On Friday (Oct. 18), Gunna blessed the masses with a new single titled “HIM ALL ALONG.” Over production from Turbo, he reflected on being destined for success from the beginning. “They was tryna stunt my growth, I was steady chasin’ my goals, n**ga, why you watchin’? I’m grown, n**ga can't take my throne, goin’ through the motions, stay strong, he done been him all along,” he confidently rapped on the song’s catchy hook.

“HIM ALL ALONG” is the Atlanta rapper's first official single since the release of May’s One of Wun, a 20-song body of work with additional contributions from Roddy Ricch, Leon Bridges, Offset, and Normani. As with its immediate predecessor, a Gift & a Curse, Gunna's fifth studio LP did well commercially, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 91,000 album-equivalent units sold.

Outside of his own releases, the YSL-signed talent is also in high demand as a featured artist. Since One of Wun dropped, he appeared on tracks like IDK’s “TIFFANY,” Ice Spice's “B**ch I’m Packin’,” Diplo and Mau P’s “Receipts,” Toosii’s “Champs Élysées,” and a remix of The Kid LAROI’s “BABY I'M BACK.” On Tuesday (Oct. 15), Gunna joined Big Sean in a visual for the latter's Better Me Than You standout “It Is What It Is.”

In an interview with XXL, Gunna was asked what it meant to evolve as an artist. “As I evolve, my music evolves, too. I’m not the same 24-year-old that was putting out Drip Season 3, you know what I’m sayin'?” he said. “Now I’m 30, and I’m dropping ‘Bittersweet’ and a Gift & a Curse. That resonates with how I’m living. Back then, it did, too. But that was for that time. So, this time, I’m just evolving differently, but it [transferred] over to the music, too.”