Death has always been a central theme in G Herbo’s work. The cover of 2015’s Balling Like I’m Kobe features the Chicago rapper crouching over a headstone, and that mixtape’s highlight “I’m Rollin” memorialized dead friends. “Missin’ Em All” continues in this tradition: The opener from Herbo’s latest mixtape, Welcome to Fazoland 1.5, is a meditation on loss, violence, and survivor’s guilt. “I been losing my homies since I was 15/That’s the reason I know that I'm strong/That’s the reason they live through my songs,” Herbo raps over a plaintive organ melody and wispy synths, his hoarse bark sounding strained. Here, he takes a hard look at his own role in the streets, recalling the pressure to keep his siblings fed, a dead friend’s advice, and the guilt he feels when admitting to his mother that he still keeps a gun on him. “Missin’ Em All” ranks among Herbo’s most vulnerable moments, and it further complicates the rapper’s conflicted relationship with his own past. “Back when I was in the streets/Told myself when I leave, I won't miss it at all,” he raps furiously, sounding like a man who hasn’t yet managed to outrun his demons.