Jack Harlow trades rap for R&B soul on his new album Monica, which he stated has some how made him Blacker.
Jack Harlow traded his rap crown for R&B silk on his new album Monica, and he’s not apologizing for the transfer.
The Kentucky rapper sat down with The New York Instances podcast “Popcast” to elucidate why he felt compelled to enterprise into smoother territory, and his reasoning goes approach deeper than simply wanting a style swap.
He stated he “obtained blacker” by embracing the sound, which he genuinely loves, and he’s conscious of the politics surrounding white artists abandoning rap for safer sonic areas.
Right here’s the factor: Harlow is aware of precisely what he’s doing. He’s hyper conscious that a variety of his white contemporaries have retreated from Hip-Hop into “historically white sounds” as a safer touchdown spot.
However as an alternative of following that playbook, he went the other way. He leaned into Black music tougher, not away from it. That’s the entire level of Monica.
The album dropped on March 13, 2026, as a shock launch to rejoice his twenty eighth birthday. It’s a nine-track mission with zero rap verses and 0 expletives.
Harlow set strict guidelines for himself through the recording course of. No cursing, no digital devices besides drums, every part else needed to be reside, and completely no rapping.
He informed the Instances he did this to problem his writing and take away any crutches from the inventive course of.
The transfer to New York sparked this inventive shift. Harlow began listening to softer, extra melodic music and realized he needed to make one thing that mirrored what he really needed to listen to.
“A part of the rationale I really like rap music is the braggadocio of it,” he defined. “However I spent a while considering, How can I lean away from that?”
The result’s a stripped-back model of Harlow with velvety undertones and confessional lyrics that sound nothing like his earlier work.
He’s keen to danger his rap credibility to discover what genuinely strikes him musically.
