Although Jack Harlow is one of the most beloved new artists to emerge out of the pandemic years, not everyone has enjoyed watching his meteoric rise. Sure, his new album Come Home The Kids Miss You landed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, while its single “First Class” has been a recurring fixture at No. 1 on the Hot 100, but there are some who don’t think Jack came by his success honestly, citing his race as a big reason he was able to blow up so quickly.
However, his labelmate Lil Uzi Vert doesn’t see it that way, telling TMZ, “Nah, he doesn’t have white privilege…he’s signed to Black people.” You can see the video below.
While Uzi’s vote of confidence likely means a lot to his fellow Generation Now artist, Jack himself has regularly acknowledged that being white has afforded him opportunities he wouldn’t have otherwise. Uzi’s apparent misunderstanding of the term notwithstanding, Jack has received similar criticisms to Post Malone in his early career, albeit without some of the more obvious missteps. Most recently, though, Jack got flamed on Twitter for not knowing that Brandy and Ray J are siblings, stoking the debate over his status in hip-hop and provoking a good-natured lyrical response from Brandy herself.
It’ll always be a prickly topic, but the discussion is important to continue having to ensure that as the culture grows and changes, we never forget where it came from and continue to give credit to its creators.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.