G Herbo. Formerly, Lil Herb, is the subtle rapper in the streets of Chicago, yet posing for XXL's 2016 Freshman cover. Between the likes of him and Lil Bibby , they front the gang N.L.M.B . (Never Leave My Brothers) -- which is the formation of both, The No Limit (N.L.) Renegade: a faction of the Almighty Black P. Stones . And The Muskegon Boyz (M.B.) Renegade: a faction of the Gangster Disciples . The two are long-time friends and collaborative rappers, having a similar grit in their tone and a shared outlook from their respective hoods/blocks; in fact, both artists were discovered off a track they dropped together back in 2012 titled, "Kill Shit." This, along with Drake's verbal cosign of, "the future," was enough to give Herbo's debut mixtape, Welcome to Fazoland - a revamping of his self-released mixtape, Road toFazoland - an audience awaiting with eager ears. 
          Herbo made use of the Chiraq sound he was immersed in, pumping bar after bar on top of drill music beats -- arguably something that hadn't been done in the time since Chief Keef started the murder-music wave. G got recognized for his prolific vocabulary-mixed- language that told stories of a very harsh and quick-triggered world. Fazoland, dedicated to Herbo's late friend, Fazon Robinson, was directly influenced and driven by his friend's passing, filled with tracks like; At The Light , Koolin , Fight Or Flight , 4 Minutes Of Hell Part 3 , Mamma Im Sorry, On My Soul, Designer, At Night, and Everyday In Chicago.

          G Herbo's second release, Pistol P Project , is more of an interlude than an actual mixtape, but still carries 10 tracks of a relentless, harsh-toned Herbo, spitting over dark Atlanta-trap/Drill-music type beats. In my opinion, he finishes a little weak, but still puts out a handful of tracks like; Pistol P Intro , Where I Reside , Nothing At All , Quick And Easy , and 4 Minutes of Hell Pt 4 by the end of it. 

          His third mixtape, Ballin Like Im Kobe, was dedicated to another one of Herbo's diseased friends, Jacobi D. Herring. This piece of work is probably his best to date, it's hard to find anything negative to say -- Herbo is just too passionate for you not to feel compelled to listen through song for song and leave sided with his perspective. Tracks like: Ls , Watch Me Ball, Bricks Mansions , Bottom Of The Bottom , Gang , Struggle , Pain, and Aint Right show what Herbo is truly capable of when left to himself. This 16 track anthem marked a transitional phase of G's career, growing outside of his own limitations of being a street-bred rapper, now on a platform able to represent and reach out to millions more than previously possible via WorldStar fame alone.

 

G Herbo, along with rappers like Lil Bibby, and Lil Durk , are what I would call Worldstar Famous Rappers. They don't want the same type of acclaim that mainstream artists do, they want money and dedicated fans to keep it coming -- Lil Boosie , Plies , etc are also another era of Worldstar Fame.

 

 

          His fourth and final mixtape, Strictly for My Fans , is another (seeming) interlude of thought before releasing his debut album, Humble Beast, sometime in 2017. It's 11 tracks that are all respectably decent, but don't really match up to those off Ballin. Again, Herbo is able to balance a poetic grit with an aggressive battle-like style of phrasing that is reminiscent of a more politically-minded Meek Mill , or something along the lines of a Chicago-bred Tupac maybe? 

          While 21 Savage might have the real street rapper spotlight focused on him, for the time being, G Herbo is probably more thug in all reality... he doesn't need to claim savage 24/7 or call out every rapper posing to be...why would he need to prove something that is embedded in his character/demeanor?

          Instead, Herbo has continued to focus and prioritize his efforts toward making money and satisfying his fans with original, passionate, and powerful music, both politically and socially relevant -- meaning Herbo is just as potent when smoking a blunt as when smoking an opp. He retells and pays tribute to his fallen friends through each track written, using the back beats that their murders bumped, to pay homage to their souls lost.