Tag: G Herbo

G Herbo – “Lil Herb” review

Chicago, Illinois rapper & songwriter G Herbo making his Uptown Records debut with his 9th LP. Breaking out over a decade ago off his debut mixtape Welcome to Fazoland, the resulted in him earning a spot in the legendary 2016 XXL Freshman Class along with 8 full-length albums, the previous ones being the 2-disc Survivor’s Remorse & more recently Big Swerv. Almost 4 & a half years since making his Republic Records debut 25, the artist formerly known as Lil Herb had been moved over to the relaunched Uptown subsidiary so he can take it back to his origins.

“Every Night” begins with a soulful drill instrumental talking about reasonably crying nonstop when his brother passed away whereas “Reason” produced by Don Cannon made for a promising lead single flexing that he’s why people have left the block to become rich, only to return. “Longevity” finds himself feeling like no one can fuck with him although the beat doesn’t move me the same way Southside & Smatt Sertified’s on “Blitz” does, using it to show off his champion status.

We get some strings & 808s meshing with one another during “Radar” asking if anybody listening has ever lived through a nightmare leading into “Where Would I Be?” referencing No Limit Records, who whooped Cash Money Records’ asses at the Verzuz occurring at ComplexCon a couple weeks ago. “Win Again” talks about forever stickin’ to the code for a W just before “1 Chance” reaches the halfway point encouraging the world to not blow their shot.

“Emergency” featuring Wyclef Jean finds the unlikely pairing joining forces over a Turbo instrumental to talk about having bullets piercing through their hearts while “Fallen Soldiers” remembers Juice WRLD, King Von & Pop Smoke respectively. “Give It All” talks about trading the money & fame for a chance to see his brother again while “Whatever U Want” has to be one of the weaker moments of Lil Herb moderately dabbling with pop rap.

The song “Thank Me” featuring Anderson .Paak gets together over some horns sampling WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg’s historic Hollywood Walk of Fame speech right when you press play feeling grateful that neither of them went broke while “Colossal” credits staying on top of business & logistics to him going hard. “Went Legit” concludes the album telling his rags-to-riches story looking back at the days when he had nothing to his successes, but the “Lil Herb Freestyle” starts the deluxe run with that “Ether” flow.

“Ran Thru” talks about making a career out of his pain while “This n That 2” boasts that he was riding around in phantoms before he even got his driver’s license & proving the world isn’t bigger than him for the last 15 years. “Hold My Hand” makes classy usage of sampling to prefer being honest of having no love towards fake shit instead of keeping it to himself & the final bonus track “No Bap” talking about being the only one paying out the bill whenever it’s due.

Needless to say: G Herbo’s last couple of projects have ranged from being average at best to uninspired at worst, so his Uptown Records debut here seemed like he would go back to what made him so popular over a decade ago & it’s exactly what he does sure enough. The production is the most Chicago drill-oriented since possibly 25, which makes up for Survivor’s Remorse & Big Swervo’s mixed-to-negative reception due to the way they both distance from that very sound & the passion of Welcome to Fazoland has been revived in a new incarnation.

Score: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

G Herbo – “25” review

G Herbo is a 25 year old rapper & songwriter from Chicago, Illinois breaking out in 2014 off his debut mixtape Welcome to Fazoland. This resulted in him earning a spot in the legendary 2016 XXL Freshman Class along with 5 full-length albums, the previous ones being PTSD last February & the sequel PTSD 2 a few months later. But after dropping a couple singles back in the spring, Herbo dropping his 6th full-length album on everyone’s heads.

“I Don’t Wanna Die” kicks things off with Herbo expressing his fear of death over a chilling Southside instrumental whereas “Cry No More” with Lil Tjay & Polo G is a piano-heavy plea to not suffer any more losses in all 3 of their lives. OZ works in a high-pitched vocal sample on the hungry “Stans the Rain” just before 21 Savage tags along for the braggadocious T.O.P. produced by Hitmaka.

Meanwhile on “You Can’t”, we have Gunna assisting Herbo on top of a trippy Turbo beat to address those who missed them when they were broke leading into the powerful “No Jail Time”. He later recalls witnessing a murder at the age of 9 on the wrenching “Cold World”, but then Don Cannon helps take things into gospel territory for “Whole Hearts”.

Tay Keith’s production on “2 Chains” seems somewhat influenced by Three 6 Mafia with Herbo flexing his wealth while the Rowdy Rebel-assisted “Drill” brings in a violin-infused drill instrumental for them to paint pictures of Chiraq. “Trenches Know My Name” is a climatic confession about how he can’t stay out of the hood whereas “Doughboy” continues to flex once more except the beat has a more victorious tone to it.

“Demands” has kind of a more folkier quality in the production with Herbo talking about “Make the Hood Great Again” & Jake One provides a soul sample to discuss what “Loyalty” means to him. “Pray for My Enemies” contains these cinematic horns & lyrics about how he’s willing to go up to the furthest length under any extent, but the standard edition closer “Turning 25” brings in some keys & hi-hats to describe how he felt on his 25th birthday.

The first bonus track “Statement” flips the Dipset joint “I Really Mean It” to address the fraud charges he’s currently facing whereas “Really Like That” has a more synth-based sound along with lyrics about how he raps for the streets & you rap for the feds. Finally there’s “Break Yoself”, which is atmospheric cut saying that he’s gon’ be rich forever.

To me, Herbo’s latest output is somewhat overlooked & 25 serves as his most personal album he’s put out yet. You get a good look how he’s been doing in the last 9 months & despite a few misses in the production, a majority of them are pretty tight.

Score: 3.5/5