"THE GOAT" is the Perfect Gateway for Polo G Fandom
At only 21 years old, recording artist Polo G has quickly built a cult-like fanbase as well as a launchpad to stardom. While many Hip-Hop fans may not know much about the young Chicago artist, Polo G is planning to be the most well-known rapper of his generation. Coming from a world of violence, police brutality and death, Polo G’s music comes off differently than many artists who talk about the trials and tribulations of growing up in the hood. But it isn’t just his approach that differs from many artists, specifically his versatility in style, energy, and approach on a song to song basis. What’s also interesting is the manner in which he often dives deep on how he came from a life of violence, striving to take himself and everyone around him to a much better place and way of living. On his latest album “THE GOAT,” Polo G shows that he truly is a versatile artist.
The album has a good amount of features but is also jam-packed with more than enough songs to show what Polo G brings to the table. Standing at 16 songs over 47 minutes, “THE GOAT,” shows just how many sounds Polo G has mastered. The album features a mix of top tier artists and producers, including Mustard, Mike WiLL Made-It, Juice WRLD, Stunna 4 Vegas, NLE Choppa, Lil Baby and BJ the Chicago Kid.
Categories
Polo G shows he’s actually quite versatile releasing multiple categories of songs that are scored on a 1.5 scale. (0 = trash, .5 = not for me, 1 = good, 1.5 = a standout)
High Musicality
Polo G incorporates songs that include much more than just a few notes on the piano, but harmonies from multiple instruments.
“Don’t Believe The Hype” (1)
“Relentless” (1)
“Trials & Tribulations” (1)
“Wishing For A Hero” ft. BJ the Chicago Kid (1.5)
Chill and Lowkey
On “The Goat” Polo G allows himself room for a lot of versatility, making some emotional and romantic tracks.
“Heartless” ft. Mustard (1)
“Martin & Gina” (1.5)
“33” (.5)
“Beautiful Pain (Losing My Mind)” (1)
“Be Something” ft. Lil Baby (1)
Aggressive bass
On these beats, Polo G is rapping his ass off, the bass is hard and simple, giving Polo more than enough space to kill the verse and the hook.
“Flex” ft. Juice WRLD (1.5)
“Go Stupid” ft. Mike WiLL Made-It, Stunna 4 Vegas & NLE Choppa (1.5)
“21” (1.5)
“I Know” (1)
“No Matter What” (1)
“DND” (1)
“Chinatown” (.5)
The Standouts
“Flex” ft. Juice WRLD
Not only did Hit-Boy kill the production on this beat, but the way Polo G glides on the hard bass and guitar strums is mesmerizing. The energy isn’t too high or too low, it’s a perfect balance of two different styles. More than just Polo G killing the chorus and his verses, the posthumous verse from Juice WRLD is borderline perfect, the way the whole song bangs, it would be very difficult to skip this song, and is potentially the best song on the project.
“Go Stupid” ft. Mike WiLL Made-It, Stunna 4 Vegas & NLE Choppa
“Go Stupid” is a great switch up of vibes on this album. Polo G shows he isn’t just some Gang Blues singer, he’s actually a skilled rapper even saying “Don’t you know Polo G, skinny-tall with the dreads, That lil n***a be rappin’ his ass off” and he wasn’t lying. The energy he brings on this Mike WiLL Made-It beat is vicious. Stunna 4 Vegas and NLE Choppa compliment Polo’s verse perfectly and make an irresistible aggressive hit.
“Wishing For a Hero” ft. BJ the Chicago Kid
The outro to the album produced by The Superiors, “Wishing For A Hero,” taking inspiration and a sample from the song “Changes” by 2pac hits an equilibrium of reminiscing and looking towards the future. Not only does Polo G acknowledge the issues of America as well as life in his old neighborhood and around the country, but he also talks about his goals to do something about it. He’s not just happy to have made it out, he’s happy to know be in a position to help the streets that raised him.
Final Review
My favorite part about this Polo G album was his approach and perspective on his gang life experience. Similar to many artists like Roddy Ricch, G Herbo, and Future, Polo G spends more time talking about the dangerous and toxic ways he has learned to deal with the trauma and PTSD that comes from living in the streets filled with gang violence. Many people thought “The GOAT” album title, was Polo G claiming himself as the greatest of all time but actually it is a reference to him being a Capricorn. This is another example of Polo G not trying to make his art all about flexing on his competition, diamonds, and cars. Displaying more than just the normal, rich, and famous rapper lifestyle that can water down a rapper’s sound.
In his own words on the song “Flex”, Polo G refers to his music as “Gang Blues”, a sound that is honestly extremely fitting and encompasses many of the new generations of rappers that effortlessly float between a singing and rapping style. “The Goat” isn’t a good album, it’s a great one. Not only does it show Polo G’s rapping ability, it shows that his versatile honest approach can be executed on any sound or style. For anybody that likes the “Gangsta Blues” genre, this album is perfect. A great balance of high and energy songs, lyrics that show authenticity and heart, and light hints of musicality on every song to make them feel not so harsh. If you need a project to become a Polo G fan, this is the perfect project for that.
Scoring
Raw Score: The number of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a 1 or above to be counted.
Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.
Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.
Raw Score: 14/16
Quality Score: 17.5/16
Playback Value: 3/5
