Jack Harlow shows promise but sticks to the basics in new album
Photo Courtesy of Rolling Stone
On Friday, May 6, Jack Harlow released his much-anticipated sophomore studio album, “Come Home the Kids Miss You.” The rapper’s popularity has since skyrocketed, and now Harlow has fans eager to see if he can keep up the recent success. Before its release, Harlow promised fans that the project would include legends of the music industry, and boy, was he telling the truth.
The album features guest appearances from Drake, Justin Timberlake, Lil Wayne and Pharrell Williams. “Come Home the Kids Miss You” consists of Harlow’s thoughts on his newfound fame, being an object of desire and his ambition of dominating music. The album was preceded by two successful singles, the first being “Nail Tech” and the second being the chart-topping “First Class.”
Harlow opens with “Talk of the Town,” a short, loopy piano-based song that talks about him returning home and going down memory lane as someone who has now reached fame. “Talk of the Town” may not be something that grabs your attention right off the bat, but it was the perfect start to the album and gave us a sneak peek into what we can expect down the line, highlighting the most common themes found in each of the tracks.
On the second track, Snoop Dogg makes a surprise appearance for “Young Harlezzy.” The track was solid thanks in large part to the presence of Snoop Dogg. One of the standout tracks on the album is “Dua Lipa.” The flirtatious record namedrops several celebrities other than Lipa, such as Ariana Grande and Luka Doncic. While Harlow uses a more silly and charismatic approach to the lyrics, the track is still a major thumbs up and is one that fans are already looking to play on repeat.
The track with Justin Timberlake, titled “Parent Trap,” was well executed, with Harlow admitting that he could have very well become a niche artist. The song felt very different from much of the album, as the Timberlake collab offered a different style than the other features and told an organized story throughout.
Another standout was “Churchill Downs” featuring Drake. The collaboration was truly one that we never thought we needed, as both artists delivered on a high-pitched and instrumental track mainly featuring the flute. The song discusses dealing with his newfound fame and knowing that he now has people looking up to him as an artist. Both Drake and Harlow meshed very well together, and it is the best track on the album.
However, not everything was a hit for Harlow. “Movie Star” featuring Pharrell Williams was seen as a disappointment and left listeners wanting more from the two stars. Harlow’s collab with one of his idols, Lil Wayne, on the track “Poison” came off cheesy and was overshadowed by an unnecessary abundance of autotune on the production. Harlow also suffered from a lack of creativity in some of his other tracks on the album.
Overall, Harlow’s second studio album was, to say the least, a solid effort. The album was not bad and does offer a great deal of enjoyment, but there are still many rooms for improvement. Harlow’s lyricism ranges from great to mediocre, as consistency continues to be Harlow’s biggest problem. Whilst he may have an extremely passionate fanbase, it will be interesting to see if the up-and-coming artist can continue to grow as a musician instead of being satisfied with his work and fame so far. Regardless of how you feel about the album, it is clear as day that Harlow is here to stay in the music industry.
