In a new interview, Jack Harlow looks back on the impact of the artist formerly known as Kanye West choosing to collaborate with him during a period when there was “a lot of skepticism” surrounding his work.
Speaking with Rolling Stone for the publication’s “My Life in 10 Songs” series, Harlow, whose latest album Monica arrived back in March, named Ye’s Paul Wall and GLC-featuring Late Registration track “Drive Slow” as one of his personal picks. Per Harlow, the track stands as one of his “favorite rap songs ever,” with the album itself providing him with one of his “earliest hip-hop memories.”
“It’s just another great brick in the foundation of my taste,” Harlow added, crediting his mother with having introduced him to “a lot of rap music” when he was younger.
From there, Harlow reflected on calling his mother when Ye invited him to “come work,” emphasizing the importance of this connection for both himself and everyone in his life at the time.
“I vividly remember calling my mom when he told me to come work and he had posted,” Harlow said, as seen below. “I mean, it meant a lot to me. It meant a lot to the people around me. It meant a lot. Especially because it was at a time when there was a lot of skepticism around me, which, you know, there may never stop being skepticism around me. But at the time, it came at a very validating moment. It was nice.”
As fans will recall, Harlow was indeed enlisted by Ye during Donda sequel sessions. 2022 also saw Ye publicly praising Harlow as being among the “top five [rappers] out right now.” Harlow was quick to respond at the time, calling this “one of the greatest moments” of his life.
Working with Ye, as Harlow detailed to RS, proved to be an “educational and inspiring” experience.
“It just made me wanna get better because he just demanded better,” Harlow said. “Every verse I came up with, he was like, ‘You can do better than that.’ That’s what I associate with him is he talks about being a professional rapper. Are you a professional rapper or are you a rapper? Professionals give you excellent verses, so [it was] very enriching.”
Donda 2, featuring the Harlow collab “Louie Bags,” was originally released in a work-in-progress form via Stem Player in early 2022. Last year, a reworked version of the project was shared to streaming services.
