The wait is over: Polo G is back with a full length album project, and this one is called Hood Poet. An 18-track LP, the album clocks in a runtime of just under one hour and takes its time to build up sonically. That said, it is a build up for the best, and takes the listener across different emotions and style at its leisurely pace.
The album opens with the anthemic ‘God’s Favorite’, where Polo raps about feeling like God’s favourite and pays homage to his foundations. The confidence here is top notch and is backed by choir-like vocals in the background that supports a high pitched hook.
The project then transitions off into ‘No Recruits’ with a splendid feature from G Herbo, bouncing off the energy from the first track, only to lead into ‘Barely Holdin’ On’, which is a more melodic approach. With simple trap production, it features Polo G confessing how he’s carrying burdens and imperfections, and how he’s barely holding on — with the latter portion serving as constant reassurance through dark times.
Immediately after, we are faced with another trap heavy foray with an assist from 42 Dugg on ‘Only Gang’, over shimmering bell samples that give the track a nostalgic feel without dipping down on energy. The more mellow energy in fact comes in on ‘Same Me’ with Fridayy, which is a track that makes use of a simplistic drill bounce over some ethereal reverb soaked vocal sections that speak to the soul. The emotional production content is given a break further in on ‘Detox’, but lyrically, not as much: after all, it’s themes of addiction we are talking about.
Offset, too, pulls up in excellent fashion on G63, which arguably is the more modern of a trap piece than most of the initial records on the album. This touch of modernity evolves further with the Lil Durk feature on ‘We Uh Shoot’, who takes an Auto-Tune heavy approach to rapping swift and deft over the stutter of his hats. The soul feel of course, returns past the slight deviation with the appearance of The Kid LAROI on ‘Rain Fallin’, who navigates what seems to be depression and anxiety through a rainy day with no sun in sight.
We hope this preview has you excited for the rest of the album. If one thing is for sure, is that the album is a deeply personal project by Polo G, one whose authenticity surpasses tested sonic formats on the production front. Check it out for yourself!