On the night his debut album dropped in June 2019, Polo G unceremoniously opened for Ski Mask the Slump God and Juice Wrld in Austin. In that 10-minute cameo, in front of fans who knew him for little more than “Pop Out,” the Chicago rapper showcased plenty of promise.
He returned to Austin on Sunday afternoon a chart topper of both the Billboard Hot 100 (“Rapstar”) and the Billboard 200 (Hall of Fame) and immediately brought energy to ACL Fest’s second-largest stage. But something unfortunately felt amiss as the young artist, widely acclaimed for his melodic ability, failed to even attempt to sing.
The sizable crowd, which contained more than one “Gimme That Polo D!” sign, seemed to come down with a classic festival syndrome of knowing an artist, but not knowing their work as they failed to utter any lyrics of note.
“I’m from Chicago, IL and I went number-one with this shit – make some motherfuckin’ noise,” said the proud Northside native before the drop of “Rapstar” to little avail. He would later run up and down the front row with fervor to slap the hands of attendees while barely piecing together his bars for “Toxic.” After earlier admitting he felt out of breath, a seemingly voiceless Polo G told Austin he appreciated the city and suddenly left his set at a disappointing 10 songs and roughly 25 minutes.
His DJ and hype man stuck around for about 10 more minutes to play obligatory party tracks for a crowd who suddenly showed emotion for each drop. A good amount of people stayed to jump around to modern classics such as “Mo Bamba” and “Look at Me!” for the umpteenth occasion in a manner that showed more energy than that displayed for the talented emcee actually booked for the time slot.
Proceedings ended with “Who I Smoke,” an utterly savage viral diss track featuring multiple Jacksonville artists that served as a Rick Roll for some due to its heavy sampling of Vanessa Carlton’s serene “A Thousand Miles.” The rest of Polo G’s team abruptly split as some still murmured “A Thousand Miles” while leaving.
This article appears in October 1 • 2021.
