Recent accounts shed light on G Herbo’s difficult upbringing.
According to reports, Herbo has spoken about the rough environment of his childhood, revealing that his high school dean advised his mother to let him leave school and pursue music, as street violence was taking the lives of numerous students.
The rapper grew up in a neighborhood in Eastside Chicago that residents referred to as “Terror Town.” During a livestream discussing his mental health program, Swervin’ Through Stress, Herbo reflected on his formative years.
Herbo’s Youth Mental Health Initiative Sees Surge
When Herbo debuted Swervin’ Through Stress in late 2018, his goal was to offer complimentary therapy to 150 young people. However, an overwhelming response saw nearly 5,000 sign up within hours. He stated, “That’s when I knew it was something that was needed in the community.” “People get shot, people witness murders, people endure so much trauma and then the next day it’s like it never happened. They go back to school; they got to go to basketball practice and they expect them to function on a normal level. People never really get treated for what we feeling.”
Herbo shared that he felt a deep resonance with the children due to his own childhood experiences. He voiced, “I got shot when I was 16 years old, I seen my first murder when I was 9 years old.” “I thought I was normal in a sense because everybody around me was feeling the same way.”
He continued, “School wasn’t really safe for me at all, I’m not going to lie. That was one of the reasons why I dropped out of school.” “My Dean told my mom, ‘He got potential, I think you should just really let him focus on being an artist because coming here every day really not going to be beneficial to him. I think if he got something good, just let him chase his dreams.’ Because people were dying in my school every other week.”
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