Jack Harlow has quickly become the hottest new white rapper, and he’s already drawing comparisons to another white MC in Eminem. The Louisville native has made it loud and clear how much of a fan he is of the Detroit rap legend, but he’s not happy with how the new generation has been dragging him lately.
During a recent interview with Pitchfork, Harlow spoke about his undying appreciation for Slim Shady and pondered on how the new generation sees him compared to when he was dominating the rap scene in his heyday. According to the “Nail Tech” rapper, Em should be held in higher regard when it comes to the new school.
“These days [he’s] underrated,” Harlow said. “Eminem catching a lot of slander from the new generation. I think they don’t have the context of what he was, truly an icon. When I was nine through 13, that’s really who I wanted to be.”
He continued, “I used to watch 8 Mile, and I would watch the scene of them in the warehouse and just get off. Like that movie and the freestyles at the end, I knew the lyrics to all of them. I love Eminem, and I don’t like the new slander. I don’t like that it’s the new wave to slander him.”
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Harlow is even going as far to say he wants to be a generational artist like Eminem was in the past. The 24-year-old spoke to Rolling Stone last month about his aspirations of becoming the face of a generation.
“That’s what made Em so hard — he was in the dog pile,” Harlow said. “I want to be the face of my shit, like the face of my generation, for these next 10 years. We need more people in my generation that are trying to be the best, and you can’t do that with just ear candy, vibe records.”
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He added, “You got to come out swinging sometimes. . . . My new shit is much more serious. Right now, my message is letting muthafuckers know I love hip-hop, and I’m one of the best in my generation. You can’t do that with nonchalant, like, ‘Eeey, I got the bitches,’ in clever ways over and over again. I got to dig deeper this time.”
