are great pop songs "Nail Tech" is a clever earworm with one of the best beats of the year thus far, and "First Class" is a similar, algorithm-perfected hip-hop song, founded on an extensive sample of Fergie's 2006 hit "Glamorous." With these two tracks alone, Harlow fashioned himself into a hitmaker, and managed to get inescapable press between early previews of his "First Class" snippets and claims that he was trying to get Dolly Parton "on some hard s***." These days, all you need to capture the public attention is a sustained hook on Gen Z listeners, who in turn keep an artist's music trending through constant conversation and TikTok retooling he's gamed the system to massive success.īetween the singles, Harlow's fanbase and palpable buzz, Come Home. He's a cultural chameleon someone that can simultaneously check every box he needs to gain attention.īut that box-checking is, maybe, also the problem. Gen Z listeners love him because a song like "First Class," with its invocation of '00s nostalgia, is primed to start a million different TikTok trends. He's perfected the art of pandering, which has allowed him to cultivate a wide, diverse audience across demographics, as well as both gay fans and straight women through his casual, flippant flirtatiousness and assured comfort in his masculinity. There's something singular about his appeal he has the charm of an underdog, someone you can't help but root for, able to woo an audience with a blue-eyed wink. His personality has always been a key part of his success, and part of his meteoric rise to the top of the pop-rap's collective consciousness is undoubtedly due to his charisma. Harlow videos - walking around dimly lit school hallways with a goofy smile and accompanying swagger. But despite the puberty, fame and money, Harlow is, in essence, the same kid in his Mr.
The next few years positioned him as a rising star in the hip-hop world, someone that legends praise (he's been cosigned by artists including Kanye West and Sean "Diddy" Combs) and peers envy. Tiny Desk Jack Harlow: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert On his 18th birthday, he opened up for Vince Staples, and signed to DJ Drama's label in 2018. Harlow" era of his career are still online and watching them feels oddly personal, invoking a "boy next door" kind of sensibility. Several makeshift music videos from the "Mr. Jack Harlow's story has been repeated ad nauseam in the wake of his celebrity: the 24-year-old suburban kid from Kentucky started rapping in middle school, with his first mixtape released when he was in seventh grade. The record simultaneously underutilizes his strengths and emphasizes his weaknesses, resulting in a middle-of-the-road body of work despite endorsements for his success and its potential. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022.īut even though Come Home The Kids Miss You was poised to launch Jack Harlow's worldwide takeover, the rapper's sophomore album misses the mark. His second single from the new record, " First Class," became the first hip-hop song to hit No. After the one-two punch of his 2020 hit "Whats Poppin" and a knockout verse on Lil Nas X's " INDUSTRY BABY," which he performed on-stage at his first Grammys performance, the past few years have brought the rapper praise from the hip-hop community and a devout fanbase on social media. The Louisville, Ky., rapper's sophomore album Come Home The Kids Miss You, released earlier this month, arrived in a moment when Harlow had reached a new level of cultural clout. Jack Harlow is a rising star in the hip-hop world, someone that legends praise and peers envy.įor Jack Harlow, everything was pointing to this being his summer to conquer.