Jack Harlow - Come Home The Kids Miss You (2022)

When Jack Harlow settled in to record “Movie Star,” something had been weighing on his heart: “I’m done faking humble, actin’ like I ain’t conceited/’Cause, bitch, I am conceited, you know you can’t defeat it,” he rapped. It’s a wonder he held out as long as he did. By the time of Come Home the Kids Miss You’s release, he’d been a performing guest on SNL, been called “Top 5 out right now” by one Kanye West, and released his Fergie-sampling, TikTok-conquering “First Class.” But as he remarks on that very song, life has been moving maybe quicker than he can comprehend. “They say you a superstar now, damn, I guess I am,” he raps. “You might be the man, well, that's unless I am/Okay, I'll confess I am.”

Come Home the Kids Miss You is Harlow coming to terms with his still-ascending star, reflections on his position sandwiched between meticulous wordplay and appeals for affection (“I’d Do Anything to Make You Smile,” “Side Piece,” “Lil Secret,” “Like a Blade of Grass”). It’s a series of diary entries authored by the coolest kid in school, and, as such, is not without moments of self-doubt. “Am I fancy enough?/Am I dancing enough?/Am I handsome enough?/Tell me right now so I can be enough,” he raps on “Young Harleezy.” But don’t think for a minute that Harlow isn’t also having heaps of fun. He’s called on people he likely once considered musical heroes for guest slots (Pharrell, Drake, Justin Timberlake, Lil Wayne), and if album closer “State Fair” is to be believed, Harlow’s been working so hard for so long that he’s finally ready to celebrate.