Listen to This: Jack Harlow exudes confidence on ‘Nail Tech’

by Alyssa Goldberg, Holly Grace Jamili, Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer, and Sunny Sequeira

This story was originally published on New York University’s Washington Square News.

After the music video for “INDUSTRY BABY” dropped, one thing became clear: Jack Harlow is hot — like, really hot — but he can also spit bars. Seven months later, Kanye West proclaimed Harlow was on his list of the top five rappers at the moment. Though we’ll take anything Kanye says with a grain of salt, it’s true that Harlow is currently riding a high; there’s no better example of this than his latest single, “Nail Tech.” Read on for more.

“Nail Tech” by Jack Harlow

Louisville braggart Jack Harlow wants you to bow down to him and his newest single, “Nail Tech.” Reminiscent of Harlow’s feature on Lil Nas X’s transcendent anthem “INDUSTRY BABY,” the track commences with a horn section that carry Harlow’s haughty vocal parade about reeking of money. His commitment to his music and his loved ones, rather than to social media, is clear when he condemns Close Friends stories on the ’gram, instead prioritizing real life: “Ten toes, that’s my M.O. / Fam’ over ’gram, that’s my M.O. (on my mama) / Fuck a Close Friends, I got friends that I keep close.” Harlow refers to himself as royalty, because when he touches down in his hometown, the people there “baow, baow, baow, baow.” Rich violins and delicate arpeggiated piano chords escort Harlow out of his closing chorus. The one-time underdog respectfully drops the mic on past critics who thought he could never make it big. 

“Maybe Baby” by maye 

maye’s latest single, “Maybe Baby,” is a melodic love song full of calming guitar riffs and smooth vocals. maye previewed a snippet of it during her NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert in September and finally dropped the full track on Feb. 18. “Maybe Baby” feels soft and intimate, like she’s personally singing it for each listener. Describing it as a “voicemail ballad,” the song is peaceful from start to finish, making it a soothing lullaby for when love feels most unpredictable. “Problem is you’re the boy of my dreams / What if it’s just a made up scene?” she sings. After her song “Tú” went viral on YouTube, the Venezuelan, Miami-raised and Los Angeles-based artist caught the attention of The Marías, Omar Apollo and Barack Obama, who included her track on his summer 2020 playlist. With so many mainstream Latin artists making reggaeton these days, maye diverges and brings dream-pop tracks into the Latin music space, even if “Maybe Baby” is only in English.

Read the rest of the story at Washington Square News.