Jack Harlow believes his music has gotten “Blacker” after leaning on R&B to create his fourth studio album, Monica.
Speaking on the latest episode of The New York Times’ Popcast podcast, the Kentucky rapper conceded that the music on his new album, which was released on Friday (March 13), is “Blacker” than much of his previous work.
Asked if his decision to embrace a sound more aligned with Black music on his new album was intentional, given that he could have switched up and adopted a more traditional white sound like some of his contemporaries, he said it was, but not for any other reason than the fact he loves Black music.
“It certainly made what I already wanted to do even more appealing,” Harlow said in the video below, before gushing about his intentionality. “I love Black music. I love the sound of Black music, and of course I’m hyper aware of the politics of today, that safer landing spot that a lot of my white contemporaries have found.”
Harlow added that it was more appealing for him to take an unexpected music route, which is what he “genuinely” wanted to venture into. “So all the stars aligned in that way for me, to be honest,” he added.
“I knew that there were multiple things appealing about this route, but I also came to the decision, I’m proud to say, off of what feels good in my ear,” Harlow said. “I love R&B music. I love the sound of soft, intimate, melodic music. I want to be understood. I want to write melodies that invite people to sing along.”
Since the release of Monica, Harlow’s gotten mixed reviews, with some finding his furthering into R&B music performative, while others have praised the rapper for building off his previous rap music.
One Variety review compared the album to late neo-soul musician D’Angelo, which raised eyebrows. However, Monica was mainly recorded at New York’s Electric Lady Studios, where the late singer recorded his 2000 sophomore album, Voodoo.
Around the same year, various members of neo-soul and rap collective, Soulquarians, like Erykah Badu, Bilal and Common, also recorded their albums at Electric Lady.