Jack Harlow didn't just release a song when he dropped First Class; he basically hijacked the summer of 2022. It’s wild to think about. One minute he’s a rising rapper with a catchy verse on a Lil Nas X track, and the next, he’s standing on the shoulders of Fergie, dominating the Billboard Hot 100. People were obsessed. It was everywhere.
The strategy was simple but kind of brilliant. He teased a snippet on TikTok, let the internet do its thing, and watched the hype boil over. But there's a lot more to the story than just a lucky sample and a viral clip. It was a calculated move that shifted the trajectory of his career and changed how we think about "nostalgia bait" in modern hip-hop.
Why First Class worked when other samples failed
Most artists try to flip a classic and end up ruining it. It happens all the time. They take a beat everyone loves, add some generic drums, and hope for the best. Usually, it feels cheap. First Class felt different because it treated the source material—Fergie’s 2006 hit Glamorous—as a partner rather than just a background track.
The song relies heavily on that "G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S" spelling. It’s iconic. By keeping that vocal hook front and center, Harlow tapped into the collective memory of Gen Z and Millennials simultaneously. Gen Z loved the vibe; Millennials remembered dancing to the original at their middle school mixers. It’s a double-whammy of demographic targeting that most marketing teams would kill for.
Honestly, the production by Rogét Chahayed, BabeTruth, Charlie Handsome, Jasper Harris, and Harlow himself is incredibly sparse. It’s not overproduced. There’s a lot of "air" in the track, which lets Jack’s whispery, confident flow take the lead. He isn’t shouting. He’s leaning in and telling you about his life.
The TikTok "Snippets" that changed the game
We have to talk about the rollout. If you were on TikTok in April 2022, you couldn’t escape those first few bars. Harlow posted a video of himself in the studio, vibing to the "I can put you in First Class" line. That was it. Just a few seconds.
It went nuclear.
Before the song was even out, there were thousands of videos using the sound. People were literally begging for the release. This is what the industry now calls "snippet culture." You don't drop a lead single anymore; you drop a teaser and wait for the demand to reach a fever pitch. By the time First Class actually hit streaming platforms, it was already a guaranteed number one. It debuted at the top of the Hot 100, becoming the first hip-hop song of 2022 to do so. That’s huge. It wasn’t just a hit; it was an event.
Breaking down the Fergie connection
Fergie actually loved it. That’s the thing—sometimes legends get protective of their work. Not Fergie. She even joined him on stage at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. Seeing them together was a "full circle" moment for pop culture.
The sample itself comes from Glamorous, which was produced by Polow da Don and featured Ludacris. That original track was a commentary on the high life, and Harlow basically updated that narrative for the current era. He’s talking about flying private, sure, but he’s also talking about his rise to fame in a way that feels surprisingly grounded for a guy wearing $5,000 suits.
The lyrics: Confidence or just clever wordplay?
Some critics weren't fans. They called the lyrics simple. "I been a G, throw up the L, AMOROUS." It’s literally just him finishing the spelling of the sample.
But simplicity is often where the genius lies.
The song isn't trying to be To Pimp a Butterfly. It’s a vibe. It’s a club record. It’s a "getting ready to go out" record. When he says, "I'm a G, A-D, D-I-C-T-E-D to money," he's leaning into the playfulness of the original Glamorous structure. It’s meta. He knows you know what he’s doing.
- He mentions "Sweet, sweet, sweet semi-fructose," a nod to the "Sweet, sweet" backing vocals in the original.
- He references his hometown of Louisville, keeping his identity intact while playing on a global stage.
- The "Pineapple juice" line became an instant meme, for better or worse.
A shift in Jack Harlow's brand
Before First Class, Jack was the "What's Poppin" guy. He was the funny, curly-haired rapper who could really spit but maybe lacked a certain "superstar" polish. This song changed that. He leaned into the heartthrob persona. The music video featured Anitta, further cementing his status as a global player.
It was a pivot. He moved from the "talented newcomer" to the "A-list celebrity." You can see it in his fashion choices during that era—lots of Givenchy and sleek tailoring. He was dressing for the "First Class" lifestyle he was rapping about.
Why the song stayed on the charts
Longevity is hard. Most TikTok hits vanish after three weeks because the "hook" is the only good part. First Class had legs. It stayed in the Top 10 for months.
Why? Because it’s a high-quality recording. Even if you strip away the hype, the bass hits right in a car. The mixing is pristine. It’s a "safe" song for radio, which means it got played in grocery stores, at weddings, and on Top 40 stations every hour on the hour. It’s rare to find a song that works in a dark club and a suburban Starbucks simultaneously.
The backlash and the "Industry Plant" conversation
Success breeds contempt. As First Class climbed the charts, the "industry plant" allegations started flying around Twitter. People questioned if his success was organic.
But if you look at his grind, he’d been releasing mixtapes since he was a teenager in Kentucky. He put in the years. The success of this song was less about "industry secrets" and more about a perfect storm of nostalgia, timing, and a really catchy sample. It’s okay to admit a song is just a well-crafted pop-rap record without searching for a conspiracy.
What we can learn from the First Class era
If you're a creator or an artist, this track is a masterclass in audience psychology. It tells us that people crave the familiar. We want something new, but we want it to feel like something we’ve loved before.
Harlow didn't invent the wheel. He just put new rims on a classic car.
The song also proved that the "album era" isn't dead, but the "moment era" is winning. Come Home the Kids Miss You, the album this song is on, had mixed reviews, but it didn't matter. First Class was the moment. It carried the entire project.
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How to actually appreciate the track today
If you haven't listened to it in a while, go back and pay attention to the percussion. The way the snap hits on the beat is incredibly satisfying. It’s a lesson in restraint.
First Class remains a snapshot of 2022 culture. It represents the peak of the TikTok-to-Chart pipeline. It also shows that Jack Harlow knows exactly who he is as an entertainer. He’s not trying to be the most lyrical rapper alive; he’s trying to be the one you're still humming three days later.
To get the most out of the "Harlow effect," look at these specific elements:
- Study the sample usage: Check out Fergie's Glamorous and then listen to how the producers chopped the vocals. They didn't just loop it; they integrated it into the lyrical structure.
- Analyze the rollout: Look at his Instagram and TikTok posts from March to April 2022. It’s a blueprint for how to build hype without spending a dime on traditional ads.
- Listen to the "B-sides": While this song was the hit, the rest of the album shows a different, more introspective side of Jack that often gets overlooked by the casual listener.
The song basically became a cultural touchstone. It’s one of those tracks that, ten years from now, will immediately make people think of this specific point in time. Whether you love it or think it’s overrated, you can’t deny its impact. It moved the needle. And in the music business, moving the needle is the only thing that really counts.