"A Platform To Showcase Chicago Artists"

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Illboyzent.com

'LIL HERB' OUT NOW ⏳: gherbo.lnk.to/LilHerb

BOOKINGS: Jacqueline.ReynoldsDrumm@caa.com

“It's like finding your roots, getting in touch with your old self and that hunger you had when you first started, the energy that made the world fall in love with Lil Herb,” says G Herbo of his new project, Lil Herb. Named after the moniker he broke through with 15 years ago, it’s both an album and a time machine. After helping invent and globalize Chicago drill, launching the Swervin Through Stress nonprofit, and scoring his biggest hit “Went Legit” off his 2024 mixtape Greatest Rapper Alive (13M direct-to-fan streams), Herbo is now reaching back and looking forward. He recorded 100 songs over a year, revisited old favorites, and returned to Chicago studios with his day-ones. The result blends soulful No I.D.-crafted hip hop, menacing drill, and a rare Wyclef Jean feature—plus a reunion with the late Juice WRLD.  “I'm at the finish line… I'm in full control of my destiny now. I've finished the marathon I started when I was 16, when I was Lil Herb.”

East Memphis-raised artist “Black Smurf” also known as “Black Smurf the Hustle God” delivers incomparable music about his life progression, the hustle, and the will to always better ones self. 

Beginning his debut in 2011 in the underground scene he truly made a name/lane for himself. Yet not until dropping his No. 1 singles “Execution 1999” & “Fully Hydrated” in 2012 an then releasing his debut album in 2014 “Hustle Warfare 3 (Prod. Purpdogg)” did he really shake the underground scene. He is best known for helping many artist rise to the mainstream, yet still staying one of the underground scenes notable most humble legends. Still independent, once apart of Waterboyz Ent., Now mostly known under the brand “Hustle Family” he continues to release real heart-felt relatable hustle music to his supporters.

Before his untimely death at the age of 28 in December 2021, Drakeo the Ruler was unequivocally the voice of Los Angeles street rap. Born Darrell Caldwell, Drakeo earned his first round of buzz from 2015's I Am Mr. Mosely tape, but established himself as a force whose impact would be felt far beyond Los Angeles city limits with 2017's Cold Devil. Drakeo's rap style was both menacing and conversational, the MC rarely emoting beyond a
sort of ransom-call Whisper. His reign as the voice of LA was marked by intervals of incarceration, Cold Devil having been recorded in 10 days of freedom that followed a nearly year-long stint in jail. Another bout of incarceration, ending in November 2020, sparked a remarkably consistent creative tear for the MC, with Drakeo releasing We Know the Truth, Because Y'all Asked, The Truth Hurts, A Cold Day in Hell, Ain't That the Truth, and So Cold I Do Em 2 in the span of a year. Drakeo the Ruler's voice could be found alongside any number of his LA contemporaries (Ralfy The Plug, 03 Greedo, Bino Rideaux, Blxst), but he also counted some of the biggest names in hip-hop among his fans-like Drake, who, in learning of The Ruler's
fatal stabbing, posted a picture from the MC's time modeling for his OVO
clothing label, writing that his "Talk to Me" collaborator had "always picked
my spirit up with your energy. RIP Drakeo."

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