditional major-label system.

The Bay Area rapper has entered a joint partnership with Ty Dolla $ign’s EZMNY Records and independent music company EMPIRE, ending a lengthy chapter that saw G-Eazy release six consecutive albums through RCA Records.

G-Eazy announced the move Wednesday, September 23, describing the partnership as an opportunity to regain creative freedom while working alongside people with whom he has longstanding personal and regional connections.

“To me, this is bigger than a deal,” G-Eazy said in announcing the partnership. “This is about bringing it all home.”

The arrangement brings together three distinctly West Coast pieces. G-Eazy emerged from Oakland and the broader Bay Area music scene, EMPIRE was founded in San Francisco, and EZMNY was co-founded by Los Angeles native Ty Dolla $ign and veteran music executive Shawn Barron.

For G-Eazy, that geography appears to be part of the point.

After spending more than a decade operating within one of the world’s largest record-label systems, he is bringing the next phase of his career back to an independently structured company with deep roots in the same region where his career began. (Complex)

More Than a Decade With RCA

G-Eazy’s relationship with the major-label system stretches back to the breakthrough that transformed him from an independent Bay Area rapper into an international star.

His 2014 album These Things Happen became his major-label debut through RCA Records.

The project reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and included “I Mean It,” while also building on the enormous online following G-Eazy had developed during his independent years.

Then came When It’s Dark Out in 2015.

That album produced “Me, Myself & I,” his collaboration with Bebe Rexha, which became one of the defining records of G-Eazy’s career and pushed him much further into mainstream pop.

Two years later, The Beautiful & Damned continued the run.

Its biggest single, “No Limit,” featuring A$AP Rocky and Cardi B, became another major crossover hit and reached the upper tier of the Billboard Hot 100.

Those records established G-Eazy as something significantly bigger than the regional independent rapper who had spent years building his audience through mixtapes, touring and online releases.

RCA remained his label home through the next several chapters.

In total, G-Eazy’s last six albums were released through RCA, extending from These Things Happen through his 2025 project Helium. (Complex)

Now that run is over.

G-Eazy Says He Wanted to Put Creativity First

G-Eazy’s explanation for the move wasn’t framed as an attack on his former label.

Instead, he presented the new partnership as the fulfillment of an ambition he had carried with him even while operating within the major-label system.

“After spending over a decade signed to a major label and bringing so many of my dreams to life — the one dream I never let go of was to one day be able to work with my friends in a situation where we collectively and culturally prioritized the creativity and the music itself first,” he said. (Complex)

That distinction is important.

G-Eazy isn’t leaving the music business or attempting to operate completely by himself. He’s moving from the traditional major-label structure into a partnership involving independent companies capable of providing many of the distribution, marketing and infrastructure services associated with larger labels.

EMPIRE has spent years building precisely that type of model.

Founded in San Francisco by Ghazi Shami in 2010, the company developed a significant presence in hip-hop by combining label services, distribution and technology while remaining independent of the three major music groups.

Its Bay Area roots also make the G-Eazy partnership particularly fitting.

G-Eazy has long used “From the Bay to the universe” as a description of his ambitions.

Now his business is coming back to the Bay as well. (Grammy)

Ty Dolla $ign Is More Than a Business Partner

The other major component of the arrangement is Ty Dolla $ign.

Ty and longtime A&R executive Shawn Barron launched EZMNY Records in 2022 with an artist-development-focused philosophy. Leon Thomas became the label’s first signing before the company expanded its roster.

The label’s stated goal has been to prioritize musicianship and artist development rather than simply chasing viral records.

That philosophy appears to be one of the reasons G-Eazy viewed EZMNY as an appropriate home for the next stage of his career. (Atlantic Records Press)

G-Eazy described Ty as both a genuine friend and one of the most talented musicians he has worked with.

That relationship matters because the new deal is being presented as more than a conventional artist signing.

It’s a partnership built around existing relationships.

G-Eazy even joked about how naturally the arrangement sounds.

“G-Eazy signing to EZMNY kinda just has a ring to it doesn’t it?” he said. (Complex)

EMPIRE Says the Relationship Goes Back Years

EMPIRE COO Nima Etminan similarly emphasized that the partnership did not begin with negotiations over a contract.

According to Etminan, G-Eazy has maintained relationships with the company and its artists for years, including supporting EMPIRE acts and bringing artists on tour.

When the opportunity emerged to partner on G-Eazy’s next project, Etminan said the decision was straightforward.

The company described the deal as a “full circle” moment connecting years of friendship and collaboration with G-Eazy’s Bay Area roots. (LinkedIn)

That regional connection gives the deal an additional significance.

G-Eazy spent years becoming one of the Bay Area’s most commercially successful mainstream rappers while working through a major label headquartered far outside the region.

EMPIRE, meanwhile, built one of independent music’s most recognizable operations from San Francisco.

Their paths were always relatively close.

Now they’re officially doing business together.

“JFK” Starts the New Chapter

Fans won’t have to wait long to hear what comes next.

G-Eazy and Ty Dolla $ign are releasing a new collaboration titled “JFK” on Friday, September 25.

The song will serve as the first major musical release connected to G-Eazy’s new chapter.

The pair already gave fans an early preview.

G-Eazy unexpectedly appeared during Ty Dolla $ign’s recent Madison Square Garden tour stop in New York, where they debuted the collaboration before its official release. (Complex)

That makes the timing of the partnership announcement deliberate.

G-Eazy isn’t announcing a business change and disappearing to figure out his next move.

The new music is already arriving.

G-Eazy Is Also Back on the Road

The label transition comes while G-Eazy is in the middle of another major touring cycle.

He and Logic launched The Endless Summer Tour Part II earlier this month, reviving the touring partnership they originally established a decade ago.

The 23-city North American run began September 15 and continues through late October, with stops including Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles before concluding in Mountain View, California.

Juicy J is also appearing on select dates. (Live Nation Newsroom)

The tour itself is another full-circle moment.

Logic and G-Eazy originally toured together on the Endless Summer Tour in 2016, during the height of G-Eazy’s major-label breakthrough.

Ten years later, they’re doing it again.

But G-Eazy’s business situation is completely different.

The Independent Route Is Familiar Territory

Although this is G-Eazy’s first departure from the major-label system in more than a decade, independence isn’t foreign to him.

Before RCA, he built much of his initial career independently.

G-Eazy released music directly to fans, toured aggressively and developed an online following before the traditional music industry fully embraced him.

His early career was essentially built around the same independent mentality that he is now returning to — although the infrastructure available to independent artists in 2026 is dramatically different from what existed when he was starting.

Companies such as EMPIRE can now provide global distribution and label infrastructure without necessarily requiring artists to enter the traditional major-label model.

For an established artist who already possesses name recognition, touring history, a catalog and a direct relationship with millions of listeners, that can create a very different negotiating position.

G-Eazy isn’t trying to build an audience from zero.

He’s bringing an audience with him.

What the Deal Does — and Doesn’t — Mean

Calling G-Eazy “independent” requires some context.

He hasn’t simply started uploading records on his own without outside infrastructure.

He has entered a joint partnership with EZMNY and EMPIRE.

That means there is still a professional label and distribution structure surrounding the music.

The significant difference is that the arrangement sits outside the traditional major-label ecosystem that defined the previous 12 years of his recording career.

The exact financial terms, ownership structure and length of the agreement have not been publicly disclosed.

So it would be premature to make assumptions about precisely how masters, advances, royalties or other rights are divided.

What G-Eazy himself has emphasized is freedom.

“This partnership gives us the freedom to move with purpose and power,” he said. “It’s a new chapter, and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come.” (Complex)

From the Bay, Back to the Bay

There is a symmetry to the move.

G-Eazy spent his early career proving that an artist from the Bay Area could independently build enough momentum to force the larger music industry to pay attention.

The major-label chapter that followed produced his biggest records, international tours and mainstream recognition.

Now, after more than a decade inside that system, he’s returning to an independently structured operation headquartered in the same region where his career began.

This isn’t G-Eazy starting over.

It’s G-Eazy attempting to take what he built during the major-label years and carry it into a different business model.

The first test arrives immediately.

“JFK” with Ty Dolla $ign drops September 25.

For G-Eazy, it will be more than another single.

It will be the first release of his post-major-label career.