Herbert Wright III, a.k.a. G Herbo, is staying on his mental health awareness tip with the October 2022 release of his fifth studio album, Survivor’s Remorse. It’s packaged as a two-sided record, with the A-side featuring 12 songs and the B-side featuring 13 songs.
During an Oct. 13 interview with hip-hop journalist Sway Calloway on his legendary “Sway in the Morning” radio show, the Chicago native talked about the Survivor’s Remorse project and his current mental state following the recent passing of his close friend Lil Gregg.
“I went through a lot in these past two years recording this project. My little brother passed away Jan. 28, 2021. That put me in a real mental slump,” G Herbo said. “I think me actually taking adversity head on, and dealing with it, and just trying to become the best version of myself, it paid off. God really blessing me right now.”
Throughout the years, G Herbo has been extremely consistent, delivering an album every year since the release of his 2017 debut studio album, Humble Beast.
From 2018’s Swervo, his first major release through Epic Records, he gave us fan favorites such as “Some Nights,” “Swervo,” “Focused, and “Bonjour.” With his 2019 follow up, Still Swervin, came tracks like “Brought a Tool,” “Wilt Chamberlain” and “Hood Cycle.”
None of these songs, or any songs from Humble Beast, charted on the Billboard Hot 100, which is the music industry’s standard record chart based on sales, radio play and online streaming in the U.S.
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His 2020 single, “PTSD,” the title track from his third studio album of the same title, featured Lil Uzi Vert and Chance the Rapper. The song reached platinum status, becoming his first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at no. 38. The album was certified gold in March 2021 and debuted at no. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart. PTSD is his highest achieving album and song to date.
As the lead artist, Herb only appears on the Billboard Hot 100 chart one other time with “Cry No More” featuring Polo G and Lil TJay from his 2021 album, 25. It peaked at no. 81 on the Billboard hot 100.
Herb has six total songs on the Billboard Hot 100 since 2020; four of them are his features on Nardo Wick’s “Who Want Smoke??,” Gunna’s “IDK That B—,” King Von’s “Facetime” and Polo G’s “Go Part 1.”
It’s not easy to make the charts. With that being said, it’s still hard to believe that Herb has never had a top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit. Why is that?
It seems as if Herb’s style of rap doesn’t fit whatever the algorithm chooses to play on the radio and streaming playlists. Herb doesn’t sing, unlike today’s mainstream rappers who can add melodies to their bars; think along the lines of Drake, Future, NBA YoungBoy and Chicago’s own Lil Durk. It’s the melodic rap tracks that are likely to crossover from urban to mainstream.
It seems the lack of mainstream appeal has always plagued Herb, especially when it came to previous Herb vs. Durk debates about who’s the better Chicago artist. Over the past two years, Durk has pulled together an impressive string of Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers, including features on Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later,” Coi Lerays’ “No More Parties,” and Pooh Shiesty’s “Back in Blood.”
On Sept. 1, 2021, Billboard reported that Durk had the most entries for a rap artist on the Hot 100 with 35 songs. As of publishing time, Durk has a total of 72 songs on the Hot 100 chart, with two of them being in the top 10 hits category. Nowadays, Durk’s supporters have a lot more ammo to win that argument.
Unfortunately, it seems the thing that most keeps G Herbo in the spotlight is his personal life. Casual fans know him more for his relationship with his estranged ex-girlfriend Ari Fletcher, the mother of his extremely charismatic first child, four-year-old YoSohn. When Herb got into a serious relationship with Taina Williams, the daughter of hip-hop stylist Emily B and stepdaughter of rapper Fabolous, fans tuned in too. The couple now have two beautiful children, Essex and Emmy Love.
With all that being said, do you think Herb has reached his rap ceiling? I refuse to believe it. But I’m a fan, and openly biased. Critics are giving positive reviews for Survivor’s Remorse. Rolling Stone wrote, “Combined with his most stacked guest list since his standout 2020 album, P.T.S.D, Survivor’s Remorse is yet another solid attempt to present a more polished Herbo for the rap mainstream without compromising his roots.”
Survivor’s Remorse is a culmination of Herb’s best projects. It has the hard hitting grit of Humble Beast, with the soulfulness and honesty of PTSD. One major difference with Survivor’s Remorse, though, is that there’s little Chicago representation on it.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not accusing Herb of oversaturing the project with features. One could say Herb’s widening his horizons, as Durk has done over years. For example, Durk did an entire album in 2021 with mainstream juggernaut, Lil Baby, titled The Voice of the Heroes. That project also featured appearances from Travis Scott, Meek Mill, Young Thug and Rod Wave.
Personally, I just would’ve liked to see the Chicago representation that we’re accustomed to on a Herb project.
Here are a few tracks from Survivor’s Remorse that you absolutely shouldn’t pass up.
Track no. 1, A-Side — “FWM”
A formidable opener to the project. First off, I love whenever we can get a look into the rapper’s personal life. In this song, YoSohn is featured, having a conversation with Herb and Herb’s mom. The beat then goes from what seems like a beautiful opening scene of a movie to a hard-hitting banger with a soulful sample. Although the name of the song is FWM, the premise of this song is Herb feels like nobody can f— with him. Herb even addresses his lack of billboard success when he says, “Niggas having hit records, how the f— I’m still bigger, how the f— im still richer, how the f— i’m still lit’er.” I admit, he’s asking all the right questions.
Track no. 9, A-Side — “Shordie” featuring Gunna
It’s truly unfortunate that Gunna is currently behind bars. This is a hit that deserves visuals with the two of them. It could’ve been a big deal.
This song contains a chorus; something that we rarely hear when listening to Herb, which might also contribute to his lack of radio play. It also includes singing, provided by Gunna, which is also something we rarely hear on a Herb track.
Essentially, this one is a love song for the ladies. Gangstas have a heart too, and I think family man Swerve is here to stay.
Track no. 2, B-Side — “History”
Produced by none other than Chicago’s DJ L, this song gives nostalgic Herb vibes. It’s easily one of the best songs on the album. For day-one Herb fans, this sounds like something straight off his first mixtape, Welcome to Fazoland, which dropped in 2014. Herb’s ability to display actual lyricism, in an era where lyrics are overlooked, continues to be his calling card.
Track no. 6, B-Side — “No Guts, No Glory”
This is the best song on the project. This song highlights everything I like about Herb. He’s braggadocious. It’s the top-notch money, cars, jewelry, top dog-type song. It feels like a victory lap.
“This that real player shit, for them real playas that just sit back, look at life, and see how this shit going now,” Herb says in the beginning while the beat is still ramping up. He even references his 2017 debut when he raps, “They call me the humble one, but I know I’m the GOAT.” If there was a song to have commercial success, this is it. However, since the visual dropped on Oct. 10, the video has yet to reach 1 million views.
