Alex Tisdale 
Jack Harlow selfie/Photo credit: Jack Harlow's Instagram account
Jack Harlow, 26, is known to be a famous rapper from Louisville, Kentucky. He’s known for a multitude of hits, such as What’s Poppin‘ and First Class, and for being featured on other hit songs, such as Industry Baby with Lil Nas X.
After these songs, he launched a successful career at record speed, and was signed to Atlantic records. When it comes to Grammys, he received a multitude of nominations. Nowadays, Jack Harlow has been flying under the radar, but things soon changed after an announcement of his most recent album, Monica.
Monica is Jack Harlow’s fourth studio album, released on March 13, 2026, which also marks Harlow’s 28th birthday. The track features 13 songs and has collaborators such as James Savage and Omar Apollo. This was an R&B album, a drastic change from his previous rap-heavy albums.
However, his album’s release didn’t come without controversy. Harlow soon came under fire after making certain comments regarding his production and release of his project.
In an interview with the New York Times regarding Monica, he stated that he “got blacker” while making the album, causing people to automatically turn heads.
“I was iffy on him after he was talking about whips and chains. You know what I’m saying? I didn’t really like that too much, but now he put on a pair of beef and broccoli, and he was walking around talking about how he got blacker. Is you cool? I blame y’all,” said one Tiktoker.
“I got blacker is the craziest thing that man could’ve said on that Podcast. Because what do you mean? I want you to define that. Let’s hear your thesis, cause you never black. How did you get blacker? I can’t even get blacker, and I’m black,” said another TikToker.
After that, his album sales started decreasing right after the first week, with notable reviewers such as Anthony Fantano and Pitchfork giving poor ratings.
Pitchfork gave the rating for his album, a 3.1 Score stating that, “Jack Harlow sexless new album demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of Neo-soul. His coffee shop crewing is a transparent exercise and personal rebranding.”
In the article review Pitchfork didn’t let up as they spoke about the album itself, the songs being produced and even said that Harlow is trying to improve his intellectual depth with cultural signifiers.
“It sounds cool to live like a character in love Jones, but on Monica Harlow tries to prove his emotional intellectual depth with cultural signifiers rather than the music.” said Pitchfork.
According to Kurrco, Jack Harlow’s Monica is currently projected to debut outside the top 20 on the Billboard 200, with 26.5K in sales in the first week.
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