Nail Tech

Album: Come Home the Kids Miss You (2022)
Charted: 55 18
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This braggadocio track is Jack Harlow's first of 2022. The previous two years have been good to him, with a stream of hit singles; he can now afford the finer things in life. He boasts here about his expensive chains setting off the TSA metal detectors, and being the king of his hometown, while taking shots at those who doubted him.

    Harlow is also not short of female company; he warns them he likes down-to-earth girls, so don't be stuck up.
  • The song title comes from the opening two lines where Harlow tells his nail tech the secret behind his accomplishments: "I don't wish for my success, I speak it."
  • Seven different producers cooked up the horn-heavy beat: Jahaan Sweet, NOVA CANYON, Boi-1da, Coleman, Angel "BabeTruth" Lopez, Rogét Chahayed and Fierce. Harlow saw its potential as soon as Boi-1da played him the instrumentation in the studio. "Those horns have something epic about them, but as soon as those kicks come in..." he told Apple Music.

    So Harlow stepped into the booth and came up with a verse of bravado-heavy lyrics.

    A little while later, he played a bunch of his latest music to his label head honcho Don Cannon. At the very end, he played him the "Nail Tech" verse, which Cannon really liked. He told Harlow to finish the song off.
  • The video finds Harlow touching down in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. We see him:

    Walking with Yung Miami from City Girls into an upscale nail salon
    Riding in a car with his sneakers hanging out of the window
    Playing football with some women
    Delivering a Steve Jobs-like presentation for a lady's sex toy

    Louisville personality C-Tez also makes a cameo in the boxing ring.
  • Jack Harlow considers this his least favorite track on Come Home the Kids Miss You as he prefers his more moody and lyrically substantive cuts. "But I know the effect it's gonna have on people," he told Rolling Stone. "I'm spitting, and there's energy behind the beat... I have different tastes."

Comments: 1

  • Jakem from MexicoHelp needed...
    What does he mean when he sings "I don't take L's, I give 'em out and I chuck 'em up"?
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Album Cover Inspirations

Album Cover InspirationsSong Writing

Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"