Background and career
Herbert Randall Wright III (born October 8, 1995), better known by his stage name G Herbo (formerly Lil Herb), is an American rapper. He signed with the Chicago-based record label Machine Entertainment Group in 2011, at the age of 16. His debut mixtape, Welcome to Fazoland (2014), was released by the label, along with its follow-ups Pistol P Project (2014), Ballin Like I'm Kobe (2015), and Strictly 4 My Fans (2016). His debut studio album, Humble Beast (2017), was released by Cinematic Music Group and met with critical acclaim. He signed onto a triple-joint venture with Epic Records to release his collaborative album and major label debut, Swervo (2018) with record producer Southside; its sequel, Still Swervin (2019), served as Wright's second album. His third album, PTSD (2020), peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200, and he signed with Republic Records to release his subsequent albums: 25 (2021), Survivor's Remorse (2022), Big Swerv (2024), and Lil Herb (2025).
Wright grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He dropped out of school when he was 16, having attended Hyde Park Academy High School. He was influenced by Meek Mill, Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti and Lil Wayne. He is close friends with fellow rapper Lil Bibby, with whom he has collaborated on numerous songs early in their respective careers. Both artists are associated with the group N.L.M.B., which was originally formed from the merger of No Limit, a renegade faction of the Almighty Black P. Stone Nation, and the Muskegon Boyz, a renegade faction of the Gangster Disciples, although the initials N.L.M.B. are also currently used by the gang to signify "Never Leave My Brothers," and "No Limit Muskegon Boys." Wright has stated that N.L.M.B. is a "brotherhood" rather than a gang.
G Herbo and Lil Bibby first gained attention with the song "Kill Shit", which has since been viewed over 50 million times on YouTube. Lil Herb and Lil Bibby gained broader attention within the hip-hop community when Canadian rapper Drake called them "the future". Herbo's first mixtape, Welcome to Fazoland, was released on February 17, 2014. The mixtape is named in honor of Fazon Robinson, one of the first of Herbo's friends to be killed by gun violence in Chicago. Welcome to Fazoland was met with broad critical acclaim, with Fader commenting that, "since drill rose to prominence a few years ago, lyrical bankruptcy has remained one of its most common critiques; Herb's way with words defies the stereotype." In April 2014, Herbo collaborated with East Coast rapper Nicki Minaj on "Chiraq". He contributed to fellow Chicago rapper Common's album Nobody's Smiling, guest appearing on its track "The Neighborhood." Herb was selected for XXL's Show & Prove segment of the 2014 Freshman Class issue. Herbo also recorded "Fight or Flight (Remix)" with Chance the Rapper and Common.
On December 26, 2014, Herbo released the surprise mixtape Pistol P Project, his second project of 2014. On April 2, 2015, Herbo guest featured on Chief Keef's "Faneto (Remix)" with fellow Chicago rappers King Louie, Lil Bibby, and Lil Durk. On June 9, 2015, after being omitted from the 2015 XXL Freshman Cover, Herbo released a single titled "XXL". In response, XXL gave compliments to the rapper, saying he "switches between different flows effortlessly". On June 13, 2016, XXL announced the 2016 Freshman Class, which includes Herbo. On August 4, 2015, Herbo announced his third mixtape, Ballin Like I'm Kobe, named in honor of his fallen friend Jacobi D. Herring. On September 3, 2015, it was announced that Wright had signed with Cinematic Music Group and had officially changed his rap moniker to G Herbo. On September 27, 2015, Herb announced that Ballin Like I'm Kobe would be released on September 29, 2015. On September 29, 2015, the mixtape was released to widespread critical acclaim. On November 11, 2015, Herbo released a collaborative single, titled "Lord Knows", with New York rapper Joey Badass.
In an interview at SXSW on April 4, 2016, Herbo announced his debut albums' title, Humble Beast, stating that "You can definitely expect an album in 2016." In mid 2016, he released two singles, "Pull Up" and "Drop". Herbo also dropped the single "Yeah I Know" in March 2016. Herbo also released a fourth single "Ain't Nothing to Me", with a music video being released on October 10, 2016. Herbo was featured on DJ Twin's song "They Know Us" with Sean Kingston and Lil Bibby. On November 17, 2016, Herb released the album art, release date, and track list for his fourth mixtape, Strictly 4 My Fans. On the same day, he released the second single from the mixtape, "Strictly 4 My Fans (Intro)". It was also revealed that Herbo and Lil Bibby have a collaborative project, No Limitation, in the works. On March 17, 2017, Herbo released Welcome To Fazoland 1.5, containing unreleased songs from Welcome To Fazoland. The single "Yea I Know", was released in March 2016. Three singles were released for Humble Beast. The lead single, "Red Snow", was released on March 9, 2017. The second single, "I Like", was released on August 11, 2017. The third and final single "Everything", was released on August 25, 2017. "4 Minutes of Hell, Pt. 5" was released as a pre-order single on September 1, 2017. Later that month, on September 22, 2017, Humble Beast was released. Herbo later drops a deluxe edition of the album Humble Beast with more songs in 2018.
On March 16, 2018, Herbo went on radio station K104 in Dallas, Texas, and did a freestyle to the beat used in the song "Who Run It". Six days later, the full remix was released on all music platforms. The freestyle caught so much attention, later the rapper Lil Uzi Vert eventually featured on his own remix to "Who Run It". Before this collaboration happened, Herbo released the single "Shook". This song appeared on the deluxe edition to his album Humble Beast, which was released in 2018. Throughout the year, he released a couple of other singles titled "Focused" and "Swervo". On July 27, 2018, Herbo released the album Swervo, which included features from rappers 21 Savage, Chief Keef, Young Thug, and Juice Wrld. This album included the singles "Swervo", "Focused", and "Who Run It", but not the remix featuring Lil Uzi Vert. This album was entirely produced by Southside. They had worked together before but never on a full album. On December 14, 2018, Vic Mensa released his album titled HOOLIGANS. Herbo was featured on the song "Rowdy". In early 2019, the single "Up It" was released, this appeared on his second album entirely produced by Southside titled Still Swervin, which was released on February 1, 2019.
