Dan Flavin and Nathan Donohoe
Music Critics
After a breakout 2019, rapper Polo G released his sophomore album “THE GOAT.” The project is full of great storytelling, flows, and melodies that were a little unexpected.
Polo G’s debut album “Die a Legend” was a sign that he was to be taken seriously as a new up and coming artist. The project showed signs of a lot of great things that came in the recent release.
“THE GOAT” starts out amazingly well with “Don’t Believe The Hype” the tracks mellow piano and distorted guitar complement Polo’s voice perfectly and carry the track along with his flows. Polo G has become known for his ability to tell stories of his past struggles through his lyrics. Throughout the track and the rest of the project he talks of his friends who were killed, his past legal troubles and his determination to not go back to where he came from. “Don’t Believe The Hype” is a perfect start to introduce a new and improved Polo G.
Track two “Heartless” was released as a single in late 2019, but still fits the theme of the project perfectly.
Track three and our personal favorite “Martin & Gina” continues the hot streak to start the project. The halftimed guitar during the intro creates an ominous tone that then does a 180 when the beat drops. The dark sounding intro is turned to a love song where he expresses a softer side that he doesn’t often show. The track’s guitar meshes with his sound perfectly and Polo G’s flow switches and melodies have kept this song stuck in our head for a week straight.
“Flex” featuring the late Juice WRLD is the end of the hot streak to start the project. The track’s simple melody and fast paced drums make for a head bopping banger. The whole song feels like it was meant to be and Juice’s feature is thought to be the last verse he recorded before he passed away in December.
We could write about the project’s positives all day if there was enough room, but to keep it simple songs like “21”, “I Know”, “Beautiful Pain”, and “Be Something (feat. Lil Baby)” are all incredible.
There is truly no bad song on the whole project, but there are some weak points. Track 5 “Go Stupid (feat. Mike WiLL Made It, Stunna 4 Vegas, and NLE Choppa)” is one of those points. The track isn’t horrible, but it does not fit the project at all. It feels like it was just thrown in there to boost streams. There are also some mixing errors on the project such as on the track “Be Something (feat. Lil Baby)”. Baby’s verse sounds really quiet in the beginning then all of a sudden is louder and it sounds awkward.
Although it is not perfect “THE GOAT” incredibly exceeded expectations. Going into the project we were expecting a few solid songs, but walked out with one of the best trap albums of the year. Polo G’s “THE GOAT” is an easy 9/10.
