Jack Harlow is an American rap artist who is world famous for the single Whats Poppin. His musical work for a long time occupied the 2nd position on the Billboard Hot 100, gaining more than 380 million plays on Spotify.
The guy is also one of the founders of the Private Garden group. The artist worked for Atlantic Records with well-known American producers Don Cannon and DJ Drama.
Early life of Jack Harlow
The full name of the artist is Jack Thomas Harlow. He was born on March 13, 1998 in the city of Shelbyville (Kentucky), located in the eastern part of the United States. The young artist's parents are Maggie and Brian Harlow. It is known that the two of them are engaged in business. The guy also has a brother.
In Shelbyville, Jack lived until the age of 12, where his parents had a house and a horse farm. In 2010, the family moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Here the performer lived most of his conscious age and began to build a career in rap music.
At the age of 12, Harlow began to rap for the first time. He and his friend Sharat used a Guitar Hero microphone and a laptop to record rhymes and songs. The boys released the Rippin' and Rappin' CD. For some time, novice artists sold copies of their debut album to other students at the school.
When Jack was in 7th grade, he finally got a professional microphone and created the first Extra Credit mixtape. The guy released it under the pseudonym Mr. Harlow. A little later, together with his friends, he created the musical group Moose Gang. In addition to collaborative songs, Harlow has recorded solo mixtapes Moose Gang and Music for the Deaf. But in the end, he did not want to post them on the Internet.
In his freshman year of high school, his YouTube videos caught the attention of major labels. However, then he refused to cooperate with all companies. In November 2014 (during his sophomore year), he released another mixtape, Finally Handsome, on SoundCloud. Harlow graduated from Atherton High School in 2016. The young performer decided not to go to university, but to develop more in music.
Musical style of Jack Harlow
Critics characterize the artist's songs as a combination of playful confidence and special emotional sincerity. This is manifested not only in the melody, but also in the lyrics. In the tracks, the artist often touches on topics that are relevant for young people - sexuality, "hanging out", drugs.
Jack talks about making rhythmic compositions. In turn, the text in them has a "personal but fun message that is focused on interaction with the audience."
His development as a rap artist was influenced by many contemporary artists. For example, Eminem, Drake, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Outkast, Paul Wall, Willie Nelson et al. Jack also credits his unusual musical style with film influences. He always aspired to make his music look like short films.
The development of the musical career of Jack Harlow
The first commercial work of the artist was the mini-album The Handsome Harlow (2015) on the label SonaBLAST! records. Even then, Harlow was a recognizable performer on the Internet. Therefore, in addition to studying at school, he spoke at city events. Tickets for his concerts at the Mercury Ballroom, Headliners and Haymarket Whiskey Bar sold out completely.
In 2016, the young artist created the release of the joint song Never Woulda Known with Johnny Spanish. The single was produced by Syk Sense. In the same year, Jack graduated from high school and created the group Private Garden. After that, Harlow released the mixtape "18", which became the group's first musical work.
In October 2017, the song Dark Knight was released along with the video. For help in completing the musical part and writing the text block, the artist thanked CyHi the Prynce. The song subsequently became the lead single from Harlow's Gazebo mixtape. Then the performer went on a two-week tour in support of the album.
After moving to Atlanta in 2018, Jack worked at the Georgia State Cafeteria because music didn't generate much income. Harlow recalls this period fondly: “At some points I really liked to be nostalgic for work. It was there that I met a lot of cool guys, which really motivated me.” After working in the institution for about a month, the performer met DJ Drama.
In August 2018, it became known that the artist signed a contract with DJ Drama and Don Canon, a division of Atlantic Records. Then the artist published a video for his single Sundown. Already in November, the performer went on tour in North America with his first work, Loose, recorded on the label.
Jack's songs began to increase in popularity faster. In 2019, Harlow released the Confetti mixtape, which included 12 songs. One of them was Thru the Night, recorded with Bryson Tiller in August. A little later, the artist went on a tour of the United States.
What's Poppin single
In January 2020, the artist released the track Whats Poppin, thanks to which he became popular and recognizable. The composition was produced by JustYaBoy. In turn, Cole Bennett, who was famous for the work of Juice Wrld, Lil Tecca, Lil Skies, helped with the filming of the video. The single quickly became popular on the Internet and for a long time kept in the top 10 world rankings. The video has received over 110 million views on YouTube.
Whats Poppin became Jack Harlow's first track to enter the Billboard Hot 100. Moreover, thanks to this work, the artist was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2021. The song was included in the category "Best Rap Performance" along with tracks from Big Sean, Megan Thee Stallion, Beyonce, Pop Smoke and DaBaby.
The popular song caught the attention of DaBaby, Tory Lanez, hip-hop legend Lil Wayne. Famous artists remixed it, which had over 250 million streams on Spotify.
Jack Harlow now
In December 2020, the rapper opened his discography with the first studio album. The singer's longplay was called Thats What They All Say. The compositions that were included in the disc in the musical language told the fans about what it is like to be the face of the city and have great popularity.
“I want to say that this is the first significant project in my life. While working on the collection, I felt like a real man, and not just a boy. I want my debut LP in decades to be perceived by fans as a classic…”, said Jack Harlow.
In early May 2022, the premiere of the rapper's full-length LP took place. The record was called Come Home The Kids Miss You. By the way, this is one of the most anticipated albums of this year.
Jack is called "lucky". The guy independently achieved what he had dreamed of for so long: he worked with Kanye and Eminem, became a role model, released several world hits, and even managed to star in a film.
“I want to be an example for my generation. I am sure that today's youth need a worthy role model. The tracks included in the new LP have become more mature. I love hip hop and I want it to start sounding serious. Street music is not only expensive cars, beautiful girls and a lot of money. We need to dig deeper, and I will do it, ”the rap artist commented on the release of the new album.
By the way, the record is not without guest verses. The compilation includes vocals from Justin Timberlake, Pharrell, Lil Wayne and Drake.
