Tonight Polo G releases his new album "Hall Of Fame", so today we take a look at his first ever album "Die A Legend"
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| The cover art for "Die A Legend" depicts Polo starring at the clouds. A symbol which goes through in the rest of the album, where Polo often reflects and reminisces on his past and what he has gone through. |
Speaking on the album Polo has explained the personal value there was in it for him. The whole album is very heartfelt and he expresses, how he's been dealing with fake friends, the streets and his legacy.
The album has these themes in almost all of the songs conveyed in different manors.
The album reminds me of a song from Polo's biggest idol 2Pac called "When Thugz Cry". It's a heartfelt song describing the downsides of a life on the streets and showing Pac's vulnerability.
Polo does the same throughout the album and he isn't trying to hide the fact, that his life is rough. The reflections Polo has on the album and the thought-process he must have been going through to deliver it, shows that he's way more than just a mainstream rapper with nothing to say.
One of the best debut albums of newer time, having cemented his place of the rap game already. Polo is such a gifted lyricist and his lyrics are non-comparable to any other rapper of the new rap game.
Rating:
Vibe - 7/10
The album isn't meant for it to necessarily be a vibe. It's meant for it to be listened to and heard. Although the album is raw and from the streets, everyone deals with some of the thought-process Polo's been going through, making the album and absolute vibe.
Lyrics - 8/10
Polo shows of his great lyricism constantly using finding new perspectives and reflecting on different parts of his life.
Flow - 7,5/10
The soft beats fits in perfectly with his voice and his relaxed rapping.
Music - 7,5/10
Both the flow and the music connects together. The music is soft, a bit sad and perfect for Polo.
Overall - 8,1
A great debut album from Polo. What I miss from him is the ability to switch it up a bit besides from "Pop Out". It's still getting ranked high, because of the vulnerability and reality it displays.
Tracklist:
Lost Flies: 7/10
"Lost Flies" is the first track of the album. Polo speak about his humble beginnings and road to rapping. Polo also speaks on the fact that many fake friends that have showed themselves after his fame.
Polo also speaks about his religion and his relationship with god:
"God was there so many times, could've lost my life
Or fought it on trial
But it's like he chose me to be the one with the mic' in my hands
Steady talkin' in front of the crowds"
Polo feels like god has saved him from the life on the streets and blessed him with his gifted mic skills.
This track is a hard starter, Polo shows off his phenomenal rapping skills and his lyrical gift. On a pure rapping track like this it's important to get through with the topics you wanna address, and Polo sure as hell does that.
Dyin Breed: 6/10
On "Dyin Breed" Polo speaks about the struggles of him growing up and his new-found fame. Polo is relieved that me made it out the hood, but still reminiscing about his past and the friends he lost along the way.
"We grew up playin' cops and robbers, I was never 12
They tried to warn us like we gon' see them Heaven gates or jail"
I love when rappers reminisce about their times on the streets instead of glorifying it. Polo says that he grew up getting chased by police and authority, who warned him and his friends that they either would end up in jail or dead.
Another track that goes hard. As said before I love when rappers show their vulnerability instead of it being bars with no meaning behind them.
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| On his Die A Legend tour Polo sometimes brought Leia on the stage to say the intro lines for "Through Da Storm" |
Through Da Storm: 7,5/10
On the third track of the album Polo speaks about his religiousness and family dedications, along with cementing his wealth throughout the track.
"Know my grandma still with me, when it get cold, I feel your spirit
Talkin' to my lil' sister, phone calls through Securus"
Polo mentions his deceased grandmother as a figure for him to lean on in times needed. Drawing parallels to the after life often combines with religiousness, which Polo has spoken about multiple times. Polo has found a great relationship with god, who helped him off the streets. His relationship with his little sister, who's voice is in the beginning of the song, is hard for Polo cause he has to do it through a Securus (a phone often smuggled into prisons). Polo is still on the streets and has a hard time adjusting to his new life of fame.
Overall a very powerful track and his little sisters voice in the beginning makes it so much better.
Effortless: 6,5/10
"Effortless" is another powerful track, where Polo reflects on his time on the streets and how he's had to fight for survival since he was born.
Polo shows off his both playful and deeper rapping skills, setting up the feeling of the environment he came from. Polo doesn't glorify the streets, but he reminisces on what he has been through.
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| Polo G and Lil Tjay teamed up for the first time on "Pop Out" |
Pop Out: 7/10
Despite being humble about his upcoming so far on the album, Polo takes it in a different direction. Going from humble to arrogant real quick speaking about his still existing ties in the streets and his sudden rise in fame and popularity.
If you're looking for a trap anthem then this is hard. But if you're like me and appreciate the humble Polo G more then this isn't a track for you. Despite that both Polo and Tjay conveys the street life in a more playful hip hop manor making it a track worth listening to.
Battle Cry: 6,5/10
Polo talks about his past and the problems he has been through. He speaks up about how to stay true to yourself on your road to fame, and the fake friends he has lost along the way. Polo is often mentioning how he has dealt with friends turning on him because of his new-found fame. On Genius he wrote:
This track is one with great sentimental value for Polo, and he has annotated multiple lines from the song on Genius.
The title "Battle Cry" symbolizes the battle Polo is still going through and how he's trying to handle it as well as he can, while on the other hand cry could be transferred directly to actual crying. In this case the streets are horrible and Polo can't handle seeing any more of his nearest in it. So Polo figuratively cries in an on-going battle.
A powerful song with the intention of conveying a message directly from the streets to the listener.
BST: 4/10
BST - Blood, sweat and tears. Polo speaks about all the things he's been through and how hard it has been for him. But he wanna build a legacy for his family and son on the way.
"Havin' conversations with the sky and I meant everything that I said
For my family, gotta build a legacy, I'ma be the man when I'm dead
Worked too hard, I can't slip up, so I'm clutching tight on this lead
Naw, I ain't a killer, but don't push me, I'm too close to the edge"
To have conversations with the sky can mean either one of two things:
1. Polo is having conversations with god. Due to the hard time he's been going through and everything that has happened in his life, he needs to reflect in a quiet place speaking to god.
2. Polo is having conversations with his deceased relatives. He misses them and he wants to show them and tell them about the legacy he will build, hence the "I meant everything I said". It's also easier talking to someone who isn't directly responding, while reminiscing about your past and problems. This would also play out with the following line.
Polo flips a 2pac bar from "Hail Mary" - "I ain't a killer but don't push me, revenge is like the sweetest joy next to getting pussy" - Polo turns it around and puts his own mark on it.
A track to reminisce on the past and still existing gang life Polo has been involved in, but the beat really doesn't fit the purpose of the track.
Finer Things: 8,5/10
A personal favorite for me. Polo speaks about what the hood is like and how he's trying to reach "Finer Things". Speaking on the track Polo said:
"I came up with the "Finer Things" record while I was incarcerated. I was in Cook County, and it was just something that came to me. In the middle, while I was in my cell, and I just kept on going with it. The more I was catching the lil melody and everything. And, it was like, after the song was done, I kept singing it all day. I had made the beat on my own. Knocking on the table and everything, and I just singing it over and over. Ended up singing it in the day room, and everybody else was singing it. When everybody was singing the song and everything it just made me smile. I'm just thinking like, "Aw yeah, when I get back and this touch the streets, this gone be a hit". When I came home, it was like, I had got up with my personal engineer. I just asked him out the blue, in a session for some other song. I'm like, "You know how to make beats?" And, he like "Yeah". I'm like, "I'm finna sing this song for you, surround it around the beat". He ended up making a beat that was cold. I'm like, "Aw yeah, that's perfect" That's fit perfect"
Polo being incarcerated while coming up with this song has definitely contributed to vulnerability and truth the song presents.
Picture This: 6,5/10
Another heartfelt song with Polo speaking and reflecting on his rose to fame.
"Can't fix my broken heart. I need way more than a surgeon
Life had knocked me down and then that savage started merging
Had to tell myself, n*gga, go take it, you deserve it
Only know what I let 'em, this shit deeper than the surface"
Polo speaks on how life had him knocked down and put a in a hard situation, which forced him to go on the streets. The last bar can technically be meant for both his friends and fans. In a way it's meant for both since no-one probably knows the last bit of how Polo feels. Polo has a lot of depth in his feelings and how he handles them, since it's always easier to just hide them away.
Polo has chosen to instead of laying them away, but put multiple of them down in his lyrics on paper. A rapper with great self-awareness and humbleness and he crafts another track, which comes from his heart.
Chosen 1: 7/10
A pure-rapping track with only one verse. The track continues the on-going them of his rose to fame and what he will do to cement his spot in the rap game in the upcoming years.
It's crazy how Polo has the perfect voice for tracks like this and the perfect flow as well. He isn't going to hard turning it in to a full-on gangsta track, while not going to soft either. One of his biggest idols and inspirations is 2Pac. 2Pac was a lyrical genius and one of the greatest storytellers the rap game had ever seen. Polo has taken a lot of inspiration from 2Pac and the way 2Pac presents the street life in his music.
Deep Wounds: 7/10
Perhaps the deepest track of the same album. Polo doesn't just go around the surface of his life on the streets, but he dives down and mentions friends who have been killed and how he has been scarred by the love of the streets. Speaking on the bar Polo said:
"All the things that I went through and the things that I witnessed. All the situations that I had to go through to get where I'm at scarred me for life. That's forever in my memory"
Polo also speaks on the general making of the song:
"The inspiration for "Deep Wounds" is one of those nights. I was just up all night 'til about 3 or 4 in the morning. I was under the influence, and the stub just came in mind. After the hook, I just went right into the verse. I kept writings. I was just basically on fire where I just kept on going. Kept writing"
The fact that Polo was under the influence and still kept writing shows how personal and real the song is. Great lyricism and a soft beat it what defines Polo.
Last Strike: 6/10
"Last Strike" is an emotional track of Polo describing the real friends he has as well as the clout-chasers, who just want him for his fame.
"Once you stop fuckin' with 'em, they start throwin' dirt all on your name
But every n*gga deep in my circle know that I'm still the same
I always kept it in a hundred so how the fuck I change?
No, I never been the type to go against the grain"
Growing up in Chicago Polo has experienced a lot. Once he started reaching his fame a lot of people turned on him, but everyone of his day-ones know that he's still the same.
Another track with a lot of meaning behind it, where Polo goes a little deeper in to the trap genre, creating a more hardcore vibe for the track.
A King's Nightmare: 7,5/10
A freestyle about the life in Chicago and the struggles had had to go through to survive. Speaking on the track Polo said:
"I set up the studio in my crib to finish off my album and I said "I'mma finish off the album with a freestyle, I gotta come hard and show them I can really rap"
Polo definitely came through with his promise. The bars on this track are so deep, that it's hard to understand how he came up with them on a freestyle. An underrated track for the album.
I've rated it higher than some of the other tracks of the album, because of the fact that it's a freestyle. A freestyle displays his phenomenal lyricism in another way than a regular track.
Pop Out Again: 4/10
A version of "Pop Out" without Lil Tjay's verse. Lil Baby and Gunna have a verse each instead.
Both Lil Baby's and Gunna's verses are way too filled with autotune for my taste, and they ruin a part of a great song.
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