Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "JACK HARLOW BECAME BLACKER AND DROPPED A FULL R&B ALBUM, 'MONICA' (SPOTIFY EXCLUSIVE VIDEO VERSION)"

Episode Date: March 17, 2026

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠The latest Segment of Notorious Mass Effect dives deep into Jack Harlow's bold fourth studio album, Monica, released on March 13, 2026—coinciding with his 28th birthday. Hosted by Analytic Dreamz, this breakdown explores Harlow's dramatic pivot from pop-rap hits like "What's Poppin," "First Class," and "Lovin on Me" to a no-rap, fully sung project rooted in R&B, neo-soul, soul, and jazz influences.Recorded at the iconic Electric Lady Studios in New York City, the 9-track, 28-minute album features live instrumentation, jazzy guitars, horn sections, organ, and soulful grooves. Heavy inspiration from D'Angelo's Voodoo shines through, with collaborators including Ravyn Lenae, Omar Apollo, Mustafa, and Robert Glasper adding prestige and bridging Harlow to alternative R&B and jazz audiences.Analytic Dreamz examines the album's reception—Variety praises its warm, soulful upgrade, Clash calls it an unexpected delight tied to the Soulquarian movement, and Okayplayer highlights vulnerability—while noting polarizing views from critics questioning the niche shift from hip-hop roots.With over 11 billion career streams fueling momentum, Monica employs smart strategies: no lead single, birthday drop for engagement, short runtime for repeats, limited-edition vinyl via direct-to-consumer, clean lyrics for broader playlists, and a focus on expanding into neo-soul/R&B lanes amid risks of alienating core fans.Analytic Dreamz unpacks sales projections (5K–10K pure units expected, potential Top 10 Billboard 200 debut via streaming), market facts, and how this evolution fits larger 2025-2026 hip-hop trends.Tune in for an in-depth, no-hype analysis of Jack Harlow's reinvention on Monica. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Shepard, promise me you'll tell them to subscribe for at free content. I'm saying you didn't retreat into a whiter genre. In fact, you arguably went into deeper into black music. You guys. See, that's the problem. What did you just say? But then, you know what I'm saying? I was like, damn, look at the state of hip hop.

Like, what's going on? Now, analytic dreams video on Spotify to see the video along with the audio because of course, you're probably listening to this very immaculate interview thinking to yourself, well, I'm glad that African-American artist feels like he got blacker throughout the creation of his music. Until you realize. I said, until you realize. I know that ain't who I think it is. That Jack Harlow is a Caucasian rapper.

Now, with that being said, let's run this back for the culture. John saying you didn't retreat into a whiter genre. In fact, you arguably went deeper into black music. Yeah. All right, one more time. I got it into Jake, you know what I'm saying? Shepard. No, I got to let them know because at the end of the day, I don't think they realize this is a Caucasian rapper who just put out an album, mind you, titled Monica.

But then, you know what I'm saying? Oh, hold up now. That's not it, ladies and gentlemen. You probably think it to yourself, what's wrong with being a white rapper putting out an album called Monica, right? Well, I will let you know that the promotion for this particular album started in the month of February. And for black enthusiasts and for black connoisseurs and notorious mass effect, you already know that that is Black History Month. You guys. See, that's the problem.

Of course, I have other exhibits to showcase y'all on why this is such an egregious statement. This is almost worse than what Timothy Chalemay did on the acting side talking about ballet. This is basically the same premise because Jack Arlo definitely needs his PR team either fired or you need to tell them, hey, I'm starting. I'm going to start listening to you because I know he has that one song talking about stop giving me advice. My brother, you need advice right here. Into blackness. So is that, was that conscious? Was that a little twist on the typical move that white rappers make, which is to retreat back into traditionally white sounds?

It certainly made what I already wanted. wanted to do even more appealing. Absolutely. Because you like pushing that boundary, that line? I think I love black music. Okay. Who among us? Yeah.

I love the sound of black music. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, that's what we're gonna stop it. But then, you know what I'm saying? I was like, damn, look at the state of hip hop. Like, what's going on? Now, of course, we are going and be getting into Jack Harlow's latest album, Monica, because I did listen to it.

I know. I know what you're saying. Didn't you just kill the album name for Monica and and black history mother of course i did and at the end of day i had to make sure i was keeping it ain't more than 92 because i did not want to give my opinion on an album before listening to it so we're going to get to that in a second uh in a second but i do want to focus on the fact that this man jack harlowe say he loves black music now of course jack harlowe is one of those particular rappers in the game that i became aware of when he put out i think it was what's popping

back in 2020 and of course when a lot of people look at the sales for jack harlowe it's never been like through the roof he's never been some superstar artist who's just selling out who's outselling all of his peers right um sweet action ep that came out 20 20 20 did 15 000 first week that's what they all say in 2020 which is one of my favorite albums from him came out and uh that did 51 000 uh first week in 2020 come home to kids miss you back in 2022 did 113 000 now that was the biggest first week sales for Jack Harlow. So when you look at him compared to his peers like a Uzi or an NBA young boy or a play Ricardy, I know what's just saying? Those are not his peers. Ladies and gentlemen,

what do we call it then? Like at this point in time, who else is, who else is Jack Harlow competing with? It can be Drake. Is it okay? I got my dope on me. So anyways, back to all same. So when it comes to his peer group, I mean, even Don Tolliver is taking over the charts currently. And for me, I know we're only three months into 2026, but he's my MVP of hip hop, especially with his album Octane, that I just think is beyond phenomenal. But of course, Jay Coe's up there as well. But it's just very two different type of albums, and both artists did it immaculently. So anyways, back to Jack Carlo. So the reason why I bring up these sales is because 2023, he put out Jackman, which I thought was a highly, a high quality type of rap album, and it sold 34,000 first week.

now the reason why i say that is because monica i'm not going to lie to you projections as far as what i look at as far as future chart analytics um what else uh his daily double um chart data i look at a lot of different projections just to be fair for that specific artist because you know over here we get into the gaming and music i piece that notoriously affect the masses so when you look at monica being nine tracks 28 minutes in length safe to say i did not think it was going to sell more than Jackman because if you remember Jackman was 10 songs 24 minutes in length and guess what that was a whole rap album that people enjoyed and that only sold 34 000 first week so from reports i've been seeing that is around the 20 000 mark but then you know what i'm saying

like 10 look at the state of hip hop like what's going on so now we can't even say look at the state of hip hop technically he went full rmb and it's set to sell less with this monica album you guys See, that's the problem. Now, of course, you do want to commend him on taking an experimental turn in his output as far as projects because, you know, a lot of artists do it. Future, with his album Future, and then coming right back with a full R&B album, which was Hendrix, Drake, where honestly, never mind, Kanye were all of his albums, but you get the point. Like, basically you do have to switch it up enough so that you're not to formulate that the audience

gets bored and they just leave because a lot of, not a lot of, all fans are, just let you know how this entertainment industry is. So you do have to keep switching it up because it's easy to get them hooked at one time, but it's very hard, very difficult to keep them engaged for the foreseeable future. So I commend him on that. Now, with that being said, let me take y'all all the way back to 1950s, ladies and gentlemen. You probably think it to yourself, Jack Harlow wasn't born then. Well, you're right.

Technically he was born in with 1998. So when you look at the actual reasons, for me bringing this up is because even though jack harlowe was born in 1998 safe to say an artist around the time in the 1950s had the same exact idea as jack harlowe you would have thought it was soldier boy the way jack harlowe is still in his flow uh bar for bar flow for flow however soldier boy said it when talking about drake basically there's this particular artist that went by the name of elvis prince uh presley now you already know i'm going with this back in the 1950s this man loved black music and guess what was he a black musician he was not you guys Elvis Presley was of course

notoriously a white pop act and of course when you look at his inspirations it was heavily black to the point where hound dog that was written by white songwriters lever slash stoler and basically that was taken from um big mama thornton her 1952 original hit on the rnb charts. So now Elvis Presley, her big mama Thornton's hound on track in 1952, already a hit, right? Had white writers tweak the song a little bit. And in 1956, Elvis Presley came out with an upbeat cover that became iconic while Thornton earned far less. But then, you know what I'm saying? I was like, damn, look at the state of hip hop. Like, what's going on?

Now, the reason why I take you down this memory lane is because people like to tell you that white privilege does not exist. So how do I connect? to Jack Carlo. But ladies and gentlemen, he did blow up around 2020. I want to let you know the amount of top of the charts type of tracks that he had as far as them including samples. Because when you look at the sample clearance route, especially for a superstar, it's very expensive and it just so happened. A lot of the samples from 2020, no, no, no, from 2021 all the way into 2023, seemingly went to Jack Harlow. I mean, all of them. Now, I know you probably are aware of this particular track called Loving on Me.

Now that came out 2023. Now, if you listen to that track, and I've said this multiple times when it comes to Jack Carlo. A sample already raises the ability for a track to become a hit because now you're adding a lot of nostalgia into the track. But anyways, let's get back into it. So Loving on Me back in 2023 came out with a heavily sampled track that was Whatever by Cadill literally the track was called Whatever. It was called Whatever by Cadillac Dale in 1995.

So of course, Jack Harlow, you know, doing the Elvis Presley took that. Made loving on me and guess what? It was a huge hit. One of his biggest hits in his career. But hold him now. That's not where it ends, ladies and gentlemen. First Class 2022, heavily samples glamorous by Fergie. I know what you're saying.

Hold up now. I really don't know the race of Fergis. She's white. I don't know. But anyways, it's not a black artist until you realize. It's also featuring ludicrous. You guys. So not only do we have that glamorous sample just took, just taken by it.

Jack Haller on a modern-day Elvis Presley type beat for the first class hit in 2022. And then you come to realize not only did he have that, but then industry baby, uh, industry baby. You cannot forget that as Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow in 2021, of course, sampled the one and only computers by Rowdy Rebel. But then, you know what I'm saying? I was like, damn, look at the state of hip hop. Like, what's going on?

Now, out of his top five to 10 highest streaming songs, at least three, to four are heavily sampled love it on me first class industry baby you know what's popping made him very uh popular in the black space because that was just authentically him in my opinion but now you get these heavily sampled tracks and then you come to realize hold on now was he ever that good at making a smash hit or was he heavily assisted by sampled tracks that were already popular but then you know what i'm saying i was like 10 look at so now bring a in my case full circle. This is not just a bash Jack Harlow segment, but I do have to let you know, when it comes to white privilege, you know, there's a lot of things that people

just let slide under the rug and other artists, they have to, you know, they'd be like, you don't have a popular and nostalgic like sample. You better still figure it out. I say you better still figure it out. All right, my fault. So basically, when you're a white artist, a lot of things are easier compared to black artists. That should just, I mean, just in society, that's just how it is. So now when I point out these things specifically and showcase how it's been happening for a decade plus as far as Elvis Presley back in 1950s, you come to realize that when you are a musician and you get your first popular track and then the next three, the four popular tracks are heavily sampled and the clearances for those samples are not even available to any other artists except for you. There's a reason why I come out and say that this is the epitome of white privilege. You guys.

See, that's the problem. So anyways, continuing with the Jack Harlow covers, when it comes to Monica, you know, I didn't want to give my personal review. I was going to save that to the end. Now, interestingly enough, I did like some of the tracks off of the album, but then you come to realize it's only nine tracks.

You know, it should have been a lot more than I enjoyed. But I will say, trade places and all of my friends is my favorite off of the album. Now, when I say favorite, I'm just saying I like those tracks more than the other tracks off of the album not saying it's one of my favorite tracks of the year i just wanted to get my personal review so if you was wondering hey what tracks should i at least give a listen if i want to like maybe like the track uh maybe like the album i would say trade places is a phenomenal enough it's a

solid track and um all of my friends is also a solid track i think if you would have took those and put it on an actual rap album i think it would perform better as a whole but making a whole r&b album with the very simplistic approach of melodies begs the question, how much does Jack Hollow actually enjoy black music? Because I'm not going to say it was bare bones or the effort wasn't there. But the ability to stack melodies

is a real thing in the music industry. There's this popular thing that's going around that a lot of people are starting to pay more attention to. It's the way that Drake constructs his choruses. He will write something. That would be the chorus. And guess what? he will move that to the verse and now it's time for him to write another course for the actual beat

and usually when you stack melodies on top of each other that is when a great r&b track is made i mean listen to the chris brown i mean even don't tolliver can't sing worth the lick and you see the type of melodies that he constructed on his album octane which you know once again i think it's one of my favorites now i think it is one of my favorites so you know as far as jack hollow's um affection towards black music not going to lie to you i think it's because of this right here now you know for people who are sports fans you already know i'm going with this because when when let's just say entertainers at this point it's not even athletes when any entertainer gets around beautiful women that covered the industry that they're in guess what they just start lying out

the wazoo you know i'm saying this is a prime example so here we go right here analytic dreams video on spotify to see the video along with the audio i think men feel like they lose our power when they say only Taylor Rooks. All right, after that respectful moment of silence, let's continue. They all said I love you. I mean, like they get to, I don't know if I agree with that. It feels like it doesn't feel good for them sometimes.

But they'll say it like so quickly. Yeah, they do all say it, but then it always ends up being a problem. Maybe you're Bill Diff. I do think that that's- And you probably wonder, what does this have to do with the album? Ladies and gentlemen, this is literally part of the marketing rollout from Monica. So if you think I just brought that up for no reason,

I think the whole I became blacker along with some of the interesting people that he's been associating himself with because of course you know taylor rucks is uh mary you know we want to be respectful but when it comes to having certain people co-sign what you're like co-signing what you're doing you may ignore all other output so if you get a co-sign from a beautiful woman right in your industry now i'm not saying who that could be and she says you know what i haven't listened to this album And I'm not going to lie, you really sound like you, you black. And then guess what?

That's all she wrote. You guys. That's all she wrote, man. It's up from there. You can't tell him nothing after that. You know, he could put out a whole packer. What Joe Button said, two packer? You know what I'm saying?

It's a PG podcast. But you can put out a two packer. And just because a person like that told you it was fire and you're blacker, you start to actually feel like, hey, maybe I can make a whole R&B album titled Monica. Promoted on the year, in the month of Black, History Month. Say that I love black music, but guess what? At the end of the day, I just didn't

respect the art enough to make a solid R&B quality album. I just don't like it, man. I just don't like that shit, man. I don't like it even, man. Go take care your kids, man. We don't even know if Jack has kids. But with that being said, that is my review of

Monica. As far as the sales, it's not looking the greatest, right? And, you know, when it comes to Jackman, which was already highly received you know highly reviewed um as far as when that album came out 2023 doing 34 000 first week i believe this is going to do way less than that um i do think jack harlowe could literally uh bounce back by just having a black artist do like a collab album with him because you know if he's going to go this route of you know trying to pander towards black people i think he needs to go to target

route i mean go all the way in take take an up-and-coming black artist make a collab tape with him them on some little baby little dark type beat and you know that's my um that would that would be my consultation as far as uh for jack harlowe because you know as of right now um it's not looking too good for you but also um it was you know your sales was never through the roof so you'd be able to bounce back if you have the team now i think you do behind you so that means that click my link in my bio let me know one of my social medias what do you think about jack harlowe's album monica and at the end of the day do you believe that jack harlowe got blacker with this album that was fully R&B.

You guys. See, that's the problem.