Jack Harlow is a somewhat established rapper who just dropped his 5th studio album. His earlier work was well received, by critics and fans, as well as myself. He established a unique style with What’s Poppin which was dropped in 2019. Rolling Stones critic Mosi Reeves said, “Harlow seems wary of embracing a thematic ambition beyond fame for fame’s sake, and a desire to dominate the pop-rap marketplace.” Due to this, I thought his new work was going to be just as good if not better than his previous work. Unfortunately that was not the case. Most of the songs just sounded like they were intended for 6 year old girls or to help old people go to sleep. If an album has only two good songs that’s how you know it’s a miss. Overall, I give this album a 4/10.
For the first song of the album Talk of the Town, the beat is terrible. It’s just a set of piano notes over and over again. The lyrics aren’t that great to begin with and then he just repeats them for the whole song. His flow isn’t really a flow, it’s more just him talking. I’m giving this song a 2/10.
The next song, Young Harleezy does have good flow but it has nothing else great. The beat doesn’t excite you and doesn’t make you feel anything, it’s flat and it just sounds like recycled piano notes from other songs in this album. It’s just boring. A person just can’t feel anything listening to this song. Snoop Dog was included on this song and he only had 3 lines which is way too short. I give this song an 5/10
The third song on the album, I’d do anything to make you smile, the beat on this song is great. It’s not just piano notes and you can actually feel it. Another good thing about this song is how well the flow and the beat goes together. Then at about two minutes into the song the beat changes and the problem with the beat chaning is that 1. The beat is worse then the beat the song started with and 2. The flow does not match as well with his flow. The song had a lot of potential and then it drove off a cliff. I’m giving this song a 3/10 because it was screwed up so bad
The next song, First Class, has to be one of the weirdest songs ever. The lyrics just don’t make sense. I don’t know what he’s talking about. The beat is really weird because it just has a person saying random letters in the background every five seconds which gets old quick. His flow is okay again, it can’t be that great because the beat was weird. I give this song a 4/10
The fifth song in the album Dua Lipa, has one thing going for it. It’s the best way a guy can shoot his shot with a girl but other than that the song really isn’t that great the beat is just copied from black and yellow. I see this song more as a funny joke. I give it a 6/10
The next song, side piece, would be great. If I was a six year old girl who had a crush on Jack Harlow then this would be a great song. One big problem is I’m not. This song’s beat is as basic as it gets. It also kind of sounds like some of it is copied from kanye. The lyrics are terrible and just boring. This is just not how jack harlow’s music is known as the beat makes you want to go to sleep. I give it a 1/10 a.k.a the worst song of the album
The seventh song in the album, lil secret sounds like it’s intended for people that can’t hear well. A person that can hear well is easily able to tell that this song sucks. The beat is just a little better then the side piece but it still sounds like he copied a beat from a scrapped kanye song. the lyrics are just as bad as side piece, I give this song a 1/10
The eighth song on the album, I got a shot is a rarity in this album, meaning that it’s actually good. The beat on this song is just smooth. The flow works very well. It reminds you of what’s poppin in terms of how well the beat and the flow goes together. The lyrics are also unique Overall just a good song i give this an 8/10
The next song on the album Churchill Downs is so bad I can’t even make a joke about it is just so bad. The beat is boring. I want to fall asleep listening to it, The lyrics are terrible, and the only okay part is Drake’s part. I give this song a 2/10
The tenth song on the album, like a blade of grass, I don’t think Jack’s parents are even proud of this song. The lyrics are the worst part of this song, the beat is okay, and the flow is not that great. I give this song a 3/10
The next song on the album, Parent Trap. It’s beat and flow of this song is alright but the lyrics are just boring and when Jack Harlow is singing it makes me want to fall asleep, there’s nothing exciting about this song it doesn’t make you feel anything. I give this song a 4/10
The thirteenth song on the album Poison, is so bad that if kidz bop did a remake it would be better. The beat is not great and the lyrics are horrible. Lil Wayne, who’s my favorite rapper, isn’t that great. That just tells you how bad the lyrics are. I give this song a 2/10
The next song on the album, State Fair, is really not great.It’s just super boring, this song would help old people go to sleep. The beat is slow and the lyrics are so so I give this song 2/10,
The last song on the album, Nail Tech is one of the only good songs on the album, this song’s beat just sounds like a Harlow beat; it’s unique and the horns in it get you hype. The lyrics are very catchy and the flow goes great with the beat. This song shows how good Harlow could be if he doesn’t keep trying to make safe music that’s not unique. I give this song a 9/10
Jack Harlow has such great potential and he can create unique beats as seen through nail tech and I got a shot. That’s why this album was so bad. He didn’t expand at all, he didn’t try anything new, he played all the songs safely with basic beats and lyrics on the whole album except for two songs.
atholtonnews.com 