Chart Climber: Jack Harlow Goes Big Time With “What’s Poppin”

Jack Harlow has quietly built a solid fanbase over the last few years with projects like Loose and CONFETTI, but in 2020, the Kentucky rapper has skyrocketed to the next level of success thanks to “WHAT’S POPPIN.” The January 2020 single came out of the gate strong and slowly climbed up the Genius and Billboard Hot 100 charts to become his first major hit.

“WHAT’S POPPIN” is produced by Pooh Beatz and ​jetsonmade, the latter of whom is known for his work with the likes of DaBaby, Playboi Carti, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. The song dropped on January 21, as the lead single for Harlow’s March EP Sweet Action. It drew immediate fan interest upon release, peaking with more than 9,000 pageviews the day after its release.

Although Harlow was already popular, “WHAT’S POPPIN” was his first music video to appear on the taste-making Lyrical Lemonade page. It’s directed by Cole Bennett, who has helped boost the careers of Juice WRLD, Lil Skies, Ski Mask the Slump God, and more:

The song has yet to eclipse its post-release one-day high on Genius, but it’s been a consistent performer. “WHAT’S POPPIN” averaged between two and four thousand pageviews per day since its release, and slowly climbed its way up the Hot 100 chart after first entering 20 weeks ago. “WHAT’S POPPIN” got another major boost in late June when Lil Wayne, Tory Lanez, and DaBaby hopped on the remix.

In just over one week, the remix has earned an additional 175,000 pageviews, adding to the 425,000 total of the original. It’s also sparked some debate on Twitter after Wayne claimed Tory Lanez had the best verse. The remix helped “WHAT’S POPPIN” crack the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 this week, jumping 10 spots to No. 8.

As always, TikTok has played a role in the song’s popularity. Over 300,000 videos using the “WHAT’S POPPIN” audio have been uploaded to TikTok, including entries by musicians like Bebe Rexha:

The videos use lyrics from the song’s only verse and chorus, and center around showcasing a “glow up” or proving a stereotype wrong:

Y'all wasn’t tuned in back then
My swag, they keep jackin'
I ain’t doin' no verse, quit askin'
What’s poppin'?

In a recent appearance on Verified, Harlow told Genius that the lyrics were inspired by him feeling like he’s on a different level than his peers.

“Everybody that en vogue and knows what’s going on is definitely about to be on that,” he said. “It’s about to happen on a mad scale because the sh-t I’m on no one else is on. Just the sound, the way I’m doing things, so they’re going to start taking that sh-t. I genuinely feel that way.”

Catch up on all the lyrics to Jack Harlow’s “WHAT’S POPPIN” and its star-studded remix on Genius now.