Polo G‘s much-anticipated follow up to his debut, Die A Legend, arrives today. The GOAT, as it’s titled, indicates the length of Polo’s ambitions– but equally, it represents his astrological sign, a Capricorn. This, in itself, is seemingly an omen of his destined-to-be greatness, as the rapper tells us in our new interview that he’s among good company– Lebron James, Denzel Washington, Martin Luther King, Tiger Woods, are all fellow Capricorns.

It’s impossible to be great at your craft without constant practice and study, and this is something Polo G seems keenly aware of, and is continuously striving towards, which is refreshing to hear in such a young artist. He’s definitely here to play the long game, and to that effect, he’s actively studying the OGs that came before him– this attitude of course stands in stark contrast to a few other “new gen” rappers that might come to mind. Perhaps Polo’s dedication to the game and desire for greatness is also tied up in his upbringing. As a youth in the Northside of Chicago, he had no choice but to mature quickly and now, he sees no other option but to make this rap thing a full-fledged, long-lasting career, in order to fully leave his street life in the Chi behind. He’s helping himself do that too, with a move to Los Angeles encouraging the artist to not only focus on his career, but to forge a better life for his family, some of whom moved out to L.A. with him. Of course, having a young son acts as motivation as well.

Polo G’s new album is clear evidence of his growth. The rapper shows strides not only in his song-writing abilities, but in his concepts as well, branching out to new territory as he explores a love song or two (“Martin & Gina,” “Beautiful Pain”), and even dabbles in social topics like police brutality on the piano ballad “Wishing For a Hero” featuring BJ The Chicago Kid. 

When we spoke to Polo G the phone at the beginning of the week, five days prior to his album release, this idea of growth was one that he pushed forth, whether it be using the quarantine downtime to improve on his songwriting ability or listening to Tupac and Nas as a way to study their lyricism. 

Read our full interview with the wise-beyond-his-years rapper below, and make sure to go stream The GOAT.

Edited for clarity 

Image HNHH

HotNewHipHop: This is Rose with HNHH how are you?

Polo G: I’m good.

Good? You sound tired. 

Yeah, I’m exhausted

Yeah, getting ready to drop this new album in quarantine. How’s it going? You’re in LA right now?

Yeah, I’m in LA currently.

How’s life on lockdown out in LA?

It’s been cool. It’s bearable cause the weather’s good.

Yeah for real. That’s one thing. Where I am the weather is gross and depressing. So the new album is titled The GOAT. Why did you want to follow up Die a Legend with that? Both are pretty big titles, why did you want to call the second one The GOAT? 

It was really like, I knew it would get a bit of controversy, a lot of different opinions, but it was really a play on my zodiac sign. Me being a Capricorn and the goat representing the Capricorn, and I just know all around that Capricorns are one of the greatest at whatever they were doing. Whether it was Lebron James, Denzel Washington, Martin Luther King, Tiger Woods. People who are great at what they did, so I feel like it needs to be great.

Cool, I didn’t know the double meaning. So, thinking about being the best, I wanted to know since you dropped Die A Legend, what’s a positive way that you’ve changed or grown since you dropped that album. How are you continuing to level up and get better? Is there one thing that you’ve done like, “Since I dropped Die a Legend I stopped doing this drug.” Something positive in your life if there’s anything you can speak on like that.

I feel like I got better at my work ethic. I’ve spent a lot more time in the studio this time around, so I just got better with my song writing ability and my ability to dish out way more music or create way more music, and really finding my best creative spaces. 

That’s dope. I just got the album like an hour ago so I haven’t had that much time to listen it, but I definitely heard– you’re trying new things. The “Martin and Gina” track I found was so dope but it’s a little bit different for you just in the fact that it’s a love song and a lot of Die a Legend was just you reflecting on where you grew up and your neighborhood and that type of thing. This is actually a relationship song. So, what inspired that record? Was it a new relationship or it’s just you’re now finally able to write about new things, like your song writing has evolved?

Yeah, just me being able to write about more things, and evolving on my sound and the topic that I want to expound on cause I know you can only talk about a certain subject so much until people are like, we get it. You feel me? So I just wanted to switch up my flow so I got more to offer as an artist. 

Yeah, it’s dope. I thought that one and “Lose My Mind” seemed kind of like a relationship love song which is new territory for you. What’s your favorite type of song to write?

I feel like it’s easier for me to make heartfelt music because it’s just speaking on what I’ve been through or what I’m going through currently. It’s always easier to make those type of songs cause they flow easier through me, and that’s something I started out with. So, my roots sound or root flow as an artist will always be easy.

Yeah, okay. Your first album you had essentially no features. Lil Tjay was basically the only feature. On this album you have a few more and obviously the Juice Wrld one is gonna be pretty big. When did you get that verse from him, like how long ago was that? How did that song come together?

Me and Juice Wrld we just always used to link up in Cali. He used to stay 15 minutes from me, so we just had that type of relationship where we always link up with each other, if he wanted me to slide on him, we could just be chilling, we didn’t even make music like that. But there was a time that I had recorded a song with Hit-Boy and I left an open [verse] on it and he said that he’ll get Juice on it and Juice sent me the verse back within a week or two and I called him back like, ‘man, I appreciate you for that,’ cause he’s a pretty big artist. Well, to me, one of the biggest artists in the world at the time, so. He just look out for me cause we had that type of relationship.

Yeah. And “Relentless” seems almost– the hook is almost like an ode to artists like Juice Wrld that are gone to soon. Is that something you were thinking about when you wrote that?

Um, not necessarily. It was actually the record that I got called “I Know”, I basically tailored the hook around the situation with him and our friendship. I was basically having him in my head when I was writing the hook to that song. 

To “I Know”?

Yeah. 

Oh, okay. So, the other bigger feature that you have is Lil Baby and you guys also just collaborated on Durk’s song. Have you guys spent time in the studio in real like before the pandemic or was that all done online, email?

Me and Lil Baby got like our third song together. He was in the “Pop Out” remix, he hopped onto “Be Something,” and the song with Durk, but we never linked in the studio before, which is kinda– but I guess that’s just how go business goes in this day and age. I don’t recall ever really meet him in person.

Oh, shit. What about Lil Tjay, you guys for sure have been in the studio together?

Yeah, we worked on “Pop Out” in the studio together. All I thought was we were sharing a session just doing our thing. 

In New York?

Yeah. When I walked into his session or he walked into mine, we just worked from there.

That’s so crazy. Do you guys have any unreleased songs together? Like how many collaborations do you have total would you estimate?

I think about, in total about three or four. Two of them being out. We didn’t really lock in to work on that much music but it’s definitely a though, definitely something to get going.

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Would you ever do a joint mixtape with him or is there anyone else like is that something that you want to do? The joint project kind of trend?

Yeah I’m definitely open to doing one with him. Some of the other bigger artists that compliment my sound…I can’t really pinpoint one as of right now, but I know that I would be open to doing that with any artist that I enjoy their music too. 

That would be dope. Who are some older artists that you do enjoy their music, that you’re listening to right now? Maybe not from your generation but from the older generation?

I could say probably like Tupac. That’s the only person from the older generation that I could say– that’s honestly the only [one]. Besides him I’ve been listening to Nas. Just trying to really learn my history on hip hop, and just really feel them out as being real lyricists cause I know I pride myself on being a lyricist.

That’s so dope and I noticed that you must study those things, because I found that some of your word choices– you opt for the less-used word, in rapping but also in conversation. You use words that we don’t always use like, when you say ’embrace’ instead of ‘hug’ and ‘expound’– you just said ‘expound’ in this conversation– so it’s cool to see that initiative and that growth.

Yeah, I definitely pride myself on doing that too cause I just try to make myself stand out as an artist.

I mean, that’s how you’re going to get better. Who are some of your favorite producers to work with?

My favorite producer…I actually enjoy working with Taj Money, I enjoy working with 10 Forty and his crew. I like really upcoming producers, more than mainstream producers, because I feel like it’s more of a vibe. I feel like mainstream producers pull a sound out of you that you probably never knew you had, and they give you more of a mainstream sound, because they know what the rest of the world really wants to hear, but I feel like working with the producers who really grinding, like you can feel a hunger and how they’re coming towards the song and I’m trying to produce that same type of hunger.

Yeah, that’s true. In terms of what draws you to a beat I feel like a lot of your stuff is dark and there’s a lot of piano keys in your beats. Are there any specific elements that you look for?

I listen for pianos, I listen for guitar. Like it just gotta have a nice little bounce to the beat, like the 808. That’s gonna sell me every time. 

I definitely hear that. It sounds like from various interviews that I’ve heard with you, that your family is super involved in you career. Does every one of your family members have a different role in terms of your career? Like your mom is your manager, is that still true?

Yeah my OG is my manager. She’s been my manager really since the day that I signed, so. We’ve been locked in.

How was your sister and your dad involved or your other siblings? Do they also have a role?

Yeah to an extent. My sister’s like my road manager, and my pops, he does equipment for me when I’m on tour, like setting up. Though I put everybody to play. I know coming around towards the next time, my little brother’s gonna be doing the hype man work for me, so I really incorporate my family, really try to put them on.

That’s so dope. Do they all live in LA with you, like did everyone move out there?

At one point in time everybody lived out there but then after getting a feel for it, other people in my family, they moved back to Illinois.

Oh, okay. What didn’t they like about it? Do you like living in LA or, what do you think of it?

I feel like LA is one of the best places to live in the world. It’s definitely my second home. I love Chicago too, it’s my hometown. I just know that I left Chicago to stay away from getting in trouble.

Right. In terms of local artists and figures in Chicago who are the most important people locally. Like maybe it’s Lil Durk or G Herbo, people like that. Who do you look up to in Chicago? 

I don’t look up to anybody in Chicago. I respect all of the artists that’s doing their thing, but I’m really focused on myself and trying to out-do my last achievements, and really cement my name as one of the great artists, so. I don’t necessarily look up to anybody. 

Okay. If it’s not Chicago is there anyone you look up to in general or you’re really just like, ‘I don’t do that’?

I mean it’s certain people that I respect the way that they move like, I look at Meek Mill and people like Drake, like this is the way you’re supposed to be when you’re thirty years old, and you still doing your thing in rap, like this is how it’s supposed to look. I definitely pay attention to those types of thing.

That’s smart. One last thing I wanted to talk about is when you look on YouTube, a lot of the comments on your videos and your interviews, it’s all so inspirational and motivational– you’ve motivated a lot of your fans, basically. So I just wanted to know who inspires and motivates you in a similar way that you’re motivating all these young people?

I would say somebody like Tupac inspires [me], you feel me. In just what it is I’m doing and just standing firm in what I believe in, somebody like Nipsey Hussle, too.

Okay, that’s dope. Do you want to leave the fans with words of motivation during this insane time that we’re all going through? 

Just really try to keep your head up and, probably try to stay away from social media cause I know that can bring you down like you having anxiety issues like that definitely doesn’t help your situation. Take a walk, take a breather, you feel me? Just don’t let this whole thing get to your head.

Yeah, for sure. That’s great. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us and we’re looking forward to when the album drops.

I appreciate you thanks for having me.

French Montana has been on a wild press run, calling up numerous media outlets and talking his shit. The New York rapper initially did some damage when he claimed to have more hits than Kendrick Lamar. Sometime between then and now, he insinuated that he structured his hit record "Unforgettable" with Swae Lee. That comment angered the Rae Sremmurd artist, who ended up calling "cap" on him. Now, their relationship appears to be strained and in another new video, French Montana threw some major shade at Swae.

Speaking with Billboard, French Montana claimed that he produced Rae Sremmurd's song "Powerglide" but that he never got credit for it. Now that a feud has kicked off with Swae Lee, he noted that he will come after his royalties now.

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That wasn't all though. Speaking about their near-diamond record "Unforgettable," French Montana called out Swae Lee for releasing a would-be second version and not including him.

"If I didn't structure the song, what happened when they put out 'Unforgettable' part 2, 'Guatemala'? How come that didn't sell nine million?" asked French. "That's how they try and do me. I do 'Unforgettable', they take me out and he replaces me with somebody else to come out with a part 2. I never took it no way."

It sounds like French and Swae need to hop on a call to hash things out because this is getting messy quickly.

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The last couple of weeks, people have been coming at #FrenchMontana for his remarks about wanting to going hit for hit with #KendrickLamar. In our new interview, I brought up #TheLastDance documentary and the hyper-competitive nature ball players had in the ‘90s and how that’s sorely lacking in hip-hop right now. I commended French for staying true to his catalog and having faith in his hits and wanting to compete with the best: The conversation then spilled over to his @everydaystruggleshow interview where he mentioned how he structured #Unforgettable. If you remember, #SwaeLee called it ? and said he has the “OG Version” to prove it. Here, French speaks on how he was never credited for producing and coming up with the idea for #RaeSremmurd “Powerglide” and how Swae attempted to make Guatemala “Unforgettable Part 2.” Like I told French, him and Swae together make ??? music. “Out of Your Mind” with #ChrisBrown is a banger and should have been a bigger hit to me but according to French, the energy wasn’t there when they did the track. Full interview in the bio. ✍??? #hiphop #rap #billboard #everydaystruggle

A post shared by Carl Lamarre ?? (@therealcl24) on May 6, 2020 at 11:23am PDT

It’s an undisputed fact that Lil Wayne is one of the greatest rappers alive, outworking the majority of artists for decades. His mixtape run was indescribable and his albums have only cemented him as an obvious choice for the greatest of all time, battling other accomplished minds like Jay-Z, Tupac, and more. At the rate Wayne is moving, he’s still living inside the studio, recording countless records on a yearly basis. We can’t imagine how many songs he created during the lead-up to Funeral but, if you want an idea, just listen to what he’s got to say during a recent interview with MTV and Fresh Out. 

When reporter Jamila Mustafa asked the rapper about his vault, which she said contained over eighty songs, Lil Wayne gave her a perplexed look before asserting that the numbers were all wrong.

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“She said eighty songs in your vault… she said two-hundred,” laughed Lil Tunechi before explaining that, solely in his last studio session, he walked away with an astronomical number of hits. “I’ll put it like this. When you leave the studio and you ask, ‘can I get what I did tonight?,’ it comes back as files. My last files was 53. I did 53 songs that night.”

Clearly a workaholic, the Young Money businessman also explained that he originally wanted to get Nicki Minaj on The Masked Singer before appearing himself, also claiming that he wants to get some work done with Lizzo. Watch below.

Atlanta stand-out Lil Baby is one of the biggest names in rap music but he doesn’t necessarily look the part. His voice is instantly recognizable and, due to his ascent into superstardom, so is his face. While the rapper has extraordinary drip, he has no tattoos on his body, which is pretty rare for somebody in his career path. He explained why it was a conscious choice for him to go inkless, as well as much more, in a brand new interview with the New York Times. 

With his album My Turn coming out in a matter of days, Lil Baby is about to take over again. He has officially broken out and this is set to be his biggest project to date. Talking to the Times, the 25-year-old explained why he decided not to get any tattoos on his skin, which is something he’s never witnessed from his contemporaries.

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“I never saw me being a rapper. A big-dog dope boy, that’s it. Not even just a dope boy. That’s why I ain’t got no tattoos, because I always knew I was going to run my money up, and I was going to have to go sit in front of some people to do something with my money. And I didn’t want them to look at me like a dope boy,” explained Baby.

“I had to keep my appearance straight. I literally said, ‘When I sit down in front of these white folks, I don’t want to have no tattoos.’ In a way, it’s still that today. Because when I’m sitting in these meetings, I don’t have tattoos on my face. I know they’d have to think something if I’ve got tattoos on my face.”

As for what he wants to accomplish in the coming years, Baby is hoping to transition into an executive role. “I want to be on some boss [expletive],” he said. “I don’t care about my own music. I really want to own a label — like Def Jam, though. Like Roc Nation. I’d rather go that way, where I manage a Selena Gomez and get 10 percent off of it. Where I’m not even on the scene no more. That’s my mind-set. Boy, if I can pop two artists right now, I’m down to slow up on what I got going on, straight up. Why wouldn’t I? I can make the same money and I don’t have to be catching all these planes.”

Elsewhere in the sit-down conversation, Lil Baby speaks about his experience in prison and why he plans on never going back, what he wants to achieve in the industry, and a drop in drug references in his songs.

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One of New York rap’s current poster children, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, is experiencing yet another career moment, surging high with the release of his new album Artist 2.0. Already, the Highbridge artist is planning his next moves before taking a little break, blessing the fans with another body of work before the year closes out. The singer has notably collaborated with some other popular figures in his city, including Tekashi 6ix9ine who was the veritable “King of New York” for a few months. They released “Swervin” together but, in the video, 6ix9ine does not appear. A Boogie is seemingly not down with the rapper’s “snitch” status and, whenever he gets asked about his thoughts on the colourful felon, he gets creative in dancing around the topic.

During a recent interview with Big Boy as he promoted his new album, A Boogie was asked if he thinks Tekashi will be able to pick his career back up and his response was golden. “Sometimes you just gotta think about things like how you don’t wanna think about things,” said the rapper. Wait… what? Not even he understood his response, laughing directly afterwards.

Similarly, when DJ Akademiks asked the star if he would work with 6ix9ine again when he gets released from prison on Everyday Struggle, A Boogie dropped another side-splitting gem. “Crazy… everyday struggle,” he said, not even going near the question.

Honestly, shout-out to A Boogie wit da Hoodie for handling these questions with such a good sense of humour. Watch below.

While Pete Davidson doesn’t usually do much press, he has a stand-up comedy special premiering on Netflix this week (Feb. 25), so he sat down with Charlamagne tha God for a 50-minute chat. The discussion touched on the special, Alive From New York, and his other recent projects, like Big Time Adolescence and The King Of Staten Island. They also spoke about the other things that attract media attention to Pete Davidson, like his romantic relationships and his mental health. 

Around the 25-minute mark, Charlamagne asks Davidson what it was like to be dating Ariana Grande at the time she learned of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller‘s passing. Specifically, the radio host wondered how Davidson felt about Grande publicly grieving this loss and expressing her deep love for Mac. “I totally got it cause we were only together for a few – she would even tell you this – I was like, ‘listen, I get it. Do what you gotta do. I’ll be here,” he recalled. “I think I said, like, ‘I’ll be here until you don’t want me to be here.’ I pretty much knew it was over around after that. That was really horrible and I can’t imagine what that shit is like. That shit is just terrible. All I do know is that she really loved the shit out of him and she wasn’t putting on a show or anything. That was fucked up and prayers to his family and all of his friends, still. It’s still fucking everybody up.”

                             Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images

In the interview, Davidson also addressed how he feels he needs the freedom to bring up his relationship with Grande – and whatever else happens in his life – in his stand-up. “I think genuinely being hurtful is off-limits or anything like being shitty or anything,” he said. “I wanna be cool with everybody but, you know, stand-up’s part of my life. That was a highly publicized thing. I feel like she got her fair run and her fair stab at it, and like I said, I don’t have social media and I don’t have an outlet really to express my feelings so stand-up’s just how i do it.”

People have been requesting a Sister, Sister reboot for years and at points it seemed like that dream actually had a chance of becoming a reality. The 90’s sitcom’s leads, Tia and Tamera Mowry, have hinted at pursuing a reboot, but it turns out these attempts have not proven to be fruitful.

While appearing as a guest on The Tamron Hall Show, Tia explained the major obstacle preventing Sister Sister from coming back into our lives. “So many people are asking this question,” Mowry responded after Hall asked about a reboot. “We tried. We tried to do it but some rights and stuff kind of got into the way.” Mowry then specified that “legalities” were the problem. “Yes, legalities is why and it makes me sad.”

Mowry also spoke about how The Game was blocked from making a return for similar reasons, a show which she starred on from 2005-2015. “And then also we even tried to reboot The Game and that’s now not happening,” the actress said while cracking up about the frustrating circumstances. “I’m sorry. Reboots are just not,” she continued before trailing off. The Game was announced to be returning back in December, but Mowry’s comment suggests that these plans have fallen through. 

After Eminem brought up Nick Cannon‘s name on Fat Joe’s most recent album, the comedian decided that he would devote a bunch of interview time to the Detroit rapper, speaking on him almost every chance he gets. At this point, some people believe it’s almost laughable how often Nick Cannon speaks about Eminem, releasing a handful of diss records against him as well. The most recent instance of Nick shit-talking the self-proclaimed Rap God comes his interview with DJ Vlad, who has been asking some instigative questions as he attempts to get the juicy scoops about their long-lived beef. A fourth song referencing the rapper, titled “Used To Look Up To You,” was released last month and in it, Cannon seemingly talks trash about Marshall Mathers’ fans but, in reality, it turns out that the lyric in question was actually about 50 Cent.

“N***as out here tweetin’ like they been a savage/Used to Look Up to You/Dick ridin’ lil Marshall Mathers,” raps Nick Cannon on “Used To Look Up To You.” The bar was perceived to be a dig at all of Em’s fans but it was actually meant for Shady’s longtime collaborator, 50 Cent.

“‘Used To Look Up To You,’ if you actually listen to it, is more about 50 [Cent] and a lot of these other rappers,” says Cannon in the newest upload from his interview with Vlad. “That was clearly about 50 and a lot of his other fans.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the actor says that Eminem is a product of institutionalized racism. Watch below.

After spending two decades in the rap game, Yo Gotti is experiencing another career surge after the release of Untrapped. The veteran Memphis rapper started off the year by celebrating a few major accomplishments, including the end of his deal with Epic Records and the acquisition of all his master recordings. As a recording artist, purchasing your master catalogue is one of the greatest investments you can make but, unfortunately, it never becomes a feasible option for most rappers. Running press for the album, Yo Gotti stopped by The Breakfast Club to chat with Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee about how he’s freed himself mentally in the last year, flaunting his freshly-inspired untrapped mindset and speaking on the central themes to the album.

We all know that, when he wants to, Yo Gotti can make a banger. If he goes into the studio with the intention of creating a strip club anthem, a radio hit, or a cut that’ll shoot up the charts, he can do it. With Untrapped, Big Gotti employed a different approach to music creation. He tells the hosts of The Breakfast Club that his intention was to focus on telling stories. Commencing the album with “Trapped” and ending it with “Untrapped” wasn’t just a conscious decision; it detailed his mental activity while putting together the body of work. It also symbolically spells out the end of his deal with Epic.

Speaking about the final record on the project with Estelle, the Memphis spitter says that “Untrapped” was inspired heavily by the attitude Nipsey Hussle kept. “That’s one of my favorite records,” said Gotti, referring to his Estelle collab. “I recorded that the day after the thing happened with Nipsey [Hussle] too. I think a lot of the Nipsey energy was what inspired me to write that record from a more mature level.”

Many are hailing this version of Yo Gotti as a return to the “old Gotti.” For the Nipsey Hussle comments, watch below at the 18-minute mark.

At the height of the most recent continuation of the feud between Nick Cannon and Eminem, accusations were uttered by the comedian and his crew that there exists a video of Eminem engaging in gay sex acts in his chauffeured vehicle. “I heard your chauffeur got a video of you suckin’ a cock/You paid him off, then laid him off, now who really the opp?” raps Cannon on his initial record against Em. Weeks later, former Disney Channel star Orlando Brown made similar allegations against the comedian himself, claiming that Cannon once performed oral sex on him while wearing women’s clothing. According to Nick, the energy he exuded during his battle against Eminem is the exact cause of Orlando Brown’s outburst, blaming the situation on karma.

“It’s definitely something I’ve heard, but you know it’s karma like a motherfucker,” says the television and radio host about the video he referenced in “The Invitation.” “First of all, there is that rumor out there that he’s very promiscuous with his sexuality. […] I have no substantial evidence that Eminem has [done this other than through word of mouth.] Really, the rhyme scheme is what I thought was dope. So, Orlando Brown comes up with just these ridiculous accusations towards me. It’s like, ‘oh, karma is a motherfucker.'”

Nick Cannon admits that he thinks Eminem handled the disses very well, referencing their back-and-forth on Twitter. Watch the video below to see Nick speak on the issue with Em and Orlando.