MISBHV top, TRIPLE RRR pants, and talent’s own necklace.
Critics flip through 21-year-old [Jack Harlow](https://www.instagram.com/jackharlow/) like a magazine with pages stuck together, and miss something crucial. He knows who he is. Harlow loves Louisville like Snoop Dogg loves Merry Jane. He loves Louisville like sharks love blood. Each bar Harlow drops, and every note he bellows, is all for Louisville. That city is the chorus of his creativity. Harlow has a beaming heart and big-time ambition, that should never be overlooked.
In [_Confetti_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=OLAK5uy_nTFjibeJILoVldrKwF-ZJZY-CYgBqKBx4&v=GByTR0pBYWE), released September 20th, Harlow wades in the grey area between love and lust. He doesn’t nail into the ‘I love you’ ballads or the 2 am ‘you up’ texts. But rather, he meditates in the space between. It is a thin line he treads on, excellently. Perhaps that messy unspoken margin is the most intense, because we don’t know what to call it. It is just a sticky feeling without a name. For Harlow, this feeling is electrifying, like a lightning storm of confetti.
Hate is something Jack Harlow has gotten used to. He is a young white male from Kentucky, trying to make it as a rapper. His halo of tight curls and a boyish crystal glint in his eyes probably doesn’t help. When Pitchfork reviewed Jack Harlow’s new mixtape, they gave him a shocking 5.6 rating. For any artist, young or seasoned, this is enough to make you question your dreams. But Jack Harlow doesn’t work like that. Instead, he looked up Mac Millers’ first album’s Pitchfork review. Blue Slide Park received a throbbing 1.0 rating. “For me,” Harlow explains, “that’s one thing I try to remember. Artists I look up to caught more hate than I’m catching now. So it means nothing. That’s how it is. People are going to hate.”
A few weeks ago, we gathered in the lobby of the PUBLIC hotel, and discussed his middle school freestyling down the halls, misconceptions of Louisville, coping with criticism, and surprisingly - Jesse McCartney.
Talent’s own top, and TRIPLE RRR pants.
**What is it about the culture in Louisville that inspires you?**
It’s eccentric and there’s a chip on the shoulder of a lot of creatives there. One, because of the public misunderstanding of Louisville. And two, just that desire to be appreciated and known about on a national level. The area I grew up in was really inspired by the punk rock scene. I grew up with a lot of skaters. I think that scene still exists, but I think hip-hop has become so powerful, it’s just flooding everywhere. Fun fact, Louisville has the most border states in the US. We touch nine States. So I think we get influence from a lot of people.
**I know when you shared your work at first as a kid, middle schoolers weren’t the most supportive audience. How did you persevere when you didn’t receive instant support?**
I think for me, I had a group of people always from the jump that said, “You have something.” So I was getting encouragement. But I still get hate. It’s something I am used to. For me, it was just part of it. I think what made it easy for me to keep going is - you know how kids, when they have something that their parents recognize in them, or some thing they do? Before it was rap, when I was a little kid, I took a lot of pride in the fact that I could run fast. So that’s what kids tell every person when they met them. That’s their identity for the time being. ‘Cause they haven’t gotten any older, or found any complexity. So in middle school, that’s what my identity was. So even if people were hating, for me, I was the kid who rapped. Everyone knew me as that kid, who freestyles in the halls, and wants to rap. So that’s who I was, for me.
CASABLANCA sweater, TRIPLE RRR pants, and MISBHV boots.
**And you currently still receive hate. Why do you think that is? And how do you cope with it in an age where it’s almost impossible to escape criticism?**
I think the biggest thing I get hate for, or at least I get alienated for being white. Which is natural. It’s a black genre. To ask how I cope with it, one thing that gives me comfort is that I remember when Mac Miller came out with how much hate he got. I’ve even watched interviews of him talking about it. I’ve always loved Mac Miller. I looked up to how he handled being a white artist in a black genre. For me to see how much hate he got… Pitchfork reviewed my new mixtape. Gave it a 5.6, shit all over it. Talked total shit about it. That fucked me up low key. It’s one thing when people leave an Instagram comment. But when somebody gives a well thought out, basically a persuasive letter on why you should quit music.
**Yeah, it’s like receiving an analytical essay on why you suck. That’s so intense.**
Then you consider it low key. Luckily it hasn’t made me want to quit. But to the point I’m getting back to is, I went and looked at Mac Miller’s debut album. They gave him 1.0, a one. And then his next album jumped to a 7.3. But I remember the transition for him when he became more appreciated by the culture. And rest in peace Mac Miller, he’s held in really high regard. So for me, that’s one thing I try to remember. Artists I look up to caught more hate than I’m catching now. So it means nothing. That’s how it is. People are going to hate.
MISBHV top and boots, TRIPLE RRR pants, and talent’s own necklace.
**How do you address your relationships, especially with women, throughout your new album Confetti? How are you embedding intimate themes differently than you did in your last works?**
Women have always been a big theme for me. Mainly because I don’t sell drugs and I don’t shoot at people. And they talk about how, you know, some of the three pillars of entertainment are violence, drugs, sex. So I think I end up leaning on the sex pillar a lot \[laughs\]-
**Well it’s the most fun pillar for sure...**
Oh, yeah - but that was one I could get some shit off. So I’ll try to be introspective. So in Confetti, it’s just discussing what those situations are like. The main thing about Confetti is that it’s called confetti because the tape feels like a party. It’s a lot of fun. So I’m talking about the fun I’m having with women. Not even always just sex, but it’s casual. I’m not in love, but we fuck with each other. You know what I mean? So a lot of that, the grey areas that can exist between a man and a woman. There aren’t a lot of ‘I’m in love with you’ songs, and there ain’t a ton of heartache. It’s the middle area.
Talent’s own top, and TRIPLE RRR pants.
**Can you go into your relationship a bit with Private Garden?**
So, it’s a collective from Louisville made up of a bunch of creatives and artists. Basically, we all went to different high schools, but we came together just out of the love of creativity and music. We’ve been working together for about three or four years now. Since before anything started buzzing. We went to South By together with no money, just trying to get discovered. So we just make music together, we make creative decisions together, we throw parties in the city, we throw shows.
**If you had to listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?**
\[long pause\] Right now, I would say “Leaving” by Jesse McCartney.
**Really? That was the last thing I would have expected. I haven’t listened to him in years but I’m sure I remember every lyric to his songs.**
You remember that song? That’s my shit. He’s a hitmaker, that’s what I want to be.
**Would you ever want to collaborate with Jesse McCartney?**
Hell yeah, I’ll bring him back. I would do a tape with him. I just love his voice.
CASABLANCA sweater.
**What is your advice for young artists who are desperately trying to make it in a scene that they aren’t getting acceptance in?**
When things really started to crack for me, when people wanted to show up for my shows, messaged me telling me that I changed their life - that’s when I got super honest in my music. I feel like that’s what builds fans. I think there’s a lot of people out here to make hits, but don’t have fans because you never find out who they truly are. So I would encourage any artist to just dig in, and try to find that vulnerable spot. Because, you can always act like you’re writing honest lyrics or deep lyrics. But until you hit that spot that’s really true, people can feel it. So that’s the one that gives me the reaction with the most longevity. You’ve got to dig in, and that’s when people will be like “Oh, this is a person.”
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Produced and styled by: [Morgan Vickery](https://www.instagram.com/morganvickery/)
Written by: [Jessica Romoff](https://www.instagram.com/jessica_romoff/)
Photography by: [Cobey Arner](https://www.instagram.com/cobeyarner/)
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