On a recent podcast interview, Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow said that, to craft his new album Monica, he “got blacker.” The problem is… Jack Harlow is white. The statement, while extremely tone-deaf, speaks to his intentions with this musical pivot: musically, Monica turns to the historically Black genres of R&B and neo-soul to craft a new image designed to shed the stigma of being a “white rapper.”

The pivot is more costume than culture, but in doing so, Harlow seems to be following in the footsteps of several white rappers over the past decade. Artists like Post Malone, MGK, and Jelly Roll have all had radical shifts in sound and image over their career, separating themselves from their roots in hip-hop. So, in response to Monica, Reanna and Charlie ask: where have all the white rappers gone?

Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube

Songs discussed:

Jack Harlow – First Class
Jack Harlow – Lovin On Me
Jack Harlow – Trade Places
Post Malone, Hank Williams Jr. – Finer Things
Jack Harlow – Tyler Herro
Jack Harlow, Doja Cat – Just Us
Jack Harlow – Lonesome
J Dilla, Common, D’Angelo – So Far to Go
D’Angelo – Spanish Joint
D’Angelo – Feel Like Makin’ Love
Jack Harlow – All Of My Friends
Led Zeppelin - Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
Paul Wall, Big Pokey – Sittin’ Sidewayz
Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right
Post Malone – White Iverson
Post Malone – Leave
Post Malone, Morgan Wallen – I Had Some Help
James Taylor – Machine Gun Kelly
MGK – LOCO
MGK, blackbear – my ex’s best friend
5 Seconds of Summer – She Looks So Perfect
MGK – cliche
Jelly Roll – F*ck What They Talkin Bout (ft. O.N.E.)
Jelly Roll – Need A Favor
Bubba Sparxxx – Deliverance
Eminem – Cleanin’ Out My Closet
Eminem – Without Me

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