‘The First Time’: Polo G Talks Recording His First Verse, Buying His Mom a House

Rolling Stone cover star Polo G has had an incredible rise to fame.

Growing up on the North Side of Chicago, he says the first time he ever left the city was when he was in first grade and his family moved to Gary, Indiana; it would be several years before he hopped on a plane. Now, after the success of a bevy of singles and releasing his third album, the Number One Hall of Fame in June, he reflects on some notable The First Time moments he’s experienced in recent years.

In 2016, he tracked his first verse. “The first verse I ever recorded was to my song ‘O.D.A.‘ part one, a song that I put out on my neighborhood music channel,” Polo G tells Rolling Stone. “We had a YouTube channel that somebody made in our neighborhood called sedville3.”

Three years later, he released his debut album, Die a Legend, which reached Number Six on the Billboard 200 chart. His sophomore LP, 2020’s The Goat, followed at Number Two before his first Number One-charting Hall of Fame album arrived.

While his career took flight, Polo G also took to the skies, literally. “The first flight I ever took to leave Chicago was to L.A., about three years ago; that was my first time coming to Cali,” the rapper says of the state where he currently resides.

Beyond his three-albums-in-three-years accomplishment, Polo G also hit an aspirational milestone: He bought his mother a house. “The first time I bought my mom a crib was just recently,” he says.