Fergie definitely gets these boys moving – young ones included Jack Harlow. On October 6, Harlow co-hosted The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”, revealing useful tidbits about life before he became famous.
The Come Home Kids Miss You singer’s night on the talk show came full circle for him, considering his first career TV appearance was as the musical guest for host Phelan in 2020. From that time they became friends. In fact, Fallon appeared to open Harlow’s performance of “First Class” at the 2022 MTV VMAs alongside Lil Nas X, ChloeSaucy Santana and other “legends,” as the rapper put it.
During Thursday’s interview, the two revisited some of the key moments in the rapper’s career so far, including his wins at the VMAs and A cameo role of Fergie during a performance that night, when “First Class” samples her 2006 hit “Glamorous.”
As it turns out, Fergie has been Harlow’s muse since childhood. “When I was in the fifth grade, there was a talent show. I was trying to do ‘Fergalicious,'” Harlow said. “I think the lyrics are suggestive. It wasn’t something for me. But I didn’t even have time to finish listening. I was halfway through and was cut off. They say, ‘You can’t do that.’ So that’s my rapper origin story.”
After working his way to Harlow’s fame, Fallon once again returned to his guest’s roots. “Is your mom very proud of you?” Phelan asked. Harlow raved about his mom’s unconditional support, also saying that she was never afraid to match her son’s musical experiments. “I would plug in an auxiliary chord [in the car with my mom] and play beats from YouTube. . . and she freestyled with me. We’ve been going back and forth,” Harlow said. When Fallon asked what his mom wanted to freestyle, Harlow said, “Oh, she was dark, man. She was saying things that I can’t even say live.”
When the interview — which also included playing a clip of a young Harlow’s self-made music video from his childhood — ended, Harlow and Phelan took to the audience to answer a few questions, which POPSUGAR was able to see firsthand thanks to backstage access to Dancing seahorse, a Web 3.0 company specializing in unique activations between fans and their favorite artists. Mila, Harlow’s parents were also in the intimate audience at NBC Studios in New York, which saw the star praise his mother.
Watch Harlow’s full interview in the video above.