Jack Harlow says Gazebo Festival is a 'full circle' moment. Here's what else the Louisville rapper had to say

Superstar rapper Jack Harlow can expect more than a few full circle moments as he launches his inaugural two-day music festival in his hometown of Louisville.

This Saturday and Sunday, the globally known rapper will produce and co-headline the Gazebo Festival, which is being held at downtown Louisville's Waterfront Park. This is the same location where in 2017, as a bespectacled, ringlet-haired 18-year-old rapping teenager, Harlow climbed onto the Ocean Stage as one of the first acts of the day during the legendary, and now defunct, Forecastle Festival.

It was a steamy, hot summer day seven years ago and Harlow remembers the highly charged sea of dancing and screaming fans and an important lesson a performer can only learn by living through such an experience.

"Don’t yell into the mic," he told the Courier Journal." It sounds better when you don’t yell."

We can guarantee Harlow won't yell during his Sunday night headlining performance at the Gazebo Festival, but he will give the audience a weekend of unforgettable music in the same spot where he made his Louisville festival debut.

"With 22 years of Waterfront Wednesdays, Thunder Over Louisville, a decade's worth of Forecastle Festivals, there is a long history of local luminaries bringing Waterfront Park to its highest and best use," Holly Weyler, Gazebo Festival spokesperson, said. "There simply isn't a better setting, nestled between the river that built us and the industry that pushes us forward, to experience Louisville culture. We're privileged that Gazebo will be the next evolution of locally-made, tasting-making events in our region's most prized green space."

The 2024 Gazebo Festival features 26 artists on two outdoor stages with Grammy winner SZA headlining Saturday and Harlow rounding out the festival Sunday.

More: When is Gazebo Festival? Here's everything to know about Jack Harlow's two-day music festival

"When you’re from a city that major artists sometimes skip when they’re routing their tour, it’s really significant when they finally come to town," Harlow said.

Here's what else Harlow had to say about the Gazebo Festival, his ever-evolving career, and the importance of giving back to the community that shaped him.

How did Jack Harlow pick the acts for the inaugural Gazebo Festival?

Leading up to each night's headliner, Harlow has personally curated a lineup of artists like Vince Staples, Pinkpantheress, Majid Jordan,Omar Apollo, Veeze, and many others.

"The lineup for Gazebo Festival feels like a chance to express my personal taste, and there are so many full circle aspects to it," Harlow said. "I opened for Vince Staples in 2016 at Headliners in Louisville on my 18th birthday. SZA was my dream headliner pick. She hasn’t performed in Kentucky since she played Mercury Ballroom in 2017. I went to that show. I think there were maybe 900 people. I’m really grateful to have all these artists in town."

Why did Jack Harlow name his music event the Gazebo Festival?

Before Harlow was a household name with multiple chart-topping Billboard Hot 100 songs, Grammy Award nominations, a guest appearance on "Saturday Night Live," Met Gala invitations, and a starring role in the reboot of "White Men Can't Jump," he was a teenage boy with a handi cam filming low-budget music videos behind his neighborhood grocery store, in alleys near his middle school and selling mixtapes.

The title of one of those tapes is the inspiration for the name of this weekend's festival.

"The name of the festival came from my Gazebo mixtape," Harlow said. "That project felt like my first taste of local respect."

Harlow added, "I’ve always been attracted to European imagery and architecture, and there’s something tranquil and pleasant about it that I want to be reflected in the festival experience. We intentionally tried to lean into being more subtle and understated."

Why did Jack Harlow decide to host the Gazebo Festival in Louisville?

You know what they say about respect being a two-way street? That's what has happened between the city of Louisville, Harlow, and his legions of fans.

"Louisville has an authenticity and soul that I’ve been influenced by my whole life," he told the Courier Journal. "People here are humble and principled."

Everyone familiar with his music knows Harlow's admiration for his hometown is sprinkled like easter eggs throughout his lyrics. He raps about physical Louisville locations like Eastern Parkway, Tyler Park, and Churchill Downs. There are also plenty of local people mentioned like Daryl Issacs, Colonel Sanders, and Muhammad Ali.

More: It's official: Jack Harlow has his own Hometown Hero banner in Louisville

On the flip side, Louisville has made the 26-year-old part of its "Hometown Heros" project honoring the city's famous sons and daughters. At the intersection of Broadway and Barret Avenue, an enormous banner of the musician hangs on the side of a multi-story brick building a few miles from Harlow's boyhood home.

What is the Jack Harlow Foundation?

That principled thinking Harlow admires about people in Louisville is also part of this superstar rapper's DNA. In 2023 he launched The Jack Harlow Foundation to serve as a philanthropic vehicle to reinvest, uplift, and support organizations aimed at making his hometown a better place.

"With all I have done and will do in my career, my home is where my heart is, my refuge, and the place that shaped me. Giving back to Louisville represents the dream I have of making a difference," Harlow said previously. "My vision is to make Louisville a better place. Know that this is just the start of my philanthropic legacy and I look forward to transforming our community and, as a result, the success and happiness of its citizens."

Whether that's the financial support of the arts, like a $50K donation to the Louisville Ballet, or providing 1,000 pairs of New Balance shoes to Louisville children and adults in need, since its inception The Jack Harlow Foundation has proven to be thoughtful and generous in its support of the Louisville community.

More: New shoes in Jack Harlow, New Balance collaboration leaked. See what they look like

Why Jack Harlow's first love will always be music

Harlow's rapid ascent to hip hop's top tier gives him less time to hang out in his hometown — to date, he's made three studio albums, performed during NFL halftime shows, and has done numerous commercial productions, musical collaborations, and appeared in film. In fact, on Aug. 12, he's in a new film with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck called "The Instigators" on Apple TV+.

But there will always be time for his ultimate passion. Music brings Harlow joy and is the reason he's hopeful the Gazebo Festival will be a success.

"There's still nothing I love more than making music," Harlow told the Courier Journal. "I’m thoughtful about what I take on beyond that because doing things well requires a lot of attention to detail. I was excited about the creative parts of building this festival, and we spent a lot of time working to get it right."

The 2024 Gazebo Festival is Saturday, May 25, and Sunday, May 26 at Louisville's Waterfront Park at the corners of Witherspoon and Preston Streets. Tickets are available at gazebofest.com.

Reach features reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jack Harlow talks Gazebo Festival, The Instigators movie, career moves