Most 21-year-old rappers haven't been rhyming for a decade, but then again, most rappers aren't Jack Harlow. The Kansas native has been honing his craft since he was 11, and he's starting to really see success - and it's proof that success doesn't happen overnight.
Releasing his first project, 18, back in 2016, followed by 2017's Gazebo, Jack has since followed up those with 2018's Loose and last year's Confetti. He's consistently built his fanbase, and now it's time for him to take the next step into superstardom.
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When asked by XXL what drew him to making hip-hop, he says, "Rap gave me confidence. It's something I figured I wanted to do for myself. I grew up listening to it — my mom would play it in the house. When I put it in my headphones, I would just be feeling myself." Jack believes in himself, and with his already-impressive discography, why wouldn't you?
Jack isn't afraid to take inspiration from what's around him and turn it into his music - it's this approach that won him the admiration of Bryson Tiller, who says he believes every bar that Jack spits. Talking to The Fader about his writing style, and what inspires him, he says, "Conversations I have with people, travel, experiences with women, but more than anything just observations of the people around me, and the world I see ... the behaviours of the people I know."
Speaking about his most recent project, Confetti, Jack tells MTV it's a celebration. That theme comes across in the music, and you can't help but feel amped up listening to it, especially listening to tracks like WARSAW and THRU THE NIGHT. Jack says this was the vibe he was going for. "Confetti celebrates youth, life, success, and experiencing these things and growing.
"One of my biggest thrills is bringing people together, and a lot of these songs were made with a lot of people in the studio. You can feel the party in them."
2020 might just be Jack's biggest year yet, if his latest track, Whats Poppin, is anything to go by. Accompanied by a Cole Bennett-directed video, Jack plays about every role you could think of while inside a local diner.
It's a video that proves he can act as well as he raps, and we can't wait to see what the rest of this year has in store for Jack.
His rise was highlighted when he recently made his TV debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He performed Whats Poppin (which Fallon says is his "jam right now") and took to the stage backed by a pianist. The performance, which comes just weeks after the single's release, proves that Jack has superstar qualities - it's only a matter of time before he reaches that level.
