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The rise of Jack Harlow has been one of hip-hop’s most curious stories over the past two years. Until now, in 2022, he had a huge pop hit, “First Class,” and released his second major label album, “Come Home the Kids Miss You,” which debuted at number 3. He is one of the biggest emerging hip-hop stars. , and one whose goals are purely centrist.
He is also white, and this is necessarily fraught terrain; The roll-out of Harlow’s album was not without problems. But more interesting are his goals – not to be a crossover pop star who sidesteps the hip-hop mainstream, but to create a version of hip-hop that is very different from its black peers, and be accepted for it.
In this week’s Popcast, a talk about Harlow’s musical decisions, the touch-and-go aspects of his album rollout, and the long history of white rappers and the varying degrees of embrace they’ve achieved.
Guests:
Hunter Harris, author of the Hung Up newsletter
Larisha Paul, who writes about music for Billboard, The Fader and others
Peter Rosenberg, host on Hot 97 (WQHT-FM) in New York and host of the podcast “Juan Ep Is Life”
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