Jack Harlow: From Rap to Neo Soul, We talk Monica - EP10

0:02Who have we got today? Last time, we did Big UK. Dave. This time, we're going Big US. Right, okay. It's Jack Harlow. I'm, I've mixed feelings on it. I don't know how I feel about the hat. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm being super critical. Yeah, I'm being super critical here. I'm happy. You've pleased me. See, that's why we're having this conversation. I was debating whether to actually bring that up, so I'm very glad that I did. Yeah, it's good that you did.

0:30All right, all right. Back here, back again. What we say, let's get into it, man. Whoa, let's get to that man of the week. Yeah. And then we can have a bit of chit chat, you know? All right, let's do it, let's do it. So what have you got for me, man?

0:40Jack Harlow:What have you got? Okay, we're going UK rap again. Who's that? We're staying there. Who's that? Tell me, tell me. Wretch Free 2, Home. Okay. The 2025 album. For me, one of my favourites of last year, I must say. I was going to say This is one of yours Definitely I know you've spoken About this before On the pod I think a couple of times Potentially Yeah I called it out A couple of times I called it out A couple of times Wretch is the guy To be fair So I think I've only listened to I only listened to this album When it came out And I was like Yeah I respect it And then I haven't really Revisited it So Okay interesting So talk to me man Talk to me Yeah I've listened I've had this on repeat Quite a lot to be fair Yeah And yeah Made sense Had to get that felt like I had to get the vinyl because this really is art, you know?

1:33And I'll say that without like an aloof hat on or anything. But yeah, for me, yeah, one of my favorites of last year, got great cast list of collaborators and features on it. But really they will just play into like this cohesive sonic world that he's built for the album. I love the messaging of it. Obviously, you know, it's home question mark and he sort of speaks to like identity and a lot of stuff that we've previously discussed on a pod. But I guess today what we're talking about is like, this is a product. And for me, I really love it. This is, I'll show you in a sec, but we've got a gatefold vinyl here on the back.

2:12We've got a track list and the features and stuff and some more imagery on the front. Of course, he did this custom like shack essentially, which I guess depicts the narrative of the album. And then on the inside, if we go there quickly,

2:26Jack Harlow:again some nice added value okay imagery big spread in a big gatefold um and then i'll hand you quickly um gosh i'm mashing up the mic uh one of the one of the discs there you go take a look at that one and i'll have a look at this one um apologies to the man who aren't watching but are just listening um bear with but um yeah one of the things i love about this as a product is just the sort of like the value added i think so we've got um yeah we've got um printed inserts um sleeves rather which is great um which further depicts i guess yeah the imagery of the album the lp itself is just um yeah just a standard black lp but um yes quite heavyweight um overall you got got lyric lyric sheet credit credit sheet as well which is really nice again with imagery that's on theme and one thing that I particularly wanted to call out about this was and I think you may have this one but there's a thank you note in there as well which I think is like a bit of a lost art now little personal note to the fans and that I'm liking like the pastoral notes in the album as well it's very nice still here we go so on this side of it you can see at the bottom there's like a multi-paragraph sort of like it's not even necessarily thank you but acknowledgements and i think for me when i when i read this it was a nice little extra that really gave additional context to the album um and you know rich is such a poet that like a lot of it is like an extension of the music as well for me and so let me just give you a bit of a summary so he says it's funny because when it comes to this part it's only words i've actually written down throughout the whole album process and i and i'm always in fear of leaving a name out so hopefully it's yours lol um yeah it does does a bunch of thank yous and then goes through but i think what i really like is like the way that it it story tells his like collaboration with the producers and the features right explains a bit about the behind the scenes so it's a little insight i guess into the music making process his personal relationships with people i think so easily and often it can be like yeah the a and r put me in a room with so and so and then you just sort of like figured it out but these are people he's had like genuine relationships with for years yeah and i think this album is interesting because it does have quite a few features, I would say.

4:41Jack Harlow:But it's one of the ones that has a few features, but it still managed to stay in one world. And it all kind of fits very well together, which is very rare to have. I think when the kind of... I remember when the Brit nominations came out and stuff, we mentioned this one to be kind of one of almost the snubs kind of thing that should have got mentioned as well because it's I yeah I think it's one of the better UK rap hundreds of that year for sure 100 % completely agree even even even the way that he talks like I'll just read this line as a little example um so he says my A &R juice Evans friend part sometimes oh sometimes you see something in someone and you roll the dice on them we've hit double six every time and it's like he bringing his poetry into some of the way in which he communicates is like oh like it's deeper than deepen and wrapping it.

5:37His relationships and his storytelling of the process, I think, kind of adds value to it. And I think this is why sometimes physical product's nice, because it brings to life something that I've experienced it in a listener form. And then you see the perspective of the artist to a point, and it adds an extra colour to it. You see some more of the imagery adds more colour to it. And then you just appreciate it more, I think.

5:58Jack Harlow:Yeah, it helps build out that character and, like, it makes you almost feel like you know him more as a person as well, right? 100 % so yeah wanted to give that one give that one a nod this week okay and I do I do really love the artwork I think it is great in terms of being so on theme with the imagery I mean with the narrative and he like carried around elements of it like the the like washing line yeah sort of thing he bought into some of the activations during the first during release week okay is it like he toured it sort of around yeah so you feel like he's bringing it to you and it's not like you know obviously Rich is quite known for like the fashion side of things as well so it's easy to be like oh now he's all sort of like dripped out this fancy fit all talking about sort of like identity struggles but he brought really that into the promotion of it as well which I thought was yeah a really nice marriage of music and the message so yeah big him up man really love this one and it's nice to see this as an artwork a bit more up close and personal there it is our band of the week Cret coming in.

7:04Strong, strong. I like it. I like it.

7:07Jack Harlow:I mean, I guess in terms of music, we went to see a show together, didn't we? Yeah. Yeah. Who did we see, mate? Who did we... Why are you throwing it back on me, this guy, bro? Nah, nah. We went to see Dave on the Boy He Played the Harp Tour. And now obviously that was our spotlight artist last week. And that, of course, what's your thoughts, mate? What's your thoughts? So I'd like to, obviously we went together, but we, we didn't really talk much about it because we thought we'd save it for now. Yeah, we thought we'd save it for now. So what were you saying? How did you feel about it? How did I feel?

7:42I've seen Dave before a couple of times. I kind of knew what I was getting in the sense of like, I know how he performs and you kind of have seen it before to a point in terms of some of the songs were in the set list. However, obviously album three felt a bit different, felt like an elevation, but there There was certain stuff that was, I guess, a bit stripped back so the message could speak. And I think he incorporated the balance of that super well, I thought, in terms of playing the crowd pleasers, but also getting the message of the boy who played the harp across on stage and not feeling like you do a disservice to the general punter and the super fan at the same time, which I think is an impressive balance to strike like with like an hour and a half, you know, stage time.

8:31Saying that I expected, saying that feels that I kind of knew what to expect. There were elements that surpassed expectations as well and surprised me, I think. Like I was, I love the fact that he played piano and there was a sick part where like there were lasers coming out of the grand piano that reflected the notes or chords he was playing, which I think is a nice demonstration of skill and a unique part of the set design which was hard obviously he played his guitar which was sick did some freestyling there was a bit where they Tim does it he brought him out and did Cats later and then he transitioned into the lyrics to Titanium I think it was there was a few little bits that were surprising and of the moment and I was like yeah it's cold very well thought through few transitions where you go the band were exceptional i must say yeah i was i was loving that and just yeah what watching it all come together and watching him and his like adoration and like the way he's humbled by seeing it at the end like i'm like yeah now fair play and i really enjoy the way he um wove in not just his journey of 10 years but also the rest of the cultural story in terms of like i guess black british music over the last decade yeah i think that was kind of the

9:52Jack Harlow:general theme it felt like for the for the concert it was like him telling the story of his start like 10 years ago or 11 years ago but also music's like the UK rap scene journey as well um which was really cool uh yeah I mean yeah I thought it was really I really enjoyed it to be fair not to do fair but like yeah I I enjoyed it obviously we were sitting like a little bit apart wasn't it so i was like just um just taking it all in like uh i really did like the set design um because the way it the way it was laid out they had obviously like the hanging like lights i don't even know what you call them like they were like see see through um like uh panels uh screens and then it basically was on like a conveyor belt so it can come out towards the crowd at the right moment so it made the set look really busy when it needed to be when they're doing all the hype tunes and you can see all the different panels and stuff um and then the songs um any of like the big singles that they had um where it was like uh featuring an artist like if they had like central sea or had stormzy or like james blake they would have that artist on the screen so it feels like they're a part of it as well um but then when it was like the solo tunes when it needs to be like more personal and stuff.

11:14Jack Harlow:They kind of stripped that back and just kind of left Dave to it and maybe just put a spotlight on him, which is quite cool. So I was, yeah, I was really impressed with the set design because it kind of made sure it could do both tones. And then, yeah, in terms of like the story, he kind of took us through it like chronologically, but then yeah, wove in the album at the same time, which was cool. um had a couple like artists come out and stuff which was cool as well um because who did he have like most stack uh kano um and someone else um yeah i've actually forgotten but i can't remember but yeah obviously the kano one was really cool um because they did i think that was my favorite yeah yeah because like they just sat on stools and kind of just did the song together and like you could feel like their reactions to how they were rapping just felt real in it so it was like it was just like a very cool moment yeah um and it brought to life i don't know if you've seen the official video but it brought to life yeah yeah dinner table scene yeah exactly exactly so that was yeah that was cool and it feels so genuine in it like obviously there's a bit of a like a half generational gap between them in a sense um but knowing even their like on-screen relationship from top boy yeah and just you know Dave being so young when Kane was like like on top type thing and now seeing that like and seeing how they're both kind of humbled by the way in which they have like carried the scene on their backs in different capacities yeah yeah um yeah it was actually beautiful to see and the way in which I one thing I loved about the show was um often when eyes have a bit of a deeper catalog you can skip through the tunes yeah and it'll be like verse one chorus transition or like just random like crash out yeah um and then you keep it moving but even with the tunes with the features where the features weren't present like he really honored the fact that certain man in the crowd might not be here for the whole album yeah might just be wanting to hear sprinter and location and so he let the tunes run and somehow managed to condense managed to fit it all into the set yeah i didn't really i don't know i don't know why but i just didn't realize he had so many like big like singles and tunes and stuff i was like when he was playing them i was like oh my god i forgot about that tune i forgot about that one oh my god it's still going so um yeah it's mad it's mad uh but yeah man it was yeah i was impressed i was impressed did you have any expectation because i know obviously uk raps not necessarily your um i kind of yeah i mean i kind of knew it was going to be like that just because of the the album right i knew it was going to be like um when he was doing his songs it would be kind of like more personal and like reflective and stuff like that um but yeah i didn't i guess i didn't really understand the enormity of it all i mean i know it's a o2 performance and stuff but like i haven't seen dave perform before at all let alone no two so i didn't realize how many fans He really has And how many like People know Choose like The big singles Like word for word Trust me If you know Bar for Bar Yeah I mean Like yeah Obviously people More here for like the I would say For the older tunes And stuff And like the more The hype tunes Than the album But yeah It's mad It's mad I didn't realise I didn't realise Dave's the guy like that I mean I know he is But I didn't Like when you see it In person You're like okay You can do a whole set Of hits if you want Yeah and he actually Has really good Stage presence as well Which I didn't factor in as well people are hanging off his every word yeah and he's he rapped a lot of lyrics that night 100 a lot a lot bro a lot but it was good man it was good i enjoyed it i'm glad i'm glad um question okay you're sporting a new hat oh you like my hat yeah i've not seen this one before yeah tell me what's family recipes bro i can't really give you that many stories on this but i'm not even gonna lie to you i got it on online from i think it's a site called service works so they do like they do like uh like chef attire and stuff like that or like blacksmith stuff and stuff like that so i think this is a part of the the chef stuff obviously for every rest of you isn't that that's what i got it i like the font and that yeah they do they do have good like merch in there and stuff um and like the quality is quite like enduring I guess it's like yeah it's quite um good good material and stuff so I was like yeah so I got some trousers from there as well which are like good as well to be fair so yeah give it give it a check out and I thought you know I can't be wearing the same hat like these men keep finding me seeing me online after a while like they might be like oh this guy doesn't have any more clothes I was bad enough I'm always wearing like dark colors and stuff so it already looks like I'm wearing the same thing every time so I've got at least change the hat please you know so you've Got any family recipes for us?

16:10What's your go-to cuisine?

16:11Jack Harlow:You got to be in the family for that. Do you get me? Family recipes for a reason. Do you get me? I can't be just as imparting my knowledge in that. You know I'm up in the kitchen. You know what I'm about already. But you got... I do. You tell me. I don't know if the listeners know that. Yeah. They don't need to know. Don't worry about that. We're here for the music. For the tunes. Don't worry, bro. Let's keep it moving. We don't want to hear about you and your sous vide. Exactly. Speaking of the tunes, let's get to recent rotations, bro. Let's run it. Let's do it. Recent rotations. Let's get into some of the stuff we've been listening to.

16:43Three each as usual, I hope. Yeah, I've got three, bro. I've got three. Okay, cool. I'm going to go first. Oh, God. I'm better. Okay. Go with energy. Okay. Go. Okay. First recent rotation of the day, it is Don Toliver. So he's got a new album out. It's called Octane. I want to rock your body. Yep, that's it. That's it.

17:09Jack Harlow:that is my most played album at the moment yeah it's on rotation heavy and uh there's big tune was it opposites and that that that tune in there but what's your recent rotation what's the tune that you're listening to but that always coming here and taking over that and one more thing before you continue as well we have we have a follower who's like credited in that That album as well Yeah Sosa She's in that She's got a writing credit Oh yeah you're right Shout out to her Yeah big up Shout out to her Good Well remembered This is what I'm saying bro I thought you were going to Chat some nonsense No no no I'm talking music I'm only here for the music bro Addison Valley there Come on bro Anyways Continue The tune I'm going to call out today Is called Callback Okay Yeah This Is energy And it's high energy It's what Don Toliver is known for Obviously Cactus Jack And Travis Like it's all energy in it and i actually saw him at the o2 his show last year okay and they they were recording a video to this tune actually and so he wheeled it up he probably played it four times actually and so i was i grew quite familiar with it and then i when they come on the album i was like yeah yes still a tune still a tune this is energy and yeah it comes yeah in terms of album sequencing and stuff we were speaking about this with the day project as well um it comes the back of a few tunes that are a bit more down beat let's say and then it kind of picks it back up and yeah it gets into it straight away like there's little little free count at the start and then we're off um so yeah that's mine i understand now why you wanted to go first it's a very strong start oh it wasn't even for that reason so i'm waiting on the video i need to see that yeah because it went off that the production at that show and the energy i've not seen anything like really nah insane every album that he's produced has been pretty good i'm not gonna lie to you so And he does the production a lot of it as well.

19:03Oh, really? I didn't know that. Which is mad. I didn't know that.

19:05Jack Harlow:Yeah. Nah, he's the guy. Big him up, man. He's the guy, man. He's the guy. Okay. You want to? Me? Do you want to do two? No, no, no. That's greedy. That's greedy. So my number one recent rotation of the day is Kenny Mason. Moonlight is the song. Okay. So we're still going, still staying in US, like quite trap adjacent. Moonlight is off of his latest mini EP that he released in February called Pup Pack, Third Shift this is the third mini EP's release so there's like a whole Pup Pack release and it's called Pup Pack because he's releasing an album hopefully soon-ish, like he said that album's on the way, called Bulldog, so obviously it's a dog themed release that he's got going on, so that's on the way The reason I've chosen this song in particular, because it's a banger, obviously.

20:02Jack Harlow:But the sample that's used in it is Jojo C. My Heart Belongs to You, which is a big tune. It's a big, obviously I'm a big Jojo C fan. 90s R &B, that's where I'm at. So when I heard it, I was like, yeah, this is like, you hear the sample at the start of the song. And I was worried for a little bit. I was like, we're playing with Jodeci here. And I think that's the same sample in Jodeci freestyle of like Drake and Jacob, right? So I was like, it's been done. Like, what are you going to do here? But it's, yeah, it's done very well. And you hear the sample throughout the song. My favorite part of the song is the second part of the song where you hear the sample and then just like an 808 kind of thumping.

20:47Jack Harlow:And then he's just, he's going off. Like Kenny Mason is one of the one of the slept on artists. I feel. Yeah. He's one of the guys that has like the sample work that he has and his production is always like on 10. It's always like really, really good. And he is very good at like riding on beaks and stuff as well. So yeah, that's it. That's my first. I've heard it. I have to check it out. Yeah. Check it out, man. Okay. My number two, Gerald Wicks. Here we go again. is the song name okay this come across it randomly i can't tell you a whole lot about him as an artist so far other than i would recommend checking him out um came up just on my like algorithmic sort of like listening session and yeah the production instantly caught my attention it was just super unique and interesting um and then you know that kind of goes for like what eight bars or something and then his vocal comes in and compliments it like really nicely like quiet like the productions um it's a bit hard to describe it's a bit samply a bit sort of synthy and stuff um but yeah he's um he produced he produced it too which i found out subsequently it was like okay cold like we're doing big artists here and uh yeah it the production really contrasts nicely with it's all his delicate vocal tone as well and i was like okay we've got something going on here and then went on his socials had a little look and he got some really very cold visuals to accompany as well and so i was like okay this is an artist to to sort of get to know a bit more okay not that i've got any facts for you about him but uh gerald wicks here we go again would definitely recommend gerald wicks have a little listen okay okay i'm gonna have to i'm gonna have to give him a go cool um my second right number two so my number two um is sage monstrosity uh yeah crazy name uh but he is a monster so uh sage monstrosity is a detroit producer artist the way i've discovered this guy is because obviously jill scott's new album has come out uh in february i think um and he produces three songs on that album and i saw like an interview with jill scott um and basically she was saying she's never met the guy and she was like basically sent she was sent beat packs from Swizz Beats and from David Banner and basically she chose one song from Swizz Beats pack and two from David Banner's pack and all three of them were Saves Monstrosity's production and that so yeah so she heard it she was like this is the guy and then yeah so I haven't told you what song is my recent rotation.

23:43Jack Harlow:So it's a monstrosity is the artist and Giving You All My Love is the song. Okay. That's his song. But does he like perform on it too? No, no, no, no. So it's like production. Okay. Yeah, production or pure production. Like there's a sample in there and stuff as well. Yeah. So one of the songs from going back to Jill Scott's album is Don't Play which is her Colors performance as well. So yeah, his production is just very like soul inspired. like with like heavy hitting like drums and stuff like very not just neo soul but like yeah soul hip-hop and r &b um and like he's been credited and featured um with artists like schoolboy q sir d smoke um i think anderson pack um tyrese and stuff i think tyrese is the person that discovered him in like mid 2000s like 2005 or something damn i'm surprised i've not heard his Yeah, I know.

24:39Jack Harlow:This is what I'm saying. He was a part of like the Flipmo squad through like Busta Rhymes and stuff as well back in the day. So he's been about, this is not a new artist or anything. He's just, and like now I've discovered him. I've seen videos. It's like, you know, when you like all of a sudden you start hearing the name. Everywhere. Oh, really? Now everywhere he's popping up. But that's a name I'd remember as well. Yeah, exactly. But there's been a lot of like R &B, artists and stuff like i think i was i was looking at um the r &b artist and songwriter tank has got like a podcast and he was with other people and they were mentioning him and saying like he's the guy he's one of the best producers around kind of thing so he is like renowned yeah he's renowned and in in that circle and stuff but it's just kind of kind of coming around yeah i guess you don't really know a lot of producers and like writers and stuff um unless they start doing their own music and like i looked at his spotify he doesn't have like a a huge a great deal of songs but yeah this song giving you all my love came out in september 25 um so listen to that and then yeah listen to the jill scott album and you'll kind of understand more of his sound and stuff as well on his instagram and stuff he does like kind of um like beat breakdowns that it shows him like making them beats and stuff like that oh cool yeah so he's super super cool guy so yeah give it a go sick great shout there you go there you go what have you got number three yeah yeah last one for today and it is Mack Keane in a tune called Candy Crush okay okay you were of Mack Keane yeah yeah of course I am bro of course I am I think I'm not going to say it too much I want to hear what you want to say I'll add my comments after but yes I have heard of it okay cool yeah man this tune another one that sort of yeah must have just come up sort of on actually no i think he has a tune let me not get ahead of myself but my entry point to him was another another route and then i was like this is cold let me listen to the other music and then this was another this is one that stood out to me um so yeah candy crush uh for anyone who's not aware of matt keen or at least this sound i would say it's like dijon adjacent yeah and sonically you know you know in a similar vein to the Justin Bieber swag album, which is probably a sound that's become a bit more popularized recently.

27:08That's sort of like guitar led inspired by, you know, that's with Dijon McGee as well.

27:13Jack Harlow:Yeah, it's all like, I mean, they're inspired by, I would say, like 80s, like Prince guitar, guitar music and stuff like that. So everything's got that kind of nostalgia around it, right? So like with the synths that you use and like the style, there's like the sound of the guitar it's not like just normal acoustic and stuff so yeah i'm about it 100 % same and i feel like it's also it's obviously like very sophisticated production but there's also an element to it that makes it feel a bit more diy and a bit more bedroom as well which i think people like nowadays like i think we're in a bit of an era that's post that polished pop not that it's pop music but that polished production sound yeah yeah that you might have heard um in the sort of noughties and years gone by uh yeah this tune candy crush is cold uh great electric guitars we've alluded to and his vocal tone and his choice of melody i personally find like it's like asmr vibes not from like a whispering sense but it's just it soothes and scratches that part of your brain that likes melody and likes that and so yeah we definitely recommend and his whole yeah discography yeah i only come across him recently you bam a fan yeah yeah yeah well i was gonna say i think he's on he's releasing an album soon i think uh and the reason i say that is because we posted a matt keen single yeah it was that one uh and i think that's the like one of the singles from the album that's coming yeah so yeah so listen tune into matt keen because he's got well maybe by the time he posts maybe tune in man tune in very good pick very good pick cool do you want me to round things off bring it home better be strong you know where i'm going you know we're going back we're doing it we're going uh are we doing 1980s no we're doing 70s this time mate we're going 1979 all right we're going bunkadelic is is the band okay uh and the tune is not just knee deep um yeah funkadelic as you can tell big funk bro big funk uh yeah funkadelic is uh like bounded by uh george clinton who was also um kind of did a couple of collectors and stuff but the main the main two is parliament and funkadelic uh come together p funk is was what they were called and kind of almost kind of the name of the sound as well that they had at the time right um and they were like yeah they were pioneers in funk in the 70s i think they came together late 60s off of the back back of like psychedelic rock and stuff like that to kind of push further the funk um from like jimmy hendrix and sly stone and artists like that um and yeah so he has funkadelic in parliament because uh funkadelic's the more rocky side i think i think that's where it kind of comes from so that's the difference between the two okay and yeah it's just like a big a bit like the bass line the drums the vocals it's got like vocals from like artists from like the spinners and stuff like that like yeah very throat i know you're like what the hell is this guy talking about very throwback um we're talking about like song lengths and stuff get a load of this this song is 15 minutes 21 seconds so it's a big tune and it's a long one and yeah you don't you're once you're in that tune i'm not gonna lie it's not like it doesn't feel yeah it's just because the groove is just like getting you going there's a couple like the vocals aren't like too there's not too much going vocally like in terms of lyrics and stuff but there's enough changes in the music and to like take you to places briefly then it brings you back home in terms of the song you'll know you'll know the song uh because it's the sample of a de la soul song which is probably their most popular song myself and i okay um so as soon as you hear the drums come in you'll be like okay yeah yeah yeah yeah so it's a big sample for classic hip-hop but that came out in like 1989 but we're talking about funkadelic at the moment lyrics like freak of the week obviously that's that's where it comes from from this song uh shout out to creptom code but i think i think that's where like yeah like freak of the week and stuff was like first mentioned in songs as well it's like a double enthundra of like freak dancing and obviously being a freak and stuff so um yeah so if you have a spare 15 minutes please please give it a go uh produced by george clinton as well uh under the the name uh dr funkenstein was his is he had like various alter egos and that was his producer alter ego george clinton as well just a little side note is on um uh to mimpa butterfly the first song oh really wesley's theory uh has george clinton uh his vocals and i think his guitar as well but don't quote me on that bit but yeah so he's about and he's still popping into things i believe he's on childish gambino's album as well um because that took heavy influences from funkadelic um so yeah funkadelic not just knee deep bro please give it a go all right should we get this one like dr funkenstein's throwing me yeah come on bro you gotta get funky bro this is like when you say funk this funk you listen to this you're like oh my god this is funky yeah yeah so please please do give it a go okay okay all right man let's get on the spotlight i want to see who we're talking about man let's do it you know that tune that's the tune

33:11yeah it's probably different versions or something i don't know

33:18Jack Harlow:They did Glastonbury a couple of years Well I think they've probably done it They've probably done it many times But like You know when they have What was their legend They did that a couple of years ago And it looked like it was popping off Because their bands and stuff It's like a bag of man isn't it It's not like five man It's like 15 Every band is going like They had like You know like Bootsy Collins And them man And like all of these random man-dom who are just like super talented. So they're just like off their heads, just going crazy. Everybody's smoking up and stuff on like LSD. They're the man that wear like the star sunglasses and all of that.

33:58And they wear a top hat randomly. Hello boots, hello long. And they're wearing the most well-closed ever known to a man. Because they're just off of it. They're just going crazy. Oh man. What an experience. What a time, man. I'm telling you, I'm living in the wrong era, man. That's still a bit me Alright man

34:16Jack Harlow:Our spotlight It's going to be the segment Where we've chosen one artist Going to look at their story Look at their new releases See what they're up to And have a little conversation Around it and that So Who have we got today? Last time We did Big UK We did Dave This time We're going Big US Right okay It's Jack Harlow Oh I do like a bit of Jack Harlow Okay okay So what Yeah what we said Why are we doing Jack Carlow? What's happening? So Jack Carlow, he's got a new album out. It's called Monica. And yeah, it's a bit of a sonic pivot. It's just come out. And there's already sort of like lots of commentary around it as people love to have an opinion.

35:00But I think it's a super interesting one. And so I thought we'd have a good dialogue around it and get into the music, get into some of the analysis that we can provide and discuss a bit of his journey, our experience and interaction with him as an artist. Yeah,

35:16Jack Harlow:this is an interesting one for the album and for us as well, because this is the first time I think we're doing an episode where something's just come out, right? So this is first looks, right? This is like, put the caveat there now, right? Relax, relax, everyone. Because by the time we release this, there might be a whole different narrative on this album and the artists and stuff. But this is our first look And just looking at the artists Because we like Jack Harlow We follow him a little bit So we're just going to see Where he's come from And where he is now Exactly And without the sort of like I don't know Tarnish is the wrong word Without any sort of outside influence Or general narrative That's been woven at this point Exactly So as ever Want to set the scene Give a bit of context to the people And provide a foundation for the conversation so jack he's over 10 years deep in his career so similar to dave that we were discussing last time out um he released five projects um they were sort of like ep mixtapes um one a year from 2016 through to 2020 so very good consistency um and he has subsequently released four albums monica being one we're going to discuss and the most recent one um jumping back a bit um to the the fifth project that we mentioned from 2016 through to 2020 was called sweet action and that had what's popping on it which was um yeah probably the track that's widely regarded as um his like global arrival moment should we say yeah um and i think that came out um well the the sweet action project came out in the march i think and then by december he had released the debut album which is quite a mad work rate um that's called that's what they will say um 2022 he had come home the kids miss you album two 2023 he had jackman um and then yeah we're now three years on and he has released uh monica but between the those three those albums rather um he's had a couple of singles one of which was loving on me which was obviously big flipping global record um he's done like over a billion streams and the yeah, very much cemented him, I would say, as like an A-list artist at a global level.

37:38Yeah. He has subsequently had four records, really. Hello Miss Johnson. Okay. Tranquility, Set You Free, and a record called Just Us, which features Doja Cat. And I guess, yeah, to get into Monica and the conversation today, I guess this album is both a creative and a sonic pivot for Jack. and in essence I would say Monica is an R &B album that incorporates a bit of neo soul incorporates jazz live instrumentation a lot of it and namely includes no rapping which is obviously up until now what he's been sort of famed for and I think some people who might have known him for the commercial leaning hits like What's Poppin', Lovin' on Me, First Class etc might have found this like a surprising deviation yeah um however i would argue that this has been coming from him and we've sort of seen allusions to it over um since jackman essentially really

38:47Jack Harlow:i'm i am one of the people that are surprised with it um i guess i've so for me i've been listening to him i was not early but you were pretty early actually yeah i was early ish yeah i did i didn't mention it to you like a while ago so i was quite early uh probably 2018 i would say it was the that i think that's not an album that's an ep or something where it had like sundown and like tunes with like si the prince and i think that's who i how i found him was through si the prince was like a big co-sign for him at the time and i remember seeing him interviews saying like this is the guy he's gonna come up like don't don't worry about he's white but he's he's like a student of the game and all of this type of stuff and that was when he was still had like quite a nerdy look like he was in like glasses and like didn't have a beard or anything like that so you just look like some like nerdy little kid yeah and then you listen to him you're like oh right this guy this guy can rap this guy can flow he's very smooth flowing so um but yeah Yeah, I was surprised for an album to not rap at all Did feel crazy to me That did feel crazy to me I hear that I hear that I'm now going to tell you why I didn't find it surprising I hear that, but you're wrong No, no, no I wouldn't say Yeah, to not rap at all, I guess is surprising So I would say we're going to start by looking at the artworks I guess of the albums, right and I feel like they've been increasingly moving from like polished celebrity and I use that word because he's used it through to now more like curated, deliberate artist.

40:28So debut album, if you recall, sort of him sat in the back of a luxury car with the lady on the side and he's sort of like, there's someone leaning in the window and he's signing the autograph and stuff. So it's very sort of like, I'm the guy in it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm famous, man. that was when he got his glow up as well so he was like the glow up was there so he's like yeah now i am the guy yeah and he's wearing glasses in that one but they're looking more like cartier than like nerdy glasses yeah yeah yeah um sophomore album um you see him sort of like sat on a stool and you've got the mic and the stand and the pop shield sort of there and you're like okay this is feeling like a bit more refined is that is that the album with like

41:08Jack Harlow:churchill downs and stuff yeah okay yeah yeah i'm with you i'm with you and so you're like okay you've got the man and you've got the music and you're like cool this is kind of i'm expecting rapping in it and yeah that album does give rapping to be fair that is there's a lot of rapping in that and a lot of like lyricism in that as well uh which i appreciate but even even with that like it's like shot in a studio and it's like plain white background so you're like okay cool this feels like a man in his pen type yeah yeah um so you're sort of leaning more into the art side already um album three jack man and now we see him sort of like shirtless in this sort of like back alley in louisville kentucky where he's from um and then interestingly the back cover of that like for the man that have physical or whatever is is an interesting one because it's basically the same sort of like dated sort of like somewhat grainy grade on the back of it but there's a huge fallen tree that's like crushed this car okay um and who knows whether this is like coincidental or or or not but i feel like this could if we get deeper into it now okay operate as like a metaphor for sort of like leaving some of the more glamorized side behind something a bit more raw yeah and authentic represented him being like stripped back physically being shirtless um and i feel like on that album he's starting to like he's just rapping and it's sort of like starting to be a bit less there's no real um i guess quote unquote like commercial aspiration yeah it's just like i do rap very well here you go um and i feel like that was one if i'm not mistaken that didn't really have singles and was like surprise drop as well yeah um now moving forward into monica looking at this artwork again this is like a blurry side profile shot of jack um he's wearing the sort of brown kangol hat that we've been seeing him rock a lot on the side recently so my i don't know how i feel about the hat i'm not gonna lied to i'm gonna lie to you um and we'll get into like i'll explain my feelings after and i'll i'll bring it all around this hat has been a staple in the rollout that we've seen um but yeah piecing that together the overall color palette that we've seen from this rollout is brown and beige like from the outfits that we've seen him wear through to the artwork um and i feel like overall it's sort of giving more mature grounded earthy sort of tones so i think it's deliberate is good choices yeah 100 100 um and again getting into our analytical side of it again like most of the artworks have seen him looking at the camera or it's like front on this one again i feel like it's deliberate the profile side profile shot and his eyes are a bit closed in it as well so it's a bit more nonchalant and it's a bit less sort of like look at me and it's like this is like a perspective yeah it's looking looking onto me instead of like me saying like me looking at you.

43:58Jack Harlow:I hear you. So yeah, that's a bit of sort of like the visual representation. And I think when you look at the albums next to each other, you sort of see that progression and you're like, okay, this is, I hear it. Looking at the track listing, we've got 28 minutes. So it's a succinct album, a cohesive project. Again, no lead singles. He sort of dropped it. And the flow of the album is very sort of seamless and all the tracks without sounding like it's a disservice. They do blend into one nicely and it's very well very well thought about so speaking of the recording process um he recorded at studios called electric lady um in new york yeah yeah yeah um which has also seen the likes of beyonce stevie wonder kendrick lamar frank ocean and d 'angelo yeah yeah electric lady was like uh i'm pretty sure that was the big part of the soul querions like new soul movement and stuff they recorded a lot of their stuff there um so yeah it makes sense that he's done the same thing yeah Yeah.

44:56However, interestingly, so he moved to New York and started writing this album. However, there was a previous version of the album which he canned basically because he didn't feel like it was authentic enough to what he was actually doing with it. And so that actually did also start in Electric Lady as well. So it's interesting that like it might not have necessarily initially emerged with that sort of intention sonically behind it, but he's arrived there. by virtue of the fact that he feels like this is the truest form of how he is wanting to express at this point. You know, I'm saying this stuff and it could seem presumptuous, but some of the quotes that have come from him, even just straight away, do feel like they're indicative of this.

45:38So he said, my entire career path has been me trying to get closer to capturing who I actually am. And he said he's focusing more on the artistry now. And he kind of said, I felt I had to confront a choice of going down the artist route or the celebrity route. and he went with the former. He said, in terms of the essence of capturing who he actually is, he said, it's nice to know that your art doesn't feel like too much of a departure from who you actually are as a person. And he wanted to be a little less self-indulgent and write from a place that removes ego, which is very interesting from someone who's come up as a rapper because a lot of it is about the bravado and being braggadocious and all of that.