7/10
Favorite Track: "Hey Big Head" Least Favorite Track: "Out Front"
At first glance, it may seem like Louisville rapper Jack Harlow burst onto the scene out of nowhere with the infectiously enjoyable hit “WHATS POPPIN”. But upon further examination you will find that he has been working at his craft for a long time, working on putting together bouncy and fun hip-hop tracks that are very good earworms. This endless amount of work Harlow has seemingly put in culminates heavily on his newest EP, Sweet Action. Everything about Harlow’s sound just screams fun, and when it hits, it really hits. With that being said, Harlow has not yet become exempt from making a miss or two, and this does show up on Sweet Action a bit. Fortunately for Harlow, these misses are as few and far between as they can be on a 16 minute project. Some of the looming strong points are tracks like “HEY BIG HEAD”, a track where Jack seems to hit a groove with these very visceral, intimidating bells in the beat, and his flow stays relentlessly aggressive, making the cut feel like something you just want to blast out your window while speeding down the highway. Another high point on the album is the bluntly named “I WANNA SEE SOME ASS”, featuring an incredibly catchy beat from up-and-coming producer jetsonmade, known best for his work on DaBaby’s 2019 smash-hit “Suge”. The song totes some typical lyrics about falling in love with strippers and Harlow comparing himself to a girl’s boyfriend. Most of the time, these lyrics would make a trap song feel a bit tiresome, but Harlow finds a way to throw in fun vocal inflections and some incredibly in-his-pocket flows that make the track too groovy to not dance to. The highlights from Sweet Action unfortunately start to taper off there, leaving us with a few mediocre cuts like “SMELLS LIKE INCENSE” and “2Stylish” which are okay at heart, but sort of leave me wishing for more. The only track that really feels like a total dud is “OUT FRONT” which feels incredibly repetitive, holding the typical characteristics of a trap song with not a whole lot else to show. With great production choice and some very compelling flows, Harlow definitely proves himself to be a figure in hip-hop to watch closely on Sweet Action.
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