Jack Harlow credits “Harry Potter” books for becoming a successful rapper.
Jack Harlow is one of the most growing rappers from today’s era, and the “Whats Poppin” rapper was honoured with Variety’s Hitmaker of Tomorrow at the event in Los Angeles. While receiving the trophy, the Kentucky rapper gave a beautiful speech, including a story about his childhood, being a fan of the “Harry Potter” franchise and how it helped him become the writer he is today.
“When I was in the second grade, I went to an elementary school that had a competitive program,” said Jack Harlow. “You could read a book and then take a quiz on that book, and if you passed the quiz, indicating you had really read the book, you would get awarded a certain amount of points. The bigger more challenging the book, the more points you earned. I read every book I could find. I read all the Harry Potter books. Boy, those Harry Potter books are worth some points.”
“So we get to the end of the school year and there’s a big assembly. The entire school is there, in my memory at least it feels like a stadium full of people. The climax of this assembly is the staff announcing the top three students who had read the most, or at least, had been credited the most points for reading. In third place they announce some fifth-grader, he goes up and they give him his trophy. Second place, another fifth-grader — he goes up, they give him a trophy. And in the first place, a second-grader, they called my name. And I had beat the entire school. I won by a landslide, I probably had quadruple whatever second place had.”
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He continues, “So I want you to imagine this little second grader, buzzcut, eyeglasses, crooked teeth walking down the bleachers on stage to accept this trophy. Before today, that’s the only time in my life I’ve ever gotten up in front of a crowd and won an award.”
“I just want to be clear, as a kid I was a little more of an introvert. Or at least I allowed myself to be an introvert. I wasn’t silent, I had friends, but I was much more comfortable just observing and enjoying my own thoughts. I think if you took a picture of me on this stage and showed that kid, he’d be pretty blown away. But to be honest, all the ingredients were there. It was a competition and it brought out the competitor in me, which is a big part of the genre I’m in. All that reading is what made me the writer I am now, and I’m pretty sure it’s what’s going to make me the Hitmaker of Tomorrow. So thank you so much, I really appreciate y’all.”
Jack Harlow, who appears on the cover of Variety Hitmakers, is joined on the cover by Lil Nas X, Pusha T, City Girls, Chloe Bailey, Normani, Billie Eilish, John Mayer, and many more. This year, “Industry Baby” became Harlow’s first chart-topping single, while his 2020 debut album, That’s What They All Say, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
Watch his speech below.
[VIA]
