Polo G

## Taurus Tremani Bartlett

**Taurus Tremani Bartlett** (born January 6, 1999), known professionally as **Polo G**, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2018, he rose to prominence with the singles "Finer Things" and "Pop Out" (featuring Lil Tjay). In 2019, he released his debut album *Die a Legend*, which received generally positive reviews and peaked at number six on the US *Billboard* 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.

Bartlett’s second studio album, *The Goat* (2020), peaked at number two on the *Billboard* 200 and charted ten singles on the *Billboard* Hot 100 chart. In 2021, he released the single "RAPSTAR", which debuted at number one on the Hot 100 and became his first number one hit on the Hot 100 and first solo top-ten single. The song served as the lead single for his third studio album *Hall of Fame* (2021), which became Bartlett's first chart topping album.

## Early Life

Bartlett was born in the Old Town area of Chicago, Illinois, to Taurus Bartlett and Stacia Mac. Mac, a former property manager, serves as Bartlett's manager. He grew up in the Marshall Field Garden Apartments. He is the second of four children, having an older sister, a younger brother and a younger sister. After graduating high school, Bartlett was accepted to Lincoln University with a broadcasting major, but decided not to go on his first day, opting to pursue a music career full-time.

## Career

### 2018-2019: Beginnings, record deal, and *Die a Legend*

Bartlett's first song ever recorded was titled "ODA", which he released to YouTube. Upon creating a SoundCloud account in 2018, he released the track "Gang With Me", which quickly racked up millions of plays. He continued gaining traction with his songs "Welcome Back" and "Neva Cared". Bartlett went on to release "Finer Things", a song he wrote while incarcerated, in the latter half of 2018 and quickly gained millions of views. In early 2019, Bartlett released "Pop Out" featuring Lil Tjay which peaked at number 11 on the *Billboard* Hot 100. The song's music video gained over 200 million views on YouTube and led to him signing a record deal with Columbia Records. Bartlett also released videos for his songs "Deep Wounds", "Through Da Storm", "Effortless", and "Dyin' Breed" from his debut studio album *Die a Legend*, which was released on June 7, 2019, and peaked at number 6 on the *Billboard* 200. "Heartless", a single released later in 2019, featured production from Mustard and was later featured on his second album.

### 2020-present: *The Goat*, Only Dreamers Achieve Records, and *Hall of Fame*

On February 14, 2020, Bartlett released the track "Go Stupid", with rappers Stunna 4 Vegas and NLE Choppa with featured production from Mike Will Made It and co-production from Tay Keith. "Go Stupid" became his second song on the Hot 100 (after "Pop Out"), peaking at number 60. Bartlett then released his second studio album, *The Goat*, on May 15, 2020. The album debuted at number two on the *Billboard* 200 and ten songs from the album hit the Hot 100, including "Flex" featuring Juice Wrld and "Be Something" featuring Lil Baby, peaking at numbers 30 and 57, respectively. The same month, he was featured alongside Lil Baby on "3 Headed Goat" by Lil Durk which peaked at number 43 on the *Billboard* Hot 100. In July, Bartlett was featured on Juice Wrld's posthumous album *Legends Never Die* on the song "Hate the Other Side". The song peaked at number 10 on the *Billboard* Hot 100, his first top-ten single and highest charting overall song. On August 11, 2020, he was included on *XXL'*s 2020 Freshman Class. Later that month, he released the music video for his single "Martin & Gina", which peaked at number 61 on the *Billboard* Hot 100. In September, he released the single "Epidemic", which peaked at 47 on the *Billboard* Hot 100. On October 30, 2020, he was featured on "The Code" by King Von off his debut album *Welcome to O'Block*. The song peaked at number 66 on the *Billboard* Hot 100 and charted in Canada.

In September, Bartlett announced his own record label, Only Dreamers Achieve (ODA), with Syracuse-based artist Scorey being his first signee.

Bartlett was honored in the 2021 *Forbes* 30 Under 30 listing, under the music category.

On February 5, 2021, he released the single "GNF (OKOKOK)". On February 12, he was featured on the soundtrack for the film *Judas and the Black Messiah*, on the song "Last Man Standing". On March 5, Bartlett was also featured on the soundtrack for the 2021 film *Boogie* on the song "Fashion" by late rapper Pop Smoke. Bartlett collaborated with Lil Tjay and Fivio Foreign on the song "Headshot", released on March 19. His song "RAPSTAR", released on April 9, 2021, debuted at the number-one spot on the *Billboard* Hot 100. On May 17, he announced that he finished recording his third studio album *Hall of Fame*. He released the album's fourth single "GANG GANG" with Lil Wayne on May 21, with the song peaking at 33 on the Hot 100. On June 11, Bartlett released *Hall of Fame*, which debuted at number one on the US *Billboard* 200 and became his first number-one album. On November 12, Bartlett would release his long-anticipated release, the 1988 Michael Jackson sampled song, Bad Man (Smooth Criminal). And finally on December 3, Bartlett released *Hall of Fame 2.0* with 14 additional tracks.

## Artistry

Polo G was originally known for his Chicago drill sound, but eventually transitioned to a more melodic style. He has been noted for his "vivid and explicit storytelling"; his lyrics often involve tough subjects, including racism and mental health. He has stated that American rappers Lil Wayne and Tupac Shakur are his biggest influences. He also grew up listening to Gucci Mane, as well as Chicago rappers Lil Durk, he was with G Herbo in school.

## Personal life

Bartlett has a son, born on July 6, 2019.

Bartlett was hospitalized on August 12, 2019, due to a near-fatal drug overdose at a party. Due to his aforementioned hospitalization and the death of fellow rapper and friend Juice Wrld, he has since quit ecstasy and Xanax.

## Only Dreamers Achieve Records

**Only Dreamers Achieve** is an American record label founded by Chicago-based rapper Polo G in 2020. The label is a joint venture with Columbia Records. According to Bartlett, he stated that he chose the name because “in our communities we are told what we CAN’T be. I want to send the message that we control our futures and encourage artists to dream big.”

## Only Dreamers Achieve

### Roster

 Scorey
 YungLiv

## Personal Life

Bartlett has a son named Tremani. In August 2019, at a party honoring his late friend, he nearly died after an overdose. He has since quit ecstasy and Xanax.

## Artistry

Polo G was originally known for his Chicago drill sound but eventually transitioned to a more melodic style. He has been noted for his "vivid and explicit storytelling"; his lyrics often involve tough subjects, including racism and mental health. He also regularly pays homage to his hometown, and, as noted by Ayana Rashed of *Respect*, "he is also quick to acknowledge the common injustice and frequent police brutality he and so many others face on the daily". He has stated that American rapper Lil Wayne and hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur are his biggest influences. He also grew up listening to Gucci Mane, as well as Chicago rappers Lil Durk, G Herbo, and Chief Keef.

## Trivia

* The Polo in Polo G is named after the company Polo Ralph Lauren, or Ralph Lauren. And the G in Polo G is named after a deceased close friend of Taurus' nicknamed Gucci.
* Taurus' greatest influence is Tupac
	+ Taurus also likens himself to Tupac being that they make the same type of music and more said in a Instagram post before the RAPSTAR music video.
* Taurus' secondary name is Lil Capalot or just Capalot.