• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Vinyl Chapters

Vinyl Chapters

The Stories Behind The Music

  • Home
  • About
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • News
  • Submit
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Cart
Home » articles » Jack Harlow: That’s What They All Say – Review

Jack Harlow: That’s What They All Say – Review

December 16, 2020 by Imogen Lawlor

Jack Harlow

After an enormously successful 2020, Jack Harlow releases his latest album, That’s What They All Say, continuing his winning streak into the last month of the year. 

That’s What They All Say shows incredible maturity, depth and understanding of his interactions with others. This is achieved through playful production, immense musicality and blunt lyricism intelligently manipulated to profoundly articulate ambivalent sentiments about relationships and life more generally. 

Although Harlow expresses pride in his roots, he does not allow them to define or restrict his music (“Bitch I’m from Kentucky but this ain’t no fucking Dixie Chicks” (Route 66 (feat. EST Gee)). The first two tracks (Rendezvous and Face of my City feat. Lil Baby) are inflected with southern trap production, but Harlow does not stay with this sound for long. Luv Is Dro feat. Static Major & Bryson Tiller definitively sits in an R&B realm, while other tracks are more ambiguous with Keep It Light boasting jazz-inflected harmonies and soulful vocalisations. 

Jack Harlow - That's What They All Say

Harlow often plays structure and time to create a liberal yet ambiguous flow and sense of time. This is achieved most blatantly in 21C/Delta in which the entire song changes to different production and pace in part 2 (a common effect at the moment), but is done so smoothly and gradually that the transition could be missed. Although some may feel uneasy by the slightly off-beat rapping in Face of My City (feat. Lil Baby), when executed well this creates a meandering and unpredictable flow that can be very engaging. 

What stands out most about this album is the direct, but rich and meaningful, lyricism. The most striking verse in the whole album is in Funny Seeing You Here, in which Harlow posits the idea that in his relationships he decries the behaviour of other men whilst doing the same things himself:

“You used to say her man was trash and tell me ’bout the way he’d act
I would shake my head until I realized I’m the same as that
Now I wonder, did she tell her man that I’m a trash dude?
And would he shake his head until he realized he was trash too?”

In other tracks, this frank lyricism is extended into longer narratives, presenting a more detailed and complex picture. In Keep It Light, Harlow ponders how people treat him differently now that he is famous and are dishonest “when y’all get to drinkin’ and start tellin’ me all the things/That you really think/Likе what I should’ve done differеntly/What you think of my energy/The downsides that come with being friends with me”. 

Everything on this album is grounded but simultaneously relaxed and laid back – an incredibly hard contrast to balance. While Jack Harlow allows himself and collaborators ample space and time to express themselves, nothing feels forced and everything is purposeful, calculated and understood. 

Score: 4.5/5

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Review

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe to our Newsletter

* indicates required

Recent Posts

Vajra

Vajra: Irkalla – EP Review

Ashnikko

Ashnikko: Demidevil – Mixtape Review

The Lickerish Quartet

The Lickerish Quartet: Threesome Vol. 2 – EP Review

Footer

Navigation

Home

About

Reviews

Features

News

Submit

Contact Us

Shop

Search

Recent Posts

  • Why Do Some Turntables Have Two Tonearms?
  • Vajra: Irkalla – EP Review
  • Ashnikko: Demidevil – Mixtape Review
  • The Lickerish Quartet: Threesome Vol. 2 – EP Review
  • New Music Fridays – 15th January 2021

Affiliate Disclosure

Vinyl Chapters is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. In doing so, this helps us continue providing free content. It does not increase the price for you in any way.

Social Media

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Copyright © 2021 Vinyl Chapters | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy