Old School and New School Collide

4.22.21

Jack Harlow, T.I., Too $hort via @troubleman3

At the beginning of the pandemic, new music was scarce. Artists and their teams were worried they would not be able to amplify the releases they way they normally would. Now, over a year in, we are in almost the opposite situation. New music is pouring out left and right, not only on Fridays. The only thing better than finding out new music when it releases, is finding out hints to new music on the way, prior to any official announcement or release. Who is next on our radar? An old school meetings new school special, T.I. and Jack Harlow.

While there is no official release announcement just yet, T.I. basically confirmed so on his Instagram. T.I. was in attendance at the Triller Fight Club event over this past weekend, where we saw Jack Harlow back stage with Jake Paul and Pete Davidson. We also saw Too $hort perform Live with Snoop Dogg, E-40 and Ice Cube, formulating their newly established rap collective, Mount Westmore. T.I. took a photo with Jack Harlow and Too $hort together on ground level of the arena. He captioned his photo:

Surrounded by Greatness.
My 1st BIG feature @tooshort & my next BIG collab @jackharlow in 1 📸

T.I. released his debut album I’m Serious back in 2001, meaning he has been releasing albums for two decades already. Too $hort was on T.I’s debut I’m Serious album, on the track Hotel. With Too $hort dropping music since the late 80s, it had to have been a huge deal for T.I. to have him on his debut album.

Two decades have since passed, and they each continue to release new music. I have to think that the 2010s have been a bit more difficult for Too $hort, but since his Verzuz battle and the whole Mount Westmore initiative, things are continuously looking up. On the other hand, T.I. has not slowed down one bit. From activism, to dropping new music, new albums and participating in new features that we may never have guessed before.

T.I. has been proclaimed the King of the South for years now, but when you think about, there are some new Kings down there. Young Thug basically formulated an entire new genre of hip-hop, and has a massive crew behind his label, mainly all from the south. Then of course, you have Lil Baby taking over his part of the game, as well. T.I. had both of these artists, and others on his latest album, The L.I.B.R.A which dropped last October. I truly felt like he was able to listen to their styles of music, and find the right beat where they would sound like themselves, and T.I. could showcase his adaptability and versatility when it comes to still being an important, relevant member of the current hip-hop community.

So, T.I. says his next “BIG” feature will be Jack Harlow, based on this photo he has shared. Already, it is a nod to Jack’s success this far in the hip-hop space. Jack Harlow’s song What’s Poppin, has gone five times platinum in the United States, peaking number 2 on Billboard Hot 100, Billboard Hot Hip-Hop, and Rolling Stone Top 100. The song reached number one on Billboard Rhythmic charts. The song was so popular, Tory Lanez, DaBaby and Lil Wayne decided to hop on the remix, which had just as much success. This opened the doors to so many other hip-hop features, from Lil Baby, Chris Brown, Saweetie to Post Malone, EST Gee, Big Sean and more.

It is no secret that Jack Harlow can drop a killer verse, and/or chorus on a track, and has gained the respect of the hip-hop community thus far. To date, I still think that the Lil Wayne feature is the most credible, especially considering the fact that Lil Wayne took one of Jack Harlow’s punch lines from the original song, and made it his punch line for his verse, placed in a similar spot in the remix. It shows that Wayne listened to the original, and really enjoyed it. This feature, is the closest thing in Jack Harlow’s catalog thus far, to working with someone like T.I. After the success of the What’s Poppin’ Remix, I definitely think Jack Harlow can hang with T.I., but I am interested to see where they would take the song. Something fun, light, and dance worthy? Or maybe something more serious. T.I. has always been about his activism for his community, and though Jack Harlow is a white rapper, I know he feels the same based on his friends that have been around him his entire life. It could be something interesting there, to see the more serious side of Jack Harlow, and truly learn where he comes from.

One thing we do know, is that Jack Harlow has been a T.I. fan for a while now. In an Elle interview that Jack Harlow did around this time last year, he was involved in their interview game “Song Association” where they give the artist a word, and they have ten seconds to use the word, in a line from a song. Jack Harlow repeatedly said he doesn’t even listen to music, and mostly used lyrics from his own songs. Out of all fifteen, Jack was quickest with the word “Money” in which he instantly recited bars from T.I.’s If It Ain’t About the Money. This was the only one that he got right away, proving his attention to T.I.’s catalog.

While still an interesting duo, the old school has been teaming up with the new school quite often recently, and it seems like the idea is to trend towards what is new and popular. Snoop Dogg has done this several times recently, with artists like NBA Youngboy. We have seen Cordae in the studio with Dr. Dre, and recording with Royce Da 5’9. E40 and T.I. recently did a song with Joyner Lucas, and the lists go on.

It is interesting to see who these artists respect enough to study their craft and hop on a song with them, though it may steer off from their typical styles. Some of these features, I have loved, and some I have questioned. I definitely think T.I. and Jack Harlow is interesting, but there is no doubt in my mind that it will work. Whether or not the song is already recorded, or an idea they are working on, I cannot wait to hear what is next from each of them.