On Jack Harlow's "Sudden" Success

Watching your favorite artists hit career milestones is a particular kind of special.

On Music…

I first spoke to Jack Harlow in early January of 2018. If that feels like 10 years ago to anyone, know you’re not alone. Anyway, speaking with Jack, it was days after I had first seen the “Dark Knight” music video, and as I expressed in my lede, I was shocked no one was talking about the work. Our conversation ran long, he spoke slowly—as he does to this day—and during our talk I could hear the effortlessness of his music doing battle with his natural penchant for the methodical. As Jack and I would continue to connect across his career, his need to shed ego would become his guiding ethos.

“Man, it’s what I tell everybody: you’re gonna die. You might as well get it jumping and see what happens.” —Jack Harlow, 2018

Jack’s final words to me during our 2018 talk struck me the morning I saw his latest and greatest single, “WHATS POPPIN,” had broken into the top 10 of the Billboard charts. A few weeks prior, the single went Platinum and just a handful of days ago, Tory Lanez, Lil Wayne, and DaBaby joined Jack Harlow on the official remix, one where Jack was good enough to provide a fresh verse, too. All of this success is monumental. I saw it for Jack now as I saw it for Jack then—he’s a star with a golden heart.

I think of Jack Harlow’s closing thoughts and realize he did not enter rap to chase a bag. As he raps on 2017’s Gazebo, he grew up with the poetry of hip-hop. Even going back as far as the 2015 Handsome Harlow EP, you feel Jack genuinely trying to find his voice in rap, not attempting to fill in a voice already available to him. So, to see Jack catch his hit with a clear rendition of his own style, and “get it jumping,” as it were, there’s a sense of pride. It feels good to see an artist for who they are, and witness the world catch on. Though Jack’s obsession with mortality does not go away as his star rises—see: all of 2019’s Confetti—he’ll be able to go down as more than a name on a playlist.

“You’re not always going to make fire, you have to go through making that weaker stuff before you’re gonna get the fire,” Jack told me in January 2018. At the time, the statement was a revelation for me, someone who is so set on perfection from jump. Only later would I realize every talk with Jack is an opportunity to learn about myself.

Too, as I’ve watched Jack’s rise in the past years, I’ve seen him get closer and closer to his fire. I have no doubts “WHATS POPPIN” is merely the first in a series of career highs. With grounding songs like the ever-important “Eastern Parkway” and the more recent “River Road” to support him, I see Jack as capable of sustaining fame for the long-haul. Within these two songs, you see Jack’s desire to connect with his heart. A “River Road” does not always got Platinum, but it does keep your wits about you—Jack knows that. He ends Confetti with “River Road” as a promise, I must assume, to himself. A promise he will never let the natural party and glam of his music take him away from his guiding ethos.

Now, it’s impossible for me to not think of Malcolm circa 2012. I have been known to call August 2018’s Loose the start of Jack Harlow’s Macadelic era. I have many more takes and connections to draw, but for the sake of focus, let’s just say the leap from Gazebo to Loose, reminds me of the leap between Blue Slide Park and Macadelic, how both artists evolved their sound and went from stories of their respective hometowns to stories about their altered states of mind.

The parallels are there, and when I saw Jack get his Wayne verse for the “WHATS POPPIN” remix, as I witnessed Mac Miller get his Wayne verse for an album deep cut, “The Question,” I realized my take might not be so hot after all. Of course, lineage and legacy are not always so obvious, and no one is under any obligation to anyone, but there are threads here, for sure.

In 2011, Mac Miller made history debuting at No. 1 with Blue Slide Park. In 2020, Jack Harlow is having a moment of “sudden” skyrocketing success. I use quotes because the success always looks sudden until you do the digging and uncover the years-long hustle. Watching your favorite artists hit career milestones is a particular brand of special. Sure, there’s the ever-pleasant element of being “right” about an artist, and having a trusted ear, but it’s deeper, too. It’s about the practice of shared love, and wanting the best for the people you encounter in this life.

Yes, prospecting is mostly bullshit. Potential isn’t linear. People have the tendency to let us down. Yes to all that, but also, yes to Jack for being one to bet on time and time again.

A few days ago, I had a trusted writer friend reach out to me for a list of Jack Harlow songs to get to know the artist. It didn’t take me long to make a six-song listening guide, but since then I’ve felt disingenuous in my approach. Sure, my six song selections were, if I do say so myself, indicative of Jack’s evolution, but they did not underscore his growth in the same way as listening to his discography.

So, for the curious few: Listen in order. Listen to all of it. Cringe and laugh and cheer as you go through and realize something special this way comes. Spend time with the music and watch the videos. Read the old interviews and watch the radio freestyles. Watch him crack jokes on Genius, too.

I’ll leave everyone with my favorite thread: On Mac’s “The Question” he mumbles, “Sometimes I wonder who the fuck I am,” and on Jack’s “WHATS POPPIN,” he has the cheeky “Just joshin’” line. One begets the other. Both artists know who they are. Neither Mac Miller nor Jack Harlow have ever postured in the public eye. Their approaches vary, but their humility cannot be forgotten.

So, here’s to lineage and legacy, to unforgettable Lil Wayne verses, to “sudden” success, and to my neighbors, who are on day three of playing “WHATS POPPIN” without ever having met me.