Jack Harlow's Latest Album Jackman
Jack Harlow has been making waves in the music industry ever since his hit single, “What’s Poppin,” released in 2020. Harlow quickly rose to stardom and released two albums, along with several collaborations, to cement his name in the upcoming wave of new artists. It then came as a surprise when he dropped his third album, Jackman, with very little promotion or build-up announcing it would be dropping just two days before the release date. Compared to his previous albums, Jackman has severely underperformed, selling only thirty-four thousand copies in the United States and only reaching number thirteen on the album charts. With mixed reviews, Jackman is an intriguing album that points out Harlow’s flaws but also how far he has come and how far he is willing to go to master his craft.
With the first track “Common Ground,” Harlow’s flow on the beat is quite good. Despite some odd lyrics, it bounces off a mellow beat very well, and overall is a nice introduction to the album. It also finishes with a pleasant lyric with Harlow rapping, “Common ground ain’t that common,” as the beat concludes. This is followed by the song “They Don’t Love It,” in which Harlow tries to continue from the first song, but it comes off slightly abrupt. The beat is very odd, especially in the first thirty seconds, sounding like the beat is malfunctioning by repeating itself several times which just confuses the listener. The chorus lacks detail, with him just repeating the phrase, “They don’t love it” again and again and again. Harlow’s flow is also fairly good, but the lyrics lack complexity and are extremely bland.
The track “Ambitious” is a pleasant surprise, Harlow tries to tell a story with his lyrics in this song, which I appreciate, talking about how he signed his first record deal at the age of nineteen. This is definitely the best song of the album up to this point, with Harlow detailing how he rose through the ranks despite being doubted during his rise to fame. The beat is also relatively well-polished, and, for once, enhances Harlow’s lyrics. In, “Is That Ight” Harlow talks about how he wants to live his life and tries to motivate listeners to aim for the same heights by working hard. He also tries a bit of harmonizing on the track which is a refreshing feature at this point on the album. The beat is also delightful and mellow, making it a very easy track to listen to and bop your head to.
The track “Gang Gang Gang” definitely wins the weirdest song of the year for me (so far). I can kind of see what Harlow may be attempting with this, portraying someone in denial of the bad actions of childhood friends, whilst repeating “Ride for my dogs, lie for my dogs, die for my dogs” showing that their allegiance may blind them from the truth. But the way he does it is completely unnecessary. He raps about how one childhood friend raped seven women in one verse, and in the following verse, he raps about how another childhood friend molested a ten-year-old. I feel the concept he is trying to portray here could have been done so much better than the way he attempted to do it, this track just ends up being a really strange listen. The following song, “Denver” is a very good song for Jack Harlow's standards. He tells a great story in a variety of ways with great alliteration and rhyming, explaining his mental struggles with fame. The voice in the background and breaks between lyrics is also a pleasant addition, with it adding additional lyrics that help emphasize the idea Harlow is projecting. This is by far my favorite song on the album. “No Enhancers” is a pleasant, chill song to sit back and listen to, with Harlow detailing his relationship with an ex-girlfriend. I wouldn’t say it's a fantastic song, although, it is a good connector between songs to allow Harlow to continue projecting his message to the listener.
On the track “It Can’t Be Me” Harlow continuously repeats “It can’t be” followed by different reasons for why others may critique his rise to fame or the reasons for his success. This repetitiveness does get a bit boring toward the end of the song, with it feeling like it is just the same thing over and over again, with the song lacking any genuine creativity. Harlow does manage to make a good flow over the beat and the continuous repetition, making it one of the few decent songs on the album. Although, the next song was the best on the album, with “Blame On Me” combining everything Harlow has attempted, and for once, it lands well. Not only does Harlow tell a story via his lyrics, but he keeps the listeners' interest through the lyrics and the wonderful melodic voice in the chorus, making Harlow’s voice entertaining and fresh as you get a break every forty-five seconds or so. For the first time, when listening to Harlow’s music, I wasn’t wondering how much longer of the song was left I was quite disappointed when it finished. Despite this great track, the following song, “Questions,” ends the album on a mediocre note, with Harlow rapping about a variety of things involving his questions about life. I understand what he’s trying to say on this track but for one reason or another, it just falls short and doesn’t leave an impression.
Now, whilst I’m not a massive fan of Jack Harlow, I think this album has gone a bit too far under the radar as he deserves credit for attempting new things and improving his artistry, versus just sticking with the boring stuff he’s known for. There is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to this project, even though it does have some highlights. If he can stop repeating the same lines over and over again, whilst continuing to grow his skill set, his next album will probably be his best yet. Overall, I’ll give Jack Harlow’s Jackman a solid five to light six out of ten.
By Luke Birch