7.6/10
Favorite Track: "Flex (Feat. Juice WRLD)" Least Favorite Track: "Relentless"
Only a year after the success of his 2019 Album, Die a Legend, Polo G proves his place in hip-hop with his 2020 album, THE GOAT. Its success comes as no surprise to those who are familiar with his earlier work. Gangster rap over piano or guitar riffs is by no means revolutionary and the album doesn't intend to be, borrowing from the popular song "Changes" by Tupac, Polo G delivers a convincing set of verses rivaling the original on “Wishing For a Hero”. Lyrically, there isn't much, or even anything to be desired of. Polo G is a sound rapper, but he does leave some other aspects to be desired in terms of variance. He focuses on the same subject matter of past struggles, weapons, drugs, and current success on most of the tracks, only varying on songs such as, "Beautiful Pain", "I Know", "Martin and Gina", and "Wishing for a Hero". Unfortunately, the former two of those tracks are forgettable in the face of the latter, as the piano trap rap begins to mesh together towards the middle of the track-list. The album suffers from a lack of features as a little over a quarter of the songs have them, and the record hits a dry spot towards the center. Tracks such as "21" and "33" have a very similar sound, almost blending together as they come right after each-other. The second half of the album comes to little support, as the songs are somewhat enjoyable to listen to but are easily forgettable. The track-list starts to work against itself. The features that exist on the album easily become the most enjoyable tracks to listen to, with songs such as "Flex", "Wishing for a Hero", and "Go Stupid" differentiating themselves from the rest of the songs musically starting the project on a strong foot. "Flex" and "Go Stupid" provide the most energy from the track-list and BJ The Chicago Kid provides heavenly vocals on the chorus of "Wishing for a Hero". It won't come as a surprise if his third album puts a leg up on "THE GOAT" but until then, this album is no less than satisfactory to listen to.