This is why Jack Harlow is a ‘First Class’ rapper
From working for Chick-Fil-A to a Chart-topping artist, Jack is the next big thing in entertainment
With his sudden rise, where did Jack Harlow come from? For casual music listeners like me who prefer looking at their fashions first before listening to the music, I would confess he first caught my eyes at the latest Grammy Awards. During the red carpet event, he was dressed by Givenchy–a big deal for someone who is fairly new to the industry. And apparently, that’s who he is: the next big thing who will continue his meteoric rise.
The American rapper was born in Louisville, Kentucky on May 13, 1998. By the age of 12, he began rapping with his friend Copelan Garvey with records they sold to their mid-school buddies. In 2015, Jack released his first EP called “The Handsome Harlow” and in 2016, a mixtape called “18,” which was the first album on his label Private Garden. But it was in October of 2017 when Jack finally got the attention of the industry with his single “Dark Knight.”
In 2018, he moved to Atlanta for Georgia State University, where he worked at Chick-Fil-A cafeteria to make ends meet. He then met DJ Drama and got signed under the Generation Now record label. Jack continued to work on his mixtapes and got nominated for “Loose” as Best Mixtape at the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards. In the same year, the young artist got to collaborate with Bryson Tiller, another Louisville native, and released a 12-track mixtape called “Confetti” which featured artists like Bryson, 2forwoyne, and EST Gee.
Tiktok has launched a lot of careers and has made songs more popular than they already are. And this happened to Jack when his single “What’s Poppin” got shared wildly on the platform. During 2020, Jack also released a collaboration with well-known rapper G-Eazy for “Moana” and later, a “What’s Poppin” remix with DaBaby, Tory Lanez, and Lil Wayne.
With what’s happening in Jack’s career, his reach in 2021 only got bigger. He was invited to perform on “Saturday Night Live” and got to do a duet with Adam Levine. He also released a collaboration with Eminem, and with Lil Nas X for “Industry Baby” which was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance and topped Billboard’s Hot 100 list.
Aside from the exposure on collabs, Jack also started covering a number of magazine titles and even got included as part of Forbes’ 30 Under 30. He has also been appointed by fashion brands as ambassador and dressed by designers like Tommy Hilfiger, Versace, and Givenchy to appear on red carpets making him another style star to watch out for.
This year, he started well with a release of a new single “First Class” (a song that referenced Fergie’s “Glamorous”) which also topped the Billboard Hot 100. With this recognition, he also landed a collaboration on Ye’s album “Donda 2” while his second album “Come Home the Kids Miss You,” which was launched on May 6.
Jack will also debut his acting career in the remake of the movie “White Men Can’t Jump,” making him a powerhouse of an artist not conformed to being a musician alone.
A brand ambassador, an actor, a musician with more talent to give, Jack’s life is now far from his Chick-Fil-A gig. I bet he’s “Flying first class, up in the sky. Popping champagne, Living the life.”
