Polo G
Old Town Chicago rapper whose piano-driven, melodic drill made him a Columbia Records star, with the No. 1 album “Hall of Fame” and the Hot 100 chart-topper “Rapstar” in 2021.
North Side start
Taurus Tremani Bartlett was born on January 6, 1999, in Chicago and was raised in the Marshall Field Garden Apartments in the city’s Old Town neighborhood on the North Side. He began gaining attention in 2018 when “Gang with Me” quickly collected millions of plays on SoundCloud, and “Finer Things,” a song he wrote while incarcerated, followed that year.
Columbia and early albums
The video for “Pop Out,” featuring Lil Tjay, drew more than 200 million YouTube views, and in 2019 Polo G signed with Columbia Records. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album “Die a Legend” (June 2019) reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200. “The Goat” (May 2020) climbed to No. 2, carried by “Go Stupid” with Stunna 4 Vegas and NLE Choppa and “Flex” with Juice WRLD. In September 2020 he launched his own imprint, ODA, in partnership with Columbia.
Hall of Fame
“Rapstar” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in April 2021, becoming his biggest hit worldwide, and his third album “Hall of Fame” (June 2021) topped the Billboard 200. That year he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and earned MTV Video Music Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Hip-Hop, and “Rapstar” was later nominated for International Song of the Year at the 2022 Brit Awards.
Hood Poet and after
Critics often describe his style as melodic drill built on piano-led beats. Following a string of widely reported arrests between 2021 and 2024, his fourth album “Hood Poet” arrived on August 9, 2024, and peaked at No. 28. An expanded “Black Heart Edition” followed in December 2025.
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