Ballin Like I'm Kobe

In a city where cops continue to slaughter the citizens they've sworn to protect, politicians refuse to accept responsibilty and violence is still a prevailing issue; a voice like G Herbo's is what Chicago needed to raise awareness on its failures but also find hope in these times of turmoil. Ballin Like I´m Kobe is a first hand account of a young artist from the east side trying to come to terms with the deaths of his loved ones (the project is named after one of his fallen friends, Jacobi) and living on the verge of paranoia everyday. BLIK is what Rahm should´ve actually been scared of when he was trying to stop the film Chiraq, and its potential national debate, from happening this Summer. Unlike Spike Lee´s dud, Herbo´s project is not a generalized and out-dated take on gang life, but rather an extremely well delivered account of what it is like to live in a marginalized neighborhood where kids, who also happen to be almost exclusively minorities, are dying either by crooked cops or over blocks in a war few want to continue and even less know how to stop. 

Yet what truly carries this 'tape is Herbo's youthful bravado and his ability to contrast all the negativity in his surroundings with faith, family and a resilient spirit. This gives the listener a more complete picture of who he is as a human, while providing those in similar situations solace in having someone to relate to and those who are not, a way to understand better what our fellow neighbors are going through.

- Pedro Gonzalez