American rapper and songwriter G Herbo is one of Chicago’s best known drill artists. Famous for his unrelenting hardcore drill songs that often relate to his own life experiences, his debut Welcome to Fazoland was followed by Humble Beast and Swervo, both of which saw the rapper make his mark on the Billboard 200 chart.
Born Herbert Wright III, Herbo exploded onto the scene in the early 2010s and began to appear on collaborations with close friend and fellow rapper Lil Bibby. The pair rose to prominence with uncompromising track ‘Kill Shit’, which has gone on to rack up over 42 million views on YouTube. Canadian superstar rapper Drake named Herbo and Bibby “the future”, and in 2014 Herbo dropped debut mixtape Welcome to Fazoland , named in honour of a friend killed by gun violence in his native Chicago. The release proved immensely popular with both critics and music fans, and led to collaborations with Nicki Minaj on ‘Chiraq’ and Common on ‘The Neighborhood’. Herbo swiftly followed his success with unexpected mixtape Pistol P Project and 2015’s critically acclaimed Ballin Like I’m Kobe.
Humble Beast, Herbo’s highly anticpated full-length studio album smashed into the Billboard 200 Top 25 in 2017 and spawned singles ‘Everything’, ‘Red Snow’ and ‘I Like’. Three hit albums – Swervo, Still Swervin and PTSD – have followed, and in 2020 the rapper dropped new track ‘Statement’ in response to fraud charges brought against him. The start of the decade also saw Herbo launch a charity initiative, Swervin’ Through Stress, to provide mental health resources to Black youths. With rumours of a new upcoming collaborative effort with Lil Bibby, 2021 looks like a busy year for the rapper.
