Hall of Fame or Hall of Lame?

Polo G collaborates with an array of artists on his third studio album, Hall of Fame.

Polo+Gs+cover+for+Hall+of+Fame.

Photo courtesy of pitchfork.com.

Polo G’s cover for Hall of Fame.

Patton Engel, Editor-in-Chief

Chicago-born artist Polo G stepped into the limelight in 2018 and has been on a constant trajectory up since then. Lately, as he’s continued to get more and more popular, he’s been the subject of both a lot of love, and a lot of hate, and the timing couldn’t be better. With the world watching, Polo G released his most anticipated project yet, his third studio album, Hall of Fame.

Polo G began his album rollout back in September 2020 with his song “Epidemic,” and he continued it with the song “GNF,” accompanied by a Cole Bennett music video, on February 21st. Polo G then gained his first Billboard number one single with the release of his song “RAPSTAR” on April 9th. On May 21st, the song “Gang Gang” with Lil Wayne was released, and shortly after, it was announced the album would be released on June 11th. The tracklist has a total of 20 songs, including the ones already released. Ten of the songs are just Polo G, and ten of the songs have features, all of them notable figures in the music industry. 

The album seems to be controversial across social media, but I enjoyed it. At the album’s best, Polo G delivers hard-hitting lines with clever flows and bars. He continues his melodic style for a majority of the album, with my personal favorites being “So Real,” “Black Hearted,” “Losses” (feat. Young Thug), and “Fame & Riches” (feat. Roddy Ricch). Before the album’s release, Polo G promised the fans this album would show his versatility, and he did just that on songs like “Clueless” (feat. Pop Smoke & Fivio Foreign), “Bloody Canvas,” “Zooted Freestyle,” “Painting Pictures,” “Boom,” and “Go Part 1” (feat. G Herbo), with all of them being unique and different 

On the album, Polo G has a few moments where his lyricism seems a bit lazy, but for the most part, he is at his best. The real issue with the album comes from the beats and production. Though he switched up his style on certain songs, it wasn’t enough to feel like this was a versatile album. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it would’ve been nice to, on his now third studio album, see a new creative side to Polo G. Criticized heavily for his use of piano beats for his more melodic songs, Polo G effectively didn’t use piano beats on this album and instead used guitar beats for his melodic songs. Again, it’s not a bad thing that he used guitar beats or that he didn’t use piano beats, but there were too many guitar beats on his melodic songs that made it feel oversaturated. Overall, it was a fun album, but to get to the next level, in my mind, Polo G needs to evolve his sound and creativity. Despite this, Polo G is still on pace for first-week sales of over 160k; an undeniable success. 

Album rating: 7/10

Favorite Songs: “Bloody Canvas,” “Clueless,” “Zooted Freestyle,” “Go Part 1,” “Fame & Riches,” “So Real”

 

Print this entry