Going three years without a new album isn’t exactly characteristic for Polo G. Beginning with 2019’s breakthrough Die a Legend, the Chicago rapper’s first trio of full-length efforts came at a reliably annual pace. Yet even as he racked up successes upon successes, run-ins with law enforcement disrupted his upward trajectory enough to slow his release flow. With HOOD POET, however, he returns to the fore with more life experience and rededicated to spitting about what he knows best. Befitting the title, he shares unflinching narratives of pain and pleasure on cuts like “Darkside” and the bombastic “God’s Favorite”. He reaffirms his drill-rap integrity with features from G Herbo and Lil Durk, who bring their long-standing street cachet to “No Recruits” and “We Uh Shoot”, respectively. Noticeably more versatile than he was five years prior, he mourns while soaring over the Southside-produced “Barely Holdin’ On”. Switching from hood parables to romantic woes, “Same Me” probes a changing relationship, with Fridayy’s echoey chorus emphasising the depths of love lost. Later, GloRilla matches his energy on the explicit “Bad Kids” and Future relates to rising above the struggle on “Survival of the Fittest”.