In an interview on the Its Up There Podcast, G Herbo reflected on how he doesn’t let internet narratives get to him, such as the “Slide for Von” fan campaign following the murder of King Von in 2020.
“Think about [Lil] Durk, free Durk, they had a whole campaign from nerds with the Slide for Von thing,” said the podcast’s host, Loon. “The trauma associated with growing up in Chicago, this shit on the internet can trigger [them]... When I seen bro do an interview and even responded to it, I’m like, ‘See, they in a n***a head, bro.’ That shit ain’t cool, man.”
Herbo agreed that discussions on the internet can certainly affect artists, especially those familiar with street life in Chicago.
“They in your head, bro,” said Herbo. “Like how you were saying with the trauma, you will lose yourself in the midst of that shit, when you feel like you got a point to prove. When they make you feel like you got a point to prove, you already let them win. … I don’t know why, I just always had the smarts and the mental capacity to just not feed into it, ‘cause I know that negative shit [is] coming from somebody that’s 14 years old in Omaha. Somebody that ain’t been through nothing that I’ve been through, seen the shit that I seen.”
He said that while he’s never been one to “tuck [his] tail,” he’s also made sure to avoid controversy and not get involved in any rap beef. “I know I’m going to still go and live my same life, ain’t nothing going to stop me from going taking my kids out,” he continued. “I try to stay on the straight and narrow because I know if you see me and out and about, I only know how respond to shit in one or two ways… I’m going to think about my decisions ten times before I do it [but] I’mma still do it.”
Herbo believes that there’s a lot of people trying to “press [the] buttons] of different rappers, but they’re also the same ones who will call someone “stupid” for going to jail.
“They going to be saying, ‘He dumb as hell, he threw all this shit away,’” he said. “You ain’t never had the responsibilities that a n***a got on him. Like, you ain’t had nobody counting on your or none of this type of shit, to even be under that much pressure where you had to make a decision to do something or not… And I’m not saying this in a negative way, that’s why the suicide rate is so high.”
Watch the whole interview with Herbo above.
