The Refreshing, Kinda Wacky, Egalitarian Sex Positivity of Jack Harlow
What We The Best About When We The Best About: Chapter 5
Est. Read Time: 7 minutes. Read Time brought to you once again by the Ashburton Energy + Hair Logistics Group, in association with the Bradley Hills Bureau of Corrections.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
Flappers Yoo Hoo Speakeasy Showcase Sat 2/26 9:30PM. Come through for the name alone!
Set Swap! Weds, 3/2 8PM.
Sunday Funday 3/27 8PM. Ticket link to come, but it’s at The Hollywood Comedy, a very fun spot near Melrose and Vine (you can stop by Pavilions first!)
Hello, Sternal Journalists!
And welcome back to the occasional essay series, What We The Best When We The Best About DJ Khaled. Even though Khaled is in the news this weekend with performances at All Star Weekend both musical and athletic, today we’ll be like Khaled on his jet ski right before dark—veering a bit off course, that is—to talk about Jack Harlow.
If you don’t know Harlow, he blew onto the scene with Spotify and TikTok sensation “What’s Poppin’,” which was released riiiight before that pesky lil’ pandemic in late January 2020. Since then, his accomplishments have included the follow-up single “Tyler Herro,” debut studio album That’s What They All Say, and of course, a feature on the song of 2021, Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby.”
And even though the obsession is almost a decade later, I have a similar fan relationship to Jack Harlow as I do DJ Khaled. Fun fact: he’s one of the rare musical artists I have a shirt of (I believe the only other one is the boyband New Edition and I got that in a thrift store). When I wear that shirt, by the way, it gets love from people of truly all walks of life.
And I like the beats he picks, I like his lyrics, I like his showmanship, but—much like DJ Khaled—what really sells it for me is his persona. Unlike DJ Khaled, I think his persona is a net good for the world. Yes, on the surface, he checks a lot of the boxes of the problematic corners of mainstream rap—misogynistic language and materialistic flexing to name a couple—but he doesn’t cheaply center his work around them.
He goes out of his way to be reverent of the craft of rapping; to vocally lift up artists like Lil Nas X who, while famous as hell, is still dismissed or worse by a not insignificant sliver of establishment hip hop; and thoughtfully, genuinely interrogate his whiteness without being performative about it.
Plus he’s got this refreshing, kinda wacky, egalitarian sex positivity that I really think is good for his young male fans, which I was reminded of most recently with his first post-That’s What They All Say solo single, “Nail Tech.” Musically, the song is a bit of a sleeper compared to the explosive catchiness of “What’s Poppin’,” but if you listen to it twenty or thirty times like I have, it grows on you!
But much more relevantly, there’s this bit in the music video—it’s one of those music videos that they clearly got a ton of budget for because there are like 8 different locations, a ton of extras, and none of it makes a ton of narrative sense. So you don’t need to know—nor is there really a reason—why there’s a scene where Jack is on stage rapping while dressed like Steve Jobs giving an Apple keynote to an auditorium of business executive-type women.
But you do need to know that, rather than AirPods, wearable tech, or a new phone, the product that Jobs Harlow unveils to the room is a massive vibrator:
They lose their minds in classic keynote fashion:
Now, I recognize that I risk giving too much credit where not that much credit is due here. The song is mostly focused on Harlow’s dedication to his own success, but it does include a handful of lyrics about sex that are, while certainly nowhere near the most misogynistic lyrics one hears from male rappers, they’re not hyper-feminist either.
And this is mostly a visual gag. But I really feel like it’s a visual gag made in good faith. The intent is to celebrate female sexual agency, not deride it. Compare this to Khaled’s tragic “The Rules Are Different For Men” interview, which was certainly not an anomaly, and the scene begins to feel like something to, if not celebrate, be relieved about.
The same goes for the line,
Ridin’ round in the shotgun of her Tesla, hangin’ both of my legs out like “Wassup?”
Over a decade ago, Drake (with T.I. and Swizz Beats) dedicated a whole song to female professional empowerment with “Fancy,” and while it was a certified banger and had it’s heart in the right place, it feels like progress that the trope of a self-sufficient woman can be fully realized within a single lyric versus needing to be spoon-fed and proven over an entire song.
Again—is a celebration in order? Perhaps not. But it’s a bit of a relief. And that’s ultimately what at least part of the appeal of Jack Harlow is. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll say again that I love his lyrics, his showmanship, the beats that he picks. I love all of that. But it’s also really nice, and a bit of a relief, whenever there’s a very young person in entertainment who doesn’t let dedication to success get in the way of acknowledging their privilege and trying to push whatever needles of progress they have access to a little bit further in the right direction.
And now, onto those recs!
Recommendations!
Marry Me. Film. I thought this J-Lo, Owen Wilson, Maluma (you know that actor, Maluma) movie was gonna suck, but boy, did I have a great time. Saw it at the theater on Valentine’s Day and everyone was having a great time. But I’m pretty sure even if you stream it on Peacock, there’s a lot of charm, some good songs, and ample-if-simple laughs.
The Lost Daughter. Film. Not exactly the laugh-a-minute lovefest that was Marry Me, this crushing story about a 40-something comp lit professor who goes on holiday in Greece and guiltily revisits memories of being an absent young mother, is crushing! I also loved it and thought it really accurately and viscerally portrayed the existential pain of a bad vacation. Check it out on Netflix, nominated for multiple Oscars.
Nail Tech. Song. I mean, duh!
Magic. Song. This lead single from Vince Staples’ next album, Ramona Park Broke My Heart, really bumps. I like what he said about it in a statement I read on Pitchfork: “It’s symbolic of home. And everyone has a home. Even though it’s very personal to me, everyone can relate to it. That’s why I thought it would work for this chapter.”
Slave Play. Play. I went in knowing almost nothing about this 2020 Tony nominee currently playing at Mark Taper Forum, and I think that’s the way to do it!
Boy Vey! Play. On a much more indie scale, this one-woman autobiographical show about a woman interrogating and exploring the way her relatives’ experiences in the Holocaust seep into her dating life was, believe it or not, a delight! Currently playing at the Santa Monica Playhouse
Alrighty, much love to all!
Julian
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