Hunting hip-hop: The single bar that Polo G calls his favourite of all time
Polo G, whose real name Taurus Tremani Bartlett, is arguably cooler than his stage name, is a member of the new generation of hip-hop. Like so many modern rappers, G got his start on SoundCloud, but the Chi-town rapper has all the makings of an old-school artist.
Initially destined to be a scholar, Bartlett was accepted to Lincoln University after graduating high school. When the first day of school arrived, the Illinois native was nowhere to be seen, as he decided against studying broadcasting and chose to pursue a career in music instead.
Unlike other SoundCloud rappers like Lil Yachty and Lil Uzi, Polo has a background befitting the gangsta rappers of the 1990s. The rapper is affiliated with Chicago-based gang Vice Lords who have a history of kidnapping and murder and are known to feud with other gangs like The Gangster’s Disciples.
Despite his mother’s best efforts to keep him off the streets, the gang life was too alluring to a young G. To fund his rap career, he started selling drugs and stealing cars to be able to pay for studio time. The young rapper’s life of crime didn’t come without consequences, though.
Polo was in and out of prison in his late teens. It was here that he penned some of his earlier work like ‘Finer Things’, reminiscent of Tupac writing some of his tracks for All Eyez On Me while incarcerated. The biggest repercussion of G’s gang affiliations came at the highest price as at the age of only 15, he witnessed his best friend lose his life in a shooting. The Old Town resident later went on to explain that this experience seriously changed his outlook on life.
In early 2019 his career started to take off upon the release of the track ‘Pop Out’ that featured Lil Tjay. The song shot up the charts, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut studio album Die a Legend also saw massive success on its release in the Summer of 2019; peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 200.
By 2021 Polo was one of the hottest commodities in the rap game. His second studio album The Goat released in 2020 and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Ten of the songs from the album also placed in the Hot 100. He is the only rapper who has all of his albums, so far, to be certified double platinum.
All this fame wasn’t enough to tear him away from crime, though, as the Chicagoan has been arrested three times since in 2021, 2023 and 2024 for charges ranging from battery, robbery and possession of a firearm. Given his background, it seems only appropriate that when asked by Genius for his favourite bar of all time, he chose one written by former YSL Blood member Lil Wayne. Wayne’s gang affiliations are well documented, and he also experienced a near-fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1994 at only 12 years old.
The bar that G picked out is from Wayne’s track ‘6 Foot 7 Foot’ that featured on his 2011 album Tha Carter Part IV. The line reads “If these n-ggas animals, then I’ma have a mink soon”. The young rapper explains the bar as “people that just be so cocky about themselves, it’s other people doin’ way better, killin’ you right now”.
Weezy is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time and is appreciated by fans as being the mould that many of today’s rappers came from. He is revered for his use of clever wordplay and this is a shining example. If this choice is a sign of the influence that Polo is using for his future tracks, listeners are in for a treat.