''Thats What They All Say'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American rapper Jack Harlow. It was released on December 11, 2020, by Generation Now and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. The album features guest appearances from Lil Baby, Big Sean,

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

, EST Gee, Bryson Tiller, DaBaby, Tory Lanez and Lil Wayne, the latter three appear on the remix of Harlow's breakout single, " Whats Poppin". It also features a posthumous guest appearance from Static Major.

Background

In an interview with

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

, Harlow shared the story behind the album title.

You know, I've heard it all before. It's taken long enough for me to get to this point that I've developed some thick skin. And so it's really given me a chance to just let everything kinda fly off my shoulder and it doesn't bother me as much. I know who I am. So ''Thats What They All Say'' is a response. I've heard it all before. There's nothing you can tell me.

Music and lyrics

The album is a "collection of laid-back anthems". On the album, Harlow "pays homages to his Louisville roots while still affirming that his eyes are set on goals far beyond where he started." "Rendezvous" and "Face of My City" feature southern trap production while "Luv Is Dro" is R&B.

Critical reception

Quincy of ''Ratings Game Music'' wrote that Harlow "impresses with big-boy punchlines, impressive flows, sly-ass lyrics, and sneaky good melodies." On the other hand, he pointed out that "Jack could’ve covered a broader range of topics on the album." Danny Schwartz of '' Rolling Stone'' wrote that Harlow "put Louisville rap on the national radar for the first time in a generation, and his music is strongest when he keeps it close to home." Meanwhile, he noted that his music is similar to that of Drake. Kate Hutchinson of '' The Guardian'' wrote that "his most interesting songs are the more introspective ones, where he addresses being uncomfortable about his acclaim (Keep It Light) and his white privilege (Baxter Avenue)" and "these songs hint that there might be more to come from Harlow than everything you’ve already heard before." Imogen Lawlor of ''Vinyl Chapters'' wrote that the album "shows incredible maturity, depth and understanding of his interactions with others", which is achieved through "playful production, immense musicality and blunt lyricism intelligently manipulated to profoundly articulate ambivalent sentiments about relationships and life more generally."

Commercial performance

''Thats What They All Say'' debuted at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200, with 51,000 album-equivalent units (2,000 including pure album sales) in its first week. The album also accumulated a total of 66.21 million on-demand streams of the album's songs during the tracking week.

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer * signifies an uncredited co-producer * signifies an uncredited additional producer * "21C / Delta" features additional vocals by Millie Go Lightly, and background vocals by Alexandria Dopson * "Funny Seeing You Here" features additional vocals by

Tess Henley Tess Henley is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Kent, Washington, United States. Born into a musical family, Henley studied and performed since childhood before launching a career performing soul music. Since 2008, she has released se ...

* "Keep It Light" features spoken word by Maggie Harlow; Jack's mother * "Same Guy" features additional vocals by Jason Clayborn and The Atmosphere Changers Sample Credits * "Rendezvous" contains samples from "Lost for Words", written by George Patterson, as performed by Midnight Movers. * "Keep It Light" contains samples from "Dirt and Grime", written by Nicholas Smith, as performed by

Father's Children Father's Children is an American funk band, that was formed in the late 1960s and rose to fame in the mid-to late 1970s. The group was initially formed as a doo-wop trio in Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C. under the name The Dreams, but evolved into ...

. * "Luv Is Dro" contains samples from "Love Is Dro", written by

Stephen Garrett Stephen Ellis Garrett (November 11, 1974 – February 25, 2008), known professionally as Static Major (and previously as Static), was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Louisville, Kentucky. He was a member of the R&B tri ...

, Alonzo Lee, Jr., and Shamar Daugherty, as performed by Static Major. * "Baxter Avenue" contains samples from “Glass Hearted”, written by Dylan Teixeira, as performed by Nami.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

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