25 album cover by G Herbo, The Kid LAROI & Gunna

30-sec preview

2021 · From the album 25

You Can't

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02:27 Runtime

The reading

A Chicago rapper's victory lap addressed to the people who weren't around for the Honda years and don't get to ride in the Rolls

02 · Interpretation

You Can't: G Herbo's Gatekeeping Anthem for the Day-Ones

E Editorial Desk Oct 9, 2026

G Herbo's 'You Can't,' from his July 2021 project '25,' is a success-record built around a simple accounting principle: proximity in the lean years earns proximity in the fat ones. The hook translates the whole worldview into one image. If you weren't riding shotgun in the Honda, you don't get the Rolls seat either. Everything else on the song is a variation on that line.

Herbo opens with the standard shape of a flex verse (foreign cars, iced-out crew, haters logging off IG) but almost immediately pivots the camera toward his mother. The detail about telling her as a child he'd buy a Rollie is the song's emotional anchor; the jewelry isn't just jewelry, it's the receipt on a childhood promise. That framing recurs on the pre-chorus, where he reminds himself he said he'd make it and did, and that the people now circling back were cold when he was down. The dismissal that follows ('fuck 'em') isn't posturing so much as bookkeeping.

The hook itself is a chant more than a melody, the words 'you can't' stacked until they stop being an answer and start being a wall. Pairing that refrain with the Honda-to-Rolls line gives the song its structure: the verses supply evidence, the hook delivers the verdict.

The LAROI and Gunna turn

When The Kid LAROI takes over, the subject shifts from fake friends to a woman trying to claim girlfriend status he hasn't agreed to. He describes barely talking to her while still sleeping with her, and admits the mismatch is 'fuckin' with my imagination.' It's not a flattering self-portrait, but it rhymes thematically with Herbo's verse: both are about people trying to collect on a relationship they never actually invested in. LAROI's delivery, airy and almost sighing, softens the edges of lyrics that are, on the page, pretty cold.

Gunna's verse keeps the ledger metaphor going in his usual murmured cadence. He notes that the woman in question isn't in the Bentley because she wasn't around before, and congratulates himself for not being generous enough to have 'laced' her in Givenchy for nothing. His closing image, comparing available women to fish in the sea ('like fish parquet deep in the sea, it's plenty more'), is the romantic equivalent of Herbo's Honda-Rolls rule: scarcity is not the problem, loyalty is.

Context

'25' arrived with Herbo marking the age in its title, a project that leaned harder into reflection than his earlier drill-adjacent work. He had spent years as one of Chicago's most consistent street rappers, and by 2021 he was navigating the strange middle distance between underground credibility and mainstream features. Putting LAROI, then at the peak of his post-'Stay' crossover moment, next to Gunna, then operating as one of Atlanta's dominant melodic voices, is a snapshot of what rap radio sounded like that summer. The three of them don't share much musically on paper, but the beat (bright, uncluttered, more Atlanta than Chicago) gives them a common room to work in.

Why it sticks

'You Can't' isn't trying to be a classic. It's a mid-tempo brush-off song, the kind of track that lives in playlists rather than canon. What makes it work is how clean the central idea is. Everyone has a Honda era and a Rolls fantasy, even if the vehicles are metaphorical, and everyone has a mental list of who was around for which. Herbo gives that list a chorus. The song endures in the small way such songs do: as a soundtrack for the specific pleasure of not returning a text.

Themes catalogued

loyalty success disposable relationships mother-son promise gatekeeping

Track Info

Released Jul 1, 2021

Album 25

Length 02:27

Listen elsewhere

03 · Lyrics

"You Can't"

Run that back, Turbo (ayy)

Oh, you miss me? I'm in foreign cars now

Ice on all my dawgs, haters on IG, they logged out

And I brought 'em all out

V12 engine roarin' loud

Hit the parkin' lot, I open up the door, it's all clouds

Know I made my mama proud when she saw me rock a crowd

Had the fans goin' wild

No bap, I told her I was gon' buy me a Rollie as a child

Rollie on me right now, give them bitches bright smiles

I'm with wifey, pipe down

Gettin' the two-door wiped down on the freeway, blow a pound

Every time I come around, just expect a hundred rounds

Feel like rain comin' down, Herbo drippin' through your town

Foreign whippin' through your town

Herbo, you get love just like Jordan, pippin' in your town

I told my mama I was gon' make it, now I made it (oh, oh)

I remember when they all hated, they all changin' (they did, huh)

I remember I was down and they acted so cold (fuck 'em)

If you weren't with me in the Honda, you can't be with me in this Rolls, no, no

You can't, you can't, you can't (haha), you can't, no (can't, can't)

You can't, you can't, you can't, no (oh, no, no)

You can't, you can't, and you won't, no (can't, can't)

I don't need you anymore (huh, look)

Keepin' patience while I'm in and out of situations (situations)

She say we datin', but I hardly give her a conversation (hard)

Try to paint that picture

And it's fuckin' with my imagination (fuckin' with my imagination)

I don't ever kiss her, but I always give her penetration (oh)

Peep that you wasn't with me, you ain't ridin' in this Bentley (no)

Could've fucked and gave you nothin', thank God I wasn't stingy (thank God)

You full of kizzy (kizzy)

Could've laced you in new Givenchy

Left my soul empty (soul)

Can't help me with spendin' these millies (no)

You don't know who you livin' for (for)

I just don't know why it's so hard to play your part (part)

But it's okay, 'cause I don't want you anymore (anymore)

Like fish parquet deep in the sea, it's plenty more (plenty more)

I told my mama I was gon' make it, now I made it (oh, oh)

I remember when they all hated, they all changin' (they did, huh)

I remember I was down, and they acted so cold (fuck 'em)

If you weren't with me in the Honda, you can't be with me in this Rolls, no, no

You can't, you can't, you can't (haha), you can't, no (can't, can't)

You can't, you can't, you can't, no (oh, no, no)

You can't, you can't, and you won't, no (can't, can't)

I don't need you anymore

Lyrics via Google. Copyright belongs to rights holders.

04 · FAQ

Frequently asked

What does the Honda and Rolls line mean in 'You Can't'?

It's the song's thesis. G Herbo is saying that anyone who wasn't around when he was broke, driving a Honda, doesn't get a seat now that he can afford a Rolls-Royce. The vehicles are shorthand for before-and-after, and the line functions as a loyalty test for old friends who've resurfaced since he got famous.

Who is G Herbo talking to on 'You Can't'?

His verse is aimed at people from his past, former haters and fair-weather associates who ignored him when he was struggling and now want to be around for the success. The Kid LAROI and Gunna shift the target to women trying to claim relationship status they didn't earn, but the underlying message is the same brush-off.

Why does G Herbo mention his mother in 'You Can't'?

He references telling his mother as a child that he'd buy himself a Rolex, and now making her proud watching him perform. It grounds the flex in a long-standing promise, so the jewelry and cars read less as random boasts and more as evidence that he kept his word to the one person who believed him early.

What album is 'You Can't' from and when did it come out?

'You Can't' appears on G Herbo's project '25,' released on July 1, 2021. The album's title references his age at the time and the record leans into a more reflective, melodic palette than his earlier Chicago drill-adjacent work, which is why features from The Kid LAROI and Gunna fit the mood.

What is The Kid LAROI's verse on 'You Can't' about?

LAROI describes a situation with a woman who thinks they're dating while he barely holds conversations with her, admitting he sleeps with her but doesn't kiss her. It's a cold portrait of a non-relationship, and it mirrors Herbo's verse by framing someone trying to claim status they haven't actually earned.

How does Gunna's verse fit the theme of 'You Can't'?

Gunna keeps the ledger-keeping going, noting the woman in question doesn't get the Bentley ride because she wasn't around earlier, and that he's glad he didn't waste Givenchy on her. His closing fish-in-the-sea line functions as the romantic version of Herbo's Honda-to-Rolls rule: replaceable, because loyalty wasn't there.

Why do people still listen to 'You Can't'?

It's a clean, mid-tempo brush-off song with a chant-like hook that's easy to internalize. The central idea, rewarding day-ones and cutting off latecomers, is universal enough that listeners project their own lists onto it, which is why it lives on playlists built around confidence and cutting people off.