Intervju Jack Harlow - om EP:n 'Sweet Action' & flytten till Atlanta

Den 13 mars 2020, på sin 22-årsdag, släppte Louisville-rapparen Jack Harlow sin senaste EP Sweet Action. Det unga hiphop-fenomenet började rappa redan som 12-åring. Då spelade han in låtar tillsammans med sin kompis – med hjälp av en dator och mikrofonerna från hans Guitar Hero. Det färdiga mixtapet, Rippin and Rappin, sålde de sedan på Highland Middle School. Sedan dess har karriären bara gått uppåt. Redan i High School väckte hans musik intresse hos flera stora skivbolag, men Jack tackade nej till alla deals. I dag har han släppt totalt fem studioprojekt som finns ute på Spotify, och är signad till Atlantic Records. Han har jobbat med stora namn som Bryson Tiller och K CAMP, spelat in videos med Lyrical Lemonade och jobbar med samma producenter som DaBaby. Själv beskriver han sig som: “one of the most promising artists out right now”. 

En eftermiddag ringer Jack Harlow upp oss för att snacka om samarbetet med G-Eazy på senaste singeln “Moana”, flytten till Atlanta och hur Bryson Tiller övertalade honom vilka låtar som skulle vara med på EP:n Sweet Action. Men det tar en stund innan vi kommer fram till det … När vi börjar prata är det nästintill omöjligt att undvika ämnet corona, eftersom världen befinner sig mitt i en pandemi. Han håller humöret uppe genom att skapa musik och har en liten studio hemma. Just nu är han “super locked-up,” men berättar att Atlanta, dit han flyttade efter studenten, nyligen brutit karantänen. Jack Harlow’s starkaste personlighetsdrag är utan tvekan hans humor som lyser igenom trots att vi befinner oss i olika delar av världen, i varsin ände av en telefonlinjen. Snart ska han få återvända till sin riktiga studio och han försöker lura mig att han tvingas spela in all sin musik bärandes munskydd, vilket blir ett problem då det är svårt att höra hans mumlande röst. Efter lite övertalande från min sida erkänner han tillslut att det var ett prank.  

I själva verket har han mycket ny musik på gång. Han avslöjar att han jobbar på låtar med sångerskan Doja Cat, som han lärde känna efter en live-stream på Instagram, samt ett större projekt som han hoppas släpps senare i år. Dessutom gav han nyligen ut låten “Moana” med G-Eazy samt en tillhörande musikvideo. De möttes för första gången på en fest i LA, och några veckor senare sågs de i Atlanta där G-Eazy jobbade på sitt kommande album. Jack Harlow spelade upp några av sina låtar och de fastnade direkt för trap-spåret “Moana”. 

På tal om en annan karaktär så har Jack tidigare förklarat sin kärlek för seriefiguren Shego från Disney-programmet Kim Possible. Länge hade han ett foto på henne som sin profilbild på Instagram. När jag frågar hur det kommer sig att han tillslut bestämde sig för att ta bort den chockas han först och främst över det faktum att Sverige känner till Kim Possible, och undrar hur mycket amerikansk kultur vi absorberar. “Y’all are just like an american island at this point … Just one of our distant states, huh?’ Nah, I had to changed it you know. I put out an EP so I had to make the EP-cover my profile picture, but Shego had a nice run”, skrattar Jack. 

”It’s called Sweet Action ‘cause the songs are candy coated, they’re sweet and easy on the ears.”

Dopest: You recently dropped your EP Sweet Action – tell me a little more about it. Is there a concept behind it? 

Jack Harlow: It’s called Sweet Action and it’s 7 songs. All the songs have a nice replay value to them. It’s called Sweet Action ‘cause the songs are candy coated, they’re sweet and easy on the ears. It’s not too cohesive, it’s no thought out album. It’s really just a collection of songs that I’ve made over the last few months. And I thought that I was ‘bout to go on tour so I wanted to have some music out.”

How is it different from your previous projects? 

You know what’s funny? I feel like compared to my EP Confetti – it’s not super different. It’s almost like an extension of it and some of the songs were made around the same time. If anything it’s a little cleaner and tighter, just better I guess. But in terms of artistically I think my next project is gonna be the real step up. 

What is your next project?

Well you know, I don’t have a name or anything yet but the music is leveling up. It’s gonna be stronger, more thoughtful. All the things that I wanted it to elevate into so I’m excited about it.

You dropped a music video with Lyrical Lemonade for the EP’s stand out singel “WHATS POPPIN”. It was directed by Cole Bennett, how did you meet him? 

He was a fan of me for a while, well I hope he still is *laughing*. He started following me on Instagram towards the beginning of last year and we just started talking. He as was a big deal already so I knew that if anything – I needed to get this guy to shoot one of my videos. I was sending him songs and we partied together. At first he didn’t find a song that he thought was the one so we waited and we just ended up becoming great friends on accident. He came to Louisville before we ever shot anything so when we started working we already liked each other. When I sent him “WHATS POPPIN” he was like: “This is it!” So when we were shooting on set he and I were already comfortable with each other so the video came together nice. 

Do you have any favorite songs from the EP?

“Outfront” is definitely one of my favorites – if not my favorite. But you know what’s funny? “SMELLS LIKE INCENSE” and “HEY BIG HEAD”, they weren’t even gonna be on the EP. Then about a week before I dropped it I was in Miami with Bryson Tiller and I played him the EP. He was like: “Yeah it’s dope, play me some more shit”. I played him some songs that weren’t on the EP. I played him “SMELLS LIKE INCENSE” and “HEY BIG HEAD”. He was like: “What are you doing?! You gotta put them on there”. So he made me do it. Last minute I added those songs and they’re both fan favorites so I owe Bryson. 

Both you and Bryson Tiller are from Louisville, right? What was it like growing up there? 

Yeah. It’s a unique place. I always call people Louisville breeds. They’re very smooth characters. The music is smooth the people are smooth, they’re laid back . The neighbourhood I grew up in, it’s called the Highlands. I went to school there and it’s probably the most pedestrian environment in the city. You don’t need a car to get around. There’s a certain diversity to the area, it’s artistic and accepting. I think that’s what gave me the perspective to be a white person that would get into rap in the first place. For our city – the Highlands was probably the home of culture. White kids would hang out with black kids and hispanic kids. It was just the home of counterculture. So that’s why a white kid, someone like me who is raised in a good home would gain interest in rap. 

What’s the music scene like? 

It’s growing and there’s a lot of talent. It’s in the best place it’s ever been now, more people wanna be creative than ever. We’ve had legends like Nappy Roots and Bryson Tiller – but now is the time that the scene is bubbling more than ever.  

”I like how in hip hop you could have such minimum of music and so much room for the words to shine.”

About two years ago you decided to move to Atlanta, why? 

It’s just so big down here for hip hop. All the producers are down here and it’s close to Louisville, you know. You can’t really drive to New York or LA, but it’s only six hours to drive to Atlanta. I was coming down here doing open mics, networking and just tryna’ fuck with anybody that would fuck with me. I ended up saying “Let’s just move!” and it changed my life!

Has it affected your music in any way?

Yeah, I started experimenting when I got down her. With substances, and I tried going to the club and strip clubs. I started getting taken to places and experiencing things I wasn’t experiencing in Louisville. It evolved my music. And I started experimenting with different ways of recording – knowing what sounds good in the club and what people like. You know, a lot of hot songs start in Atlanta now. 

Have you always been making rap or did you ever try any other genre? 

Nah, it’s always been rap, It made me feel confident and brave when I listend to it when I was younger. So that’s what I was attracted to and I like words. You know a lot of music, let’s say rock music – I don’t think words are as much priority for them. I don’t think they don’t care, but you’ll notice that in a lot of the mixes you can hardly understand or you can’t hear the words because the instruments kinda overpower the songs. They’re very driven by the guitar and the drums. I like how in hip hop you could have such minimum of music and so much room for the words to shine. I care about the words a lot. I like that the vocals are out front in hip hop. 

Before we hang up, what are your plans for 2020? 

Because of this virus, I just gotta wait things out. I plan on just keep working. I feel like I’m one of the most promising artists out right now so it’s a little bit of a push for me to keep my foot on the gas. I’m more focused than ever tho. I wake up with the music on my mind and I go to sleep with it on my mind. It’s tunnel vision. I ain’t too distracted, I ain’t binge watching no shows – I’m really locked in and focused. For 2020 I’m just gonna keep recording and see what I come up with!

Lyssna på Jack Harlow’s nya EP Sweet Action nedan i väntan på ett större projekt.