Jack Harlow has opened up about his position in rap as a white artist, insisting he is not a “novelty act”.
During an interview with Billboard, the 23-year-old rapper discussed how being white in rap influences his approach to the genre, a dynamic he believes will always have “something attached to it”.
“I’m not a novelty act,” he stated. “There is a certain reality that I am white, and I think there will always be something attached to that. No matter how embraced I am, there will never be a day that I’m Black. With that being said, there’s a certain responsibility that comes with being a white man in a Black genre, and there’s certain things that have me regarded differently. But there is something exciting about skipping over any barriers that might be there and creating unity.”
The Whats Poppin star previously told GQ Hype in October that he often has imposter syndrome and experiences feelings of self-doubt.
“I have serious imposter syndrome the whole way through,” the Grammy nominee admitted. “And then you have to bounce with it and you feel like you are totally where you are supposed to be. Moments of self-doubt combined with moments of I am who I think I am. I think what has worked for me is that my music has never been about the fact that I am white… I don’t try to lean into the, ‘Hey, I’m the white boy.’ I try not to make it a novelty. I rap from the heart, rather than trying to do a white version of the art form.”
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