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Joining the chorus of artists including Sheryl Crow and Margo Price who are criticizing Jason Aldean’s new song and video, “Try That in a Small Town,” is Adeem the Artist, a non-binary artist who has released albums including 2021’s Cast Iron Pansexual and 2022’s White Trash Revelry, which landed on many year-end best-of lists.
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On Twitter, Adeem the Artist posted a video of a scathing song that parodies Aldean’s “Small Town,” bringing into the open an interpretation of the song that many on social media believe as “Small Town,” using coded language connected with sundown towns — neighborhoods that practice racial segregation, by excluding non-white persons via violence or intimidation.
They captioned the video, “Alright I caved to my record label and did a cover of the new Jason Aldean song. Please share it around and enjoy! I love COUNTRY MUSIC! and how inclusive it is.”
The video opens with Adeem the Artist stating, “I’m gonna level with you here. I don’t agree with the politics of Jason Aldean in any way, but I gotta call from the record execs this morning and they said he’s trending really well and if we want to see some higher impressions and some retweets, stuff like that, we really should do a cover of a Jason Aldean song. I thought, ‘Well, impressions is what I care about most, so let’s do this! So please share away. This is Jason Aldean’s new hit, it’s called ‘Sundown Town.’”
The song snippet is infused with lyrics about people who “never got a godd**n COVID test,” and depicts a town where “we got no protestors/ civil unrest…and we root for the cops to stop people like you.”
The song also takes a shot at country singers who don’t write their own songs, with the lyrics, “Even though I didn’t write this sh*t I’m singing about/ I just read the words and say ‘Yeah that one is good…’” before deadpanning, “…as long as it implies a gown and a hood.’”
Adeem the Artist is nominated for emerging act of the year at the upcoming Americana Music Honors & Awards ceremony in September.
As the controversy continues to swirl around “Try That in a Small Town,” viewership for the song’s video has surged, reaching nearly 6 million views on YouTube and rising to No. 1 on YouTube’s music trending page. Over the past day, the song has also risen to No. 1 on the overall iTunes US top songs chart.
Jason Aldean has continued to take heat over “Try That in a Small Town,” a track some have deemed a pro-gun, pro-violence, “modern lynching” song.” Aldean has vehemently denied those depictions of the tune that challenges those who would “pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” or “cuss out a cop” to, as the title suggests, try those actions in a small town to “see how far ya make it down the road.” The fall-out from the song released in May, and its even-more controversial new video, however, continued to rage on Wednesday night.
CNN’s Caitlin Collins spoke with Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones — who earlier this year was expelled, then re-instated to the House after leading a gun control protest on the House floor following a school mass shooting in which three children and three adults were killed — who had some unequivocal thoughts on the song.
“As a Tennessee lawmaker, as a youngest black lawmaker in our state, I felt like we had an obligation and a duty to condemn this heinous vile racist song that is really about harkening back to days past,” said Jones, 27. The lawmaker said in his mind it was “no accident” that the video was filmed at the Maury County Courthouse, “where the race riot happened and where as well as the 1927 lynching of a young man who was 18-years-old, Henry Choate, occurred.” Choate was lynched by a mob and hung from the courthouse’s second floor after accusations that he sexually assaulted a white girl; in February 1946, the city that houses the courthouse was the site of a race riot in which two Black men were killed.
Jones said he sees the song as an attempt to normalize “racist, violence, vigilantism and white nationalism,” while “glorifying” a vision of the South that he said the state is trying to move forward from.
The song’s video features footage of an American flag burning, protesters having confrontations with police, looters breaking a display case and thieves robbing a convenience store. Aldean — who in the past has courted controversy by wearing a t-shirt featuring a confederate flag and dressing in blackface as Lil Wayne for Halloween — denied on Tuesday that the song had any ill intent.
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to a comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Alden wrote in his statement. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage- and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.”
CMT pulled the video from its rotation after running it for three days, Billboard confirmed, and while Aldean’s wife, Brittany Aldean, came to his defense — as did labelmate Blanco Brown — stars including Sheryl Crow and Margo Price have spoken out against his choice to perform and release the song.
Collins noted that Aldean didn’t write the song, which Jones said features references that he sees as clearly alluding to lynching. “Those lyrics and the lyric that says see how far you make it down the road? I mean, this is a lynching anthem,” he said. “It’s an anthem that reminds me of the stories of young men like Trayvon Martin, Ralph Yarl… Ahmaud Arbery, who were killed by the white vigilantes. I mean, this song is not about small towns, because if it was about small towns, where was Jason Aldean when the Maury County people are fighting for their clean water?… instead he comes to sing a song that harkens back to the vision, that harkens back to fear of outsiders, this racist violence that led my grandparents to leave the small towns fleeing Jim Crow terrorism.”
Jones further criticized the song for what he said was “racist… violent rhetoric” that he believes normalizes that type of speech. “I was expelled challenging gun violence. This song is about this proliferation of guns in our communities, of violence, of taking things into our own hands,” Jones said. “We feel threatened by people because they’re different than us. I mean, this is shameful, and we must condemn it.”
He also noted that Maury County, TN, where the video was filmed, was the site of an incident last week where the KKK left racist recruitment flyers in front of Black churches. “This song is about promoting violence, normalizing violence, particularly white vigilante violence,” Jones said. “And Jason Aldean should be ashamed of himself for promoting the song that seeks our darkest history instead of our better angels in this nation.”
TMZ reported on Thursday (July 20) that Gloria Sweet-Love, the president of the Tennessee chapter of the NAACP, also strongly condemned the song and video, echoing Jones’ assertion that it “clearly” promotes racism and violence.
Watch Jones on CNN below.
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Jason Aldean is taking heat following the release of the music video for his song “Try That in a Small Town,” and now, his BBR Music Group labelmate Blanco Brown is coming to his defense.
“Aldeans Stream [sic] Are Gonna Go Through The Roof…I hate the words to that song but I don’t believe he’s a racist,one of the first to check on me in my time of need!” Brown tweeted on Thursday (July 20), referring to how the embattled country singer reached out to him after “The Git Up” singer was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2020. “Just bad song writing.”
Though Aldean recorded “Try That in a Small Town,” he’s not a writer on the song. The track was penned by Neil Thrasher, Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy and Kelley Lovelace.
The video for “Try That in a Small Town” features footage of carjackings, cars burning and protesters taunting military personnel, but Aldean’s performance footage was filmed in front of the Columbia, Tenn., courthouse that was the site of a lynching in 1927. The video’s imagery, in addition to the song’s lyrics — which some have interpreted as promoting violence and racism — sparked backlash from music listeners, music critics and artists including Sheryl Crow and Margo Price.
On July 18, Billboard broke the news that the video for “Try That in a Small Town” had been pulled from CMT’s music video rotation.
Chaz Molder, the mayor of Columbia, Tenn., previously spoke out about the usage of the courthouse for the video, telling Fox 17 News, “I respect the artist’s freedom of his own lyrics and the fans who support him, but I’m hopeful that the next music video that uses our historic downtown as a backdrop will seek a more positive message. Maybe Eric or Luke or Carrie or Dolly will be next to record a video on our small town — and they can highlight peace, love and all the things that are great about Columbia, Tenn.”
Brown’s prediction that Aldean’s streams will skyrocket could prove prescient. Since the controversy erupted, “Try That in a Small Town” has risen to No. 1 on iTunes’ U.S. Songs chart.
See Brown’s tweet below:
Aldeans Stream Are Gonna Go Through The Roof… I hate the words to that song but I don’t believe he’s a racist,one of the first to check on me in my time of need! Just bad song writing…. 💎— BlancoTheEar (@blancobrown) July 20, 2023
Amid the ongoing debate and controversy surrounding Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” the mayor of the “small town” the music video was filmed in has spoken out.
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Mayor Chaz Molder of Columbia, Tenn., said that he respects Aldean’s “freedom of his own lyrics,” but also hopes the next music video filmed in his town will “seek a more positive message,” according to local news station FOX 17.
“Like many small towns across America, Columbia, Tennessee is focused on bringing people together,” he told the station. “I hadn’t listened to the song prior to today, but I’ve now seen the video.”
On Tuesday (July 18), the country singer responded to recent claims that “Try That in a Small Town” is pro-gun, pro-violence and a “modern lynching song.” The song challenges those who “pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” or “cuss out a cop” to, as the title suggests, try those actions in a small town and “see how far ya make it down the road.” The song’s video features footage of an American flag burning, protesters having confrontations with police, looters breaking a display case and thieves robbing a convenience store.
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to a comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Jason wrote in his statement. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage- and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.”
CMT has since pulled the video from its rotation after running it for three days, Billboard confirmed, while Aldean’s wife, Brittany Aldean, came to his defense. On the other hand, stars like Sheryl Crow and Margo Price have spoken out against Jason Aldean’s choice to perform and release the song.
As debate and controversy surrounding Jason Aldean‘s new song (and video), “Try That in a Small Town” continues, former president Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has chimed in.
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On July 18, Billboard broke the news that CMT had pulled the video from its rotation. A day later, Trump Jr. addressed his 10 million Twitter followers, asking, “How on earth is this video controversial? Why would @cmt take it down? Support @jasonaldean and other artists who have the guts to tell the truth…watch it, download it and push back against the bs.”
The video for the song, which was directed by Shaun Silva and features Aldean performing in front of an American flag-draped Maury County courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, also features footage of carjackings, cars and American flags being set on fire, and protesters taunting police.
The song itself, which was written by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy, offers up a confrontation to those who would “carjack an old lady at a red light” or “pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” or “cuss out a cop.” The song challenges them to “try that in a small town” and “see how far ya make it down the road/ Around here, we take care of our own.”
Sheryl Crow and Margo Price have also previously spoken out. Crow addressed Aldean on Twitter, saying, “I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence. There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting,” she added, referring to Aldean being onstage during the Route 91 Harvest Festival in 2017 when a gunman began firing upon the crowd and stage, causing the deaths of over 60 people.
Aldean himself responded to the controversy surrounding his video and song, slamming his detractors, who have accused the song and video of being racist and anti-BLM protests.
“In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to a comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Aldean said. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage- and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.
“As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.
“‘Try That In A Small Town,’ for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences. My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.”
The notion of chasing creative ambitions across the country, from small towns to music industry meccas, is far from novel for Parkland, Florida native Ashley Cooke. Due to her father’s corporate job, Cooke’s family moved around frequently, living in 19 homes before Cooke was 18. At one point, her family relocated to Los Angeles when Cooke was a child, to support her older sister Jenn’s ambitions as an actress.
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“She loved acting and pageantry and all of that. I was kind of dragged along, the little sister,” Cooke says with a laugh. “I grew up as a tomboy who loved playing sports and was nowhere near interested in being in the spotlight. But being in that environment, I fell in love with the poetry behind songwriting and performing. “ At one point, the sisters performed together, but Cooke’s passion for music soon led her to make her own leap of faith as a solo artist.
She moved to Nashville and enrolled at Nashville’s Belmont University as a corporate communications major. Her first breakthrough came when she won Belmont’s country music showcase in 2019 (the same showcase series that had become a career launcher for Brad Paisley, Kassi Ashton and Florida Georgia Line). In addition to offering a pair of original songs, she covered the Maren Morris/Zedd/Grey collaboration “The Middle.” (Also competing in that same showcase was Monument Records sister duo Tigirlily Gold).
As with many of today’s newcomers, Cooke first caught the industry’s attention with a viral TikTok moment, via her song “Never ‘Til Now” — which she parlayed into a collaboration with country hitmaker Brett Young. Now, Cooke is gearing up to release her debut album, Shot in the Dark, out Friday on Big Loud Records/Back Blocks.
On the sprawling, 24-song double album, Cooke deftly mixes stories of love, heartbreak and lessons learned along the way, and showcases a range of sonic styles — all underpinned by her powerful but accessible vocals. Highlighting the camaraderie among today’s crop of rising and veteran artists, the album features collabs with Brett Young (“Never ‘Til Now”), Colbie Caillat (‘Mean Girl”), Nate Smith (“See You Around”) and Jackson Dean (“What Are You on Fire About”).
Billboard spoke with Cooke, July’s Country Rookie of the Month, about writing for her debut album, her collaborations, the role of social media in artist development, and the advice she received from Kenny Chesney.
There are 24 songs on your debut album. Why did you choose “Taste Like” to open this project?
It sets a fun tone for the project. I love the initial kind of ghostly whisper that you hear at the beginning of the song. That was a product of the demo. We did a writing retreat with three of my favorite songwriters — Corey Crowder, Jordan Minton and Emily Weisband. We were writing the song and Emily just kind of kept singing that part over and over, and Corey captured her singing that part. I was so obsessed with the way that sounded on the demo, and I thought that would be such a great way to open the album. So we recreated it with my voice on the project.
“The State I’m In” closes the album. Why did that make sense as the final track?
I thought of the album in the same way I would a live show. This song felt like, “Welcome to this era of my music.” With this song, I was driving through somewhere in Ohio or Indiana, touring in the van. It was 1:00 a.m. and I was scrolling Instagram, seeing a bunch of my friends posting about getting married and having babies and just being in that state of life. I just felt how cool it was that we can be in different phases and states and support each other.
So I had the idea because we were in different states, physically and metaphorically. And so that sounds like the perfect album cap, because it felt like the place I’m at. I can be a very indecisive person, but it was like, “No, I know where I’m at — and it’s okay to be totally in love with my career and doing this full-time right now.”
You are a co-writer on nearly every song on the album. One of the few outside cuts is “What Are You On Fire About,” which features Lainey Wilson as a writer on it, alongside Luke Dick and Jason Nix (who is a writer on Wilson’s “Things a Man Oughta Know”).
They played it for me as an outside pitch. It sounded different than what I would write, but it still felt like my voice. I cut it, and Jackson Dean is a good friend of mine. I love his voice and artistry. He asked about the songs that might be on my album, and I told him “What Are You On Fire For?” which his producer [Luke Dick] wrote. He was like, ‘I would love to be a feature on that,’ so we recorded it.
You do have some great collaborations here. What was it like working with Colbie Caillat on “Mean Girl”?
She was such a huge inspiration to me growing up. I used to cover “Bubbly” all the time, and people would say that my voice kind of favors hers, and that was always such a huge compliment. I was really hoping to work with her down the road, and that point came quicker than I realized. It was great, and her voice sounds incredible on the track. It’s such a full-circle moment.
Like a lot of artists these days, your big break came through TikTok. How do you balance those commercial demands with creative demands?
I try to post one video per day. If I make more, great, and if I don’t that’s fine. I used to be a lot more obsessed with getting the perfect video and taking hours to make one video. I realized the ones that did best are the ones I tried the least for. Just make a video, spend 20 or 30 minutes on it, post it and see what happens. It’s tough to be a new artist and be so focused on that, but it is a tool to get your name and music out there.
How did that impact the album-making process?
We went into this album process — my label and I talked about it and decided to just post all of the songs, and see what happens and let fans decide what might go to radio and on playlists. Like another song on the album, “Your Place.” I posted it on social media, and the day it came out, I played a festival in Ohio. I was absolutely mind blown because everyone knew every word to it. It’s really exciting the era that we are in with social media, because of that instant connection you can have with fans.
You are currently on tour with Luke Bryan. What are some of your must-haves on tour?
I love essential oils, throat coat tea, my airpods and some kind of hoodie. I have to have a hoodie on the road, even if it’s 95 degrees out.
Earlier this year, you performed with Kenny Chesney during the Tortuga Music Festival, where you both sang “When the Sun Goes Down“…
It was exciting, it was so crazy. I played my own set earlier in the day, and he saw my performance and invited me to sing with him. He’s just such a kind, humble human being.
Has he given you any career advice?
He said that his first tour was when he was 25, which was the age I was when we played the Tortuga Music Festival. He was like, “Keep your head down, grinding hard, keep working, and enjoy it along the way.” He’s such a hard worker and it shows in all of his success, and I respect how he chooses to mentor other artists. He is just one of those guys who wants to help and wants to mentor.
What drives you, musically?
I grew up listening to artists like Luke Bryan, Rascal Flatts and Ed Sheeran, and I felt so much comfort in the way they wrote about such universal feelings in a specific, unique way. That’s what’s exciting — the chance to take everything that I’ve experienced, and that a lot of other humans have experienced, but spinning it in a way, and making it sound different in a way that hits you right in the chest. That’s what inspires me the most.
Margo Price has joined the conversation surrounding Jason Aldean’s controversial “Try That in a Small Town” video. The “Hands of Time” singer took to Twitter on Wednesday (July 19) to share a photo and a corresponding The Guardian story from 2015, in which Aldean is seen posing among a group of friends at a costume […]
When Joe Nichols earned his first country hit in 2002, he followed it with a post-breakup song, “Brokenheartsville,” wrapped in contradiction.
The protagonist was in a dour period, but still delivered a sarcastic toast to his gold-digger ex, using a hooky, singalong chorus to mask the pain in the lyric. The song’s inherent paradoxes ultimately led to Nichols’ first No. 1.
Now that his 2022 Quartz Hill release, “Good Day for Living,” has returned him to the top 20 for the first time in nine years, Nichols is in career-reboot mode — and this follow-up single, “Brokenhearted,” is even more contrary than its 2002 predecessor.
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“It’s filled with all kinds of irony,” he says. “It’s not lost on me that it’s a party song complaining about party songs. And for ‘Brokenhearted’ to be the title line, you know — here I am, a guy with the song ‘Brokenheartsville.’ That kind of title is made for me. It makes it seem like I was made to say it.”
Appropriately, “Brokenhearted” traversed a broken path before it finally found Nichols. Rhett Akins (“What’s Your Country Song,” “Honey Bee”), Marv Green (“I Called Mama,” “Amazed”) and J.T Harding (“Beers and Sunshine,” “Different for Girls”) wrote “Brokenhearted” circa 2018 at Green’s office at THiS Music, which has since been shut down when founder/president Rusty Gaston moved to Sony Music Publishing. Harding arrived with a set of downtrodden potential titles, all of them a direct contrast to his energetic, colorful personality.
“Writing with Marv Green and Rhett Akins is not something I ever take for granted, so I came prepared,” says Harding. “I came in with some titles — and you know, I like to say my heart’s been broken more than the ice cream machine at the local McDonald’s. So I always have titles: ‘All My Future Exes Live in Texas,’ or something like that.”
The ideas weren’t necessarily clicking, but Akins was amused by their consistency, especially given the tone of the current country format. “I just made a joke, like, ‘You can’t be sad in country music these days, because every song is happy and everybody’s partying,’ ” Akins recalls. “It was totally tongue-in-cheek and a joke. And then we said, ‘Hey, let’s write it.’”
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Green hit a chord on the guitar, Akins sang a line that became a key part of the chorus, and they dived into a barroom celebration centered on a protagonist who can’t find a country song that fits his dismal mood. Never mind that country music is — or was, a few decades back — the genre people could count on to commiserate in self-pity.
“This was no way in the form or fashion of a ‘Murder on Music Row,’” says Green, alluding to an Alan Jackson/George Strait classic that lamented the loss of traditional country. “This was more like ‘Where’s a sad guy got to go to hear a sad song?’ But at the same time, he’s smiling about it.”
“Brokenhearted” employs a semi-convoluted structure, appropriate given the consternation of the first-person character. It starts with the chorus — actually, with the back third of the chorus — instead of a verse, then segues into the full chorus before the first verse finally arrives 53 seconds into the track. In fact, it’s the only verse in the song. Following another round of the “Brokenhearted” chorus, it slides into an instrumental solo, leading to a bridge that sounds a little like a verse before one final presentation of its rather lengthy chorus.
“When you start with a chorus, it changes the structure of a song,” Akins notes. “You can wind up with four choruses if you’re not careful. You have to do something different in the middle.”
But even its opening was different. “Brokenhearted” starts with an a cappella cold vocal, particularly odd given that Akins spent part of the session churning out classic guitar riffs.
“Rhett Akins is literally a jukebox in cowboy boots,” Harding says. “He was playing every ’80s rock riff you can imagine. I couldn’t stump him — Van Halen, Mötley Crüe — but he kind of does it without laughing or saying anything, which makes me laugh, because he’s in a trance playing all these really great, iconic guitar riffs. I just remember all of this music and inspiration swirling around the room at the same time we’re writing this song, ‘Brokenhearted.’ ”
William Michael Morgan recorded a version in 2018, but it didn’t see much action, and Gaston continued to shop the party-flavored demo, featuring Akins on vocals. Midland and Tim McGraw both showed interest but never got versions into the marketplace. Meanwhile, former BBR Music Group founder Benny Brown formed Quartz Hill in 2020, recruiting Nichols to the label. He thought “Brokenhearted” was suited for the artist, who agreed.
“They sent me the Rhett Akins demo,” Nichols says. “I didn’t know anybody else cut it, and it’s normally like this. I don’t really know anything about [its history] until it’s on an album and somebody will be reviewing the album and tell me about it.”
Producers Mickey Jack Cones (Dustin Lynch, Jameson Rodgers) and Derek George (Randy Houser, Chase Bryant) ran a tracking session on Jan. 29, 2021, cutting it first after a lunch break to get the musicians’ adrenaline going. They toyed with an opening instrumental riff, but ultimately started the performance cold, mirroring the demo. In fact, they followed the demo rather closely.
“What made this song quirky and fun and a little more like a barroom is the fact that the structure wasn’t the same as every other song that’s out there,” says Cones. “So we did explore changing it up, just because it felt a little left-footed. But we realized the left-footedness of the track is what made it feel real and right.”
Drummer Jerry Roe played a major role in the song’s attitude with a fierce backbeat. It got a temporary percussive enhancement during the solo section — half-electric guitar, half-Scotty Sanders’ steel — with a computerized tambourine playing triplets underneath. Cones, George and Wes Hightower supplied tight harmonies later, though label deadlines limited Nichols’ ability to fully explore the lead vocal. He felt that he could better, but ran out of time and assented to the track with a promise that if they singled it, he could redo the vocal.
Sure enough, when it was teed up for radio, Nichols reminded Quartz Hill that he wanted another go at it — though once again, the deadline was tight. Cones wasn’t available to fly to Nichols’ Texas home to oversee the vocals, so he got Nichols to sing multiple versions, then compiled the best parts into a more aggressive performance than the original. Nichols dropped an unnecessary word here and there, altered his melodic approach to the end of a few lines and generally applied more swagger.
“It definitely made it better,” Cones says. “Especially when it’s going to be the single, and it’s going to be at radio, you want it to be as best as it can be.”
Quartz Hill issued “Brokenhearted” to country radio via PlayMPE on May 22, adding to the flood of upbeat country songs that it satirizes. “And I’ve written a lot of songs that it’s satirizing,” Akins says with a laugh.
Not that heartache and ballads are entirely removed from country. “We do have Apple and Spotify and whatnot,” says Green. “If that’s what you need, you can get there.”
In the meantime, “Brokenhearted” has the potential to provide timely balance for the format with a solidly country song, even if it’s not the tear-jerker that its name implies.
“It says out loud,” Nichols notes, “what a lot of people have said under their breath a little bit — which is ‘Let’s play some country music, man.’ Not too many guys left that are willing to do country music.”
“Need a Favor” hitmaker Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie, who hosts the popular podcast Dumb Blonde, recently made a wish come true for a woman battling stage four cancer.
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The James Bess Foundation, a nonprofit that grants a last wish to adults battling terminal illnesses, shared a video of Nashville resident Suzanne Durham, in which Durham explains that she is battling cancer and her dying wish would be to meet Jelly Roll. Durham is a former Nashville house manager for women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.
Jelly Roll and Bunnie are known for their devotion to fans, and this was no exception. On Wednesday (July 19), The James Bess Foundation posted another video, this time of Jelly Roll and Bunnie visiting with Durham.
The video later shows Jelly Roll leading Durham and a crowd of her friends in a singalong of songs including The Eagles’ “Take It Easy” and Alan Jackson’s classic “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow.” Other videos from the event show Jelly Roll leading the audience in some of his own songs including “Creature.”
Bunnie later posted a video talking about how the meeting with Durham impacted her.
“As soon as we saw her video that was the first thing we wanted to do, was definitely make this lady’s wish come true. When I tell you it was chicken soup for the soul and everything I needed at that moment, God really works in mysterious ways, because just seeing this woman that has been given, I believe, five months to live, who has spent her entire life trying to help other people…that’s what life is all about.”
She continued, “We never know when our last breath on earth is here. If you want to waste your time spreading toxicity and dwelling on things that don’t f–king matter and don’t inspire people, I would much rather inspire people than impress people. I want to leave here with people being like, ‘Dude. She touched my life. She helped me out of a dark spot.’ That’s what I want to do. And that’s what I live for. I don’t care what anybody has to say about me. If they like me, if they don’t like me, cool. Don’t care. Cause you know what? If Suzanne was given five months to live and she chose to live her last five months inspiring people, that alone is enough motivation for me to want to do the same.”
Taylor Swift nets 22 songs on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart dated July 22, breaking her own record in the process.
With 22 appearances, Swift sets a new mark for the most songs on the survey at once by a woman since its 2013 inception, surpassing the 20 she achieved on the Nov. 5, 2022, ranking upon the release of her album Midnights.
This time, it’s her LP Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) that makes up the bulk of the songs, with 20 of the 22 from the new release. Leading the way is “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault),” which bows at No. 2 with 24.7 million official U.S. streams in the week ending July 13, according to Luminate.
The other two Swift tunes on Streaming Songs are Lover’s “Cruel Summer” (No. 10, 15.4 million streams) and Midnights’ “Anti-Hero” (No. 44, 10 million streams).
In all, Swift occupies six of the chart’s top 10. The next largest after “I Can See You,” “Mine (Taylor’s Version),” appears at No. 6 with 16.2 million streams. (Swift is one of two acts to hold down the entire top 10, having done so on the aforementioned Nov. 5, 2022, list. Drake has accomplished the feat twice: Nov. 19, 2022, and Sept. 18, 2021.)
Those five new top 10s (as “Cruel Summer” had previously reached the top 10) breaks Swift out of a tie with Lil Baby for the second-most top 10s in the chart’s history, now boasting 39. Drake leads all acts with 85 top 10s.
Most Top 10s, Streaming Songs
85, Drake
39, Taylor Swift
34, Lil Baby
29, The Weeknd
26, 21 Savage
25, Future
24, Kanye West
23, J. Cole
23, Justin Bieber
23, Post Malone
Only three times has an artist netted more than 22 songs on Streaming Songs at once. Morgan Wallen holds the all-time record, set earlier this year, with 30 (March 18), followed by Drake (28; July 14, 2018) and Bad Bunny (23; May 21, 2022).
Concurrently, as previously reported, “I Can See You” leads the crop of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) songs on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, bowing at No. 5. And on the Billboard 200, the album starts at No. 1 with 716,000 equivalent album units earned.