Polo G’s long-awaited fourth studio album was finally given a release date this week, as well as an updated title. While it’s still called Hood Poet, the title is now an acronym, which according to a press release for its new single “We Uh Shoot” with Lil Durk, stands for He Overcame Obstacles During Pain Or Emotional Trauma.
And on “We Uh Shoot,” Polo teams up with the perfect person to represent that concept in Lil Durk. Both of the Windy City rappers grew up heavily entrenched in street life, but at the same time, both have distanced themselves from a lot of that aspect of their artistic expression. Both rap a lot about how their experiences shaped them — and yes, traumatized them — but also have more optimistic outlooks in their music than many of their Second City compatriots, many of whom went the other way and got downright nihilistic during the drill days.
H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. has seen a bit of a rough rollout; initially announced nearly a year ago in August 2023, the album was pushed back a few weeks later in light of Polo’s arrest for kidnapping, robbery, and assault charges. After getting back to business in February of this year with “Sorrys & Ferraris,” he was derailed again by legal trouble, this time an arrest in New York on weapons charges.
With the album’s new release date just a week away, Polo’s given himself less time for getting into trouble, and that should be good news for fans.
You can listen to “We Uh Shoot” up top.
H.O.O.D. P.O.E.T. is due on 8/9 via Columbia Records. You can find more info here.