(upbeat music)
♪ Off limits ♪
♪ When you got the sauce, you know they running off with it ♪
♪ Now she actin' freaky, she was coming off timid at first ♪
♪ But I guess it really wasn't authentic, yessir ♪
- From Louisville, Kentucky, please give it up
to Jack Harlow!
♪ And we, rocking from side to side ♪
♪ Tell me now if you trying to ride with me ♪
♪ You know I can find some time ♪
- There's really people out here.
- Yeah.
- I had no idea.
- This is a lot.
I know, we got Times Square.
We're gonna chill out here but yeah,
there's a bunch of fans here watching us
and it's exciting times for you.
- It certainly is.
- You like amazed right now.
What's going through your head?
- Well, I'ma be honest,
I had no idea there were humans out here.
(audience cheers)
- And then if you turn around,
you got you on the big screen.
- Hard.
- Dude, you were giving me, like,
Justin Timberlake Rock Your Body vibes on that one cutaway.
You don't like that?
- That's all I've ever wanted to hear.
Right?
- Thank you.
I dug it.
- Congratulations, dude.
I wanna talk about Confetti right now,
the mixtape that's out and available everywhere
and it's an interesting disposition
that you find yourself in as an artist, right?
Because if you come from Houston or New York
or L.A. or Chicago, there's somewhat of a legacy there
with hip-hop.
Louisville, not so much, and say that with respect.
So not only are you crafting your sound
but do you feel the weight of the city on your shoulders?
Do you feel like you have the responsibility
of establishing a Louisville sound?
- Well, it's something definitely important for me.
There's a lot of up and coming artists,
there's a lot of talent down in Louisville
so I understand what you're saying, but to us,
we have a culture of our own and we're still building it up
but yeah, the world still ain't seen it yet.
That's what we want, for sure.
It's something I think about every day.
I'd love to create a sound but more than anything,
I just wanna lift the city up so other artists can get on
and we can pop off.
- Right.
Talk to me about Private Garden,
that's what you guys are all about.
- Yeah, that's my collective.
It's full of other creatives.
We got seven or eight people in it, photographers,
producers, other artists
and we all came together from Louisville.
It's crazy, we all went to different high schools
but we came together out of the love of music.
- Yeah, absolutely, man.
There's a story that I'd like you to tell right now
because we have a lot of young people that watch this show.
When you were 14 years old,
you thought you might have a chance at a major label
record deal and it just didn't happen.
I have to imagine when you're 14,
that must've felt like the end of the world.
- Oh yeah, it was devastating.
- So how did you overcome that obstacle?
- Well, I turned 15 and then I was good.
(host and audience laugh)
Nah, but for real, I just got older.
At the moment, I was devastated
but I was a freshman in high school
but after I got a little older I was like-
- You discovered girls
and then you forgot all about the major label.
- No, I discovered girls earlier than that, man.
(audience laughs)
Nah, but what I'm saying is, basically,
as I was getting older, I realized,
"Oh, you don't really necessarily need a label."
I started uploading to YouTube and started moving on my own
and I realized it ain't the end of the world.
It probably was for the best 'cause when you're young,
they try and do you bad.
They try and do you bad.
- Timing.
- Certainly.
- Yeah, absolutely.
A thing I also really appreciate about you is that
I just think IG culture, social media,
we love the quick come-up, we love the overnight success.
People love to simplify their journey.
You've been honest, you went from Louisville,
you moved to Atlanta for music
but you had to make money somehow.
You're not a gazillionaire overnight.
You worked at a cafeteria and you look back at that time
as some of the best times you ever had.
- It was crazy you know that.
You've been doing your research.
- I was a student, you served me.
No, I'm kidding.
- I moved with my best friend to Atlanta
and we started working at the Georgia State cafeteria
and then a few days later, well actually a month later,
a friend of mine took me up to Means Street
and introduced me to DJ Drama
so I got to quit and everything moved up from there
but like you said, at the time, the nostalgia of it
is beautiful for me 'cause I met a lot of cool people there
and it was humbling, it was good.
- So if you work at a cafeteria right now or you don't,
all you gotta do, DM DJ Drama.
That is the fast track out of that gig.
You've been cosigned by so many people.
It's cool, you're associated with these legends now.
You sample Usher on Thru the Night with Bryson
and then Puff Daddy,
can we call him the number one Harlow fan?
- Hell yeah.
- That's crazy.
- That still hasn't registered for me.
I was kicking it with him the other day.
- Yeah, we actually have a clip of that.
Can we show that?
- You got a clip, huh?
- We do.
- I never met him in my life, saw his video,
Drama's team,
that's what the Summit is also about,
empowering the next generation,
the next round of superstars,
the boy Jack Harlow.
- You know it's some of these, man.
Meet me at the Summit tomorrow.
I don't wanna see you unless you're at the Summit.
- Boy got that Louisville, Kentucky accent.
He got some swag.
(audience cheers)
- Here's my question.
It's really to Puff, if you're watching this right now,
I want a Ciroc Kentucky Bourbon
with you as the face of it, Jack.
- Tell 'em, tell 'em.
- When is that gonna happen?
- ASAP.
He's trying to make me a Ciroc boy.
Apparently I'm too young but soon enough.
- Soon enough, soon enough.
- Your mom was a hip-hop head,
played you Em when you were two years old in the minivan.
Your dad, old school country guy.
I find that so interesting because nowadays,
the biggest trend in popular music
is this hip-hop, country deal, right?
People like Blanco Brown we've seen on today's show,
people like Lil Nas X, of course.
It's so different from the great music you do.
Would you ever entertain that just given the influences?
- I don't think so.
They're really playing it out right now,
not that I think it's whack but I don't think that's for me.
I see myself in 10 years just going the country route fully
but not necessarily Luke Bryan.
Not to disrespect Luke Bryan, that's just not me.
I think I would like to do some Willie Nelson type stuff
but that's gonna be more when I'm older
and have thought this life thing through a little more.
- You're interested in doing that?
- Well, I'm open to it is what I'm saying.
No telling what I'm gonna be doing.
- Exciting, man.
Also exciting is the Mission Tour.
Round of applause for this, this is cool.
You're gonna be doing a bunch of dates this fall.
One that I wanna draw specific attention to
is right here in New York City, a bit of a rite of passage
in the world of hip-hop is SOB's, man.
I think it's October 24th is the date.
Talk to me about what that's gonna be like
hitting the stage at SOB's here in the city.
- Well I heard that the green room is tiny
and I heard you gotta walk through the crowd to get onstage
but aside from that, I'm very excited
'cause like you said, it's a rite of passage.
- You're a Drake guy.
You can look that up online,
that was a big night when Drake did it back in the day,
J Cole, of course, The Weeknd did it.
- I know it's historic.
No disrespect to SOB's.
This is crazy you're talking about this
'cause five minutes before I came out here
we were talking about all the inconveniences of it
but I can't wait.
- Yeah, it's very sweaty.
The green room is actually downstairs, down in the basement.
- It's gonna be interesting.
♪ Be the one that I idolized ♪
♪ Now I can't see you the same as I used to ♪
♪ I guess I need me a ride or die ♪
♪ Know you get sick of the games 'cause I do too ♪