Rapper Jack Harlow is back on the music scene, this time with his newest album titled “Monica.” The new project has plenty of people talking online. Unfortunately for him, though, people aren’t talking about his songs, and what they’re saying isn’t positive.
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No, all the discourse about Harlow is actually thanks to a recent interview he did on the New York Times’ Popcast podcast. While there, he discussed his decision to lean more into “Black music” with his latest album as opposed to doing the more “traditional” white music. And while his acknowledgement and appreciation of the sounds of Black music was one thing, he got folks all the way messed up when he told the hosts that he got “Blacker.”
“I got Blacker,” Harlow said. “I love Black music, I love the sound of Black music. And of course I’m hyper-aware of the politics today, that safer landing spot that a lot of my white contemporaries have found.”
As you might expect, the minute folks on social media saw the clip, they were ready to tell the “Lovin’ On Me” rapper about himself and clown him for even thinking that way.
“I told y’all they were trying to force Jack Harlow on us, now he claiming he ‘got blacker’. Bruh what the fuck does that even mean?????” wrote one user on X/Twitter.
“Jack Harlow will become blacker per album until morale improves. He’ll make a swing joint next, then big band, then some juke joints, followed by white negro spirituals. Bringing the atlantic to Atlantic records,” said another.
Some online suggested Black people have opened the door for white artists like Harlow to walk through and claim the culture.
One other user wrote: ““Jack Harlow” is on that interview patting himself on the back bc he didn’t “go white” like the other white interlopers into black culture and has the nerve to say that instead he ‘got blacker’ That’s what happens when we make these ppl too comfortable. Yuck.”
Some in the comments made it plain that they weren’t buying what Harlow is selling.
Added another, “I dont care if Jack Harlow said he got blacker….he could praise Malcolm X for all I care….im still not gonna listen to that sh*t.”
Some users even resorted to giving him new names like January 6th & Park, Luther Klandross, and more.
Now, while these jokes are funny, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the fact that the only reason why Harlow felt he could say he got Blacker in the first place is due to the plethora of Black fans who’ve adopted him into the community in the first place. Anytime a white artist does anything Black-adjacent that’s tasteful, a lot of our skinfolk rush to embrace them and give them a pass. Think Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, etc.
But when you have someone like Harlow saying he got “Blacker,” that ought to make us reexamine why some of us are handing out tickets to our cookouts so easily. Things have gone way too far!
Straight From 
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