Humble Beast

Just six days ago, rapper Lil Herb (aka G Herbo) released his new album titled Humble Beast. Although he is a Chicago native, he has garnered nationwide popularity with his hit songs Kill Shit, Rollin, and Pull Up. Just a year ago, Lil Herb was announced as a member of XXL magazine’s 2016 freshman class, meaning he is was of the most popular new rappers in the world. This increased his popularity all over the country significantly, as it does for all of the artists, and increased the anticipation for Herb’s long overdue work Humble Beast.

I am a personal fan of Lil Herb as an artist. His rap is different than most because he only raps about what he has seen and lived through, growing up in the gang life on the southside of Chicago. In most of his songs he effectively couples his lyrics with sharp, loud beats to show the intensity and energy of the streets. The beats that he uses keep his music interesting even though his subject matter can be repetitive at times.

Humble Beast is my second favorite of his albums. Recently popular artists have been featured on his songs such as: Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Bibby, and Jeremih. He has a number of songs where he serves as “a hood prophet” telling about everything that goes on in the gang infested neighborhood that he grew up in. In the first song “Street” he even says “[you’re] trying to get me to create the hood Bible?” I enjoy the mix of these type of songs and fast paced “new style” songs. For instance, my top 3 favorites on the album are “Everything” (feat. Lil Uzi Vert) and “This n That” (feat. Lil Yachty) and “Malcolm.” I would most recommend listening to “Malcolm” if you like story rap. It tells of a young man who made some bad decisions that ruined his life. Overall, the fans (myself included) really enjoy this new album. :His rap appeals to some students at Whitney Young who shared their opinions.

“[It is a] very solid album and it’s about time Herb got back to his roots. Ever since he switched to G herbo it seems like his record label has gone mainstream to make “party” songs and that’s not his mantra.” -Phillip Denne (‘19)

“I feel like this is LiL Herb instead of G Herbo. I can listen to the whole thing without skipping a song.” -Camryn Salter (‘18)

What the student’s are referring to is that ever since Lil Herb started going by his alter ego G Herbo, his music hasn’t been as popular or received as much fan love. In my opinion, G Herbo tries too hard to appeal to the popular music trends, while Lil Herb makes his own music and the fans naturally flock to it. However, I do agree that with Humble Beast Lil Herb has resurfaced and hopefully is here to stay.