Jack Harlow graces one of the covers of the 2022 edition of British GQ’s Men of the Year. 

Harlow also sat down for a lengthy interview and shared his thoughts on mental health, his start in the music industry and his journey to success.

Looking back at his beginnings, Harlow said one of his “visceral memories” was playing a show to less than 10 people. “I was not only embarrassed for myself, but — and my family didn’t care, they were proud of me no matter what — but I was embarrassed that that was the crowd I attracted,” he confessed. “It’s more vulnerable when your family is involved.”

“That’s the anxiety behind events, behind shows, behind anything: what if I put all this effort in and no one cares? My fear is, like, I’m gonna have a birthday party and no one’s gonna come,” he continued.

Harlow has come a long way since that show and spoke about how his mental health has improved since he was 19. “I was at a point where I felt like I needed the company of a woman constantly. I don’t know if it was validation I was searching for, but there was something I wanted,” the rapper said.  

Harlow then quipped, “Now I crave alone time; I love it.”

The rapper also revealed he is guarded around the media because he feels like he’s not “a darling in the journalism space.”

He explained, “I feel like everyone in journalism is so sophisticated right now, or journalism is so sophisticated. I’m not a niche artist. I’m out here killing s***. And I’m a white artist in a Black genre. Journalists can never show me too much love.”

Harlow’s December/January issue of British GQ arrives on newsstands November 29.
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