Hey, ya got any Jack Harlow? Can ya play me some Jack Harlow? How about…anything by Jack Harlow?

It’s funny being a largely open format DJ in 2024, playing to the crowd that shows up at the club that night, keeping it real for the regulars and trying to appease the young, loud newbies. It’s not always easy. I’m getting older (middle-age Gen Xer here) while the crowd stays the same.

This wasn’t an issue back in the mid-’90s when I got my start in my late teens. It wasn’t an issue in the ’00s, which ended with me heading into my thirties. And honestly, it generally wasn’t an issue through the ’10s, either. But there’s a stubbornness that comes with age. I quit clubbing years ago, and largely only show up if I’m being paid to be there. I try to “keep up” with what’s hot, but so little resonates with me that it’s hard to be an expert in anything. And thanks to digital and streaming, it’s not like the old days when we all heard the same thing because we listened to the same radio station and watched MTV. No, today the listener has all the power. And every clubgoer I encounter who wants to request a song (or just bullshit about music in general) may well have come from another planet compared to the next person. They don’t listen to the radio (as in old school, over-the-air, terrestrial radio) and MTV is long gone as a tastemaker. No, today’s music listener is more fickle than ever (they can afford to be: it costs nothing to listen to your favorite song on demand, and it takes no effort to find it). They have their own radio station (their “playlist”) right there in their pocket, on Spotify. (How do I know? Because in 2024, you whip out your phone to request songs by showing me the track on Spotify.)

Which brings me to Harlow. I’ve known of him because his name keeps popping up in my record pools, and young clubgoers have often requested his songs over the past 3-4 years. But none of it resonated with me. And if I played those requests, none of them ever had much impact on the dancefloor, and they certainly didn’t stay with me as something I needed to remember or play again in the future.

Thankfully “Lovin on Me” came around and perked up my ears the first time I heard it back in November 2023, when the single popped up in one of my record pools. Like most rap tracks that resonate with me, this one has a killer sample from R&B artist Cadillac Dale‘s 1995 song “Whatever,” which literally steals the song: “I don’t like no whips and chains, And you can’t tie me down. But you can whip your lovin’ on me, baby…” (Congrats, enjoy those checks, Dale!)

Harlow’s pop rap track is instantly catchy, an earworm that rivals any straight pop song we normally associate with that description. The catchiness of the music underscores the edgy lyrics, too, as Harlow raps “I’m vanilla baby. I’ll choke you, but I’m no killer baby.” What?? Wild.

So I guess I should be happy that I’ve finally heard a Jack Harlow track that I like, and that works at the club for the majority (“banger” status). What’s the song about? Who cares….frivolous flirting and fun is all that’s needed.

Harlow stated himself in an interview that “Lovin on Me” represents the beginning of new era for him. He’s only 26, and if this is the direction he’s taking, I’m happy to hear it (and play it).