Latest news with #OneThingataTime
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Morgan Wallen's ‘I'm the Problem' Album Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With Year's Biggest Debut
Morgan Wallen's latest studio effort, I'm the Problem, debuts atop the Billboard 200 chart (dated May 31) with the year's biggest week for any album — 493,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending May 22, according to Luminate. It also easily lands the largest streaming week for any album in 2025. It's the third No. 1 for Wallen on the Billboard 200, following 2023's One Thing at a Time (19 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1) and 2021's Dangerous: The Double Album (10 weeks at No. 1, all consecutive). The latter two titles both debuted at No. 1 and have never left the weekly top 50 of the chart. On the latest chart, One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 4 (making Wallen the only act with two concurrent albums in the weekly top five in 2025), while Dangerous shifts 11-12. More from Billboard Here Are the 2025 American Music Awards Winners (Updating Live) Shakira Falls Onstage During 'Whenever, Wherever' Performance at Montreal Concert Billy Joel's Daughter Alexa Ray Joel Offers Encouraging Words About Dad's Health Diagnosis I'm the Problem was officially announced in mid-March, and was preceded by eight charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 over the past 10 months, all of which reached the top 20 of the ranking, including six top 10s (the most top 10s ever from an album prior to its release). Among them were the No. 1 'Love Somebody,' which debuted atop the list last November, and the album's title track (No. 2 in February). Also in the latest Billboard 200 top 10, Jin notches his highest-charting effort as Echo launches at No. 3. The BTS member previously hit the top 10 as a soloist with Happy (No. 4) in 2024. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 31, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard's website on May 28, one day later than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. on May 26. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Of I'm the Problem's 493,000 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 357,000 (equaling 462.63 million on-demand official streams of the set's 37 tracks; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 133,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 3,000. I'm the Problem is the fifth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2025, of 14 total, to also simultaneously be No. 1 on both Top Album Sales and Top Streaming Albums, following Sleep Token's Even in Arcadia (May 24), Lady Gaga's MAYHEM (March 22), Kendrick Lamar's GNX (Feb. 22) and The Weeknd's Hurry Up Tomorrow (Feb. 15). I'm the Problem captures 2025's biggest week by equivalent album units earned. The last bigger week was the opening frame of Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department over a year ago. It bowed at No. 1 with 2.61 million units on the May 4, 2024-dated chart. With 357,000 SEA units equaling 462.63 million on-demand official streams of I'm the Problem's 37 tracks, the set logs the largest streaming week of 2025 for any album, and the biggest since The Tortured Poets Department's first week, which snared 891.37 million. I'm the Problem also tallies the second-biggest streaming week ever for any country album, trailing only the opening week of Wallen's last album, One Thing at a Time, which bowed with 498.28 million clicks. Meanwhile, with 133,000 copies sold in its first week, I'm the Problem captures Wallen's biggest sales week ever, the biggest sales week for any country album in 2025 and the fourth-largest sales frame in 2025 among all albums. The last country set to post a bigger sales week was Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter, when it debuted with 168,000 sold (April 13, 2024-dated chart). I'm the Problem's sales were helped by its availability on vinyl in its first week. Wallen's last album, One Thing at a Time, didn't get its vinyl release until its fourth week on sale. During its first week, I'm the Problem was available to purchase across five vinyl variants (standard black vinyl, a 'first pressing' black vinyl, bone white-colored, coke bottle clear-colored [all exclusively sold in Wallen's webstore] and a Target-exclusive opaque brown-color edition with a collectible insert), four CD variants (standard, a deluxe boxed set containing a branded T-shirt, a signed CD and a Target-exclusive edition with a collectible insert) and a standard digital download. All variations of the album had the same 37 tracks. All told, of I'm the Problem's first-week sales, digital downloads comprise 51,000, vinyl comprise 48,000 (Wallen's best week on vinyl ever, and the largest week for a country album in 2025) and CDs comprise 34,000. SZA's chart-topping SOS rises one spot to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200, earning 47,000 equivalent album units — down 8%. Jin nabs his highest-charting effort on the Billboard 200 as Echo arrives at No. 3. It's the second charting solo set for the BTS member, who previously hit the chart with the No. 4-peaking Happy in November 2024. Echo debuts with 43,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 35,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 6,000 (equaling 8.92 million of the album's tracks) and TEA units comprise 2,000. Echo's first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across 13 CD variants (all have the standard seven-song tracklist and contain collectible branded paper ephemera) and five download album variants (a standard wide version, a version exclusive to Jin's webstore containing a bonus voice memo track and three widely available deluxe editions each containing two different remixes of the album's 'Don't Say You Love Me'). Nos. 4-9 on the new Billboard 200 are all former No. 1s. Wallen's One Thing at a Time is steady at No. 4 (42,000 equivalent album units; down 13%); Kendrick Lamar's GNX rises 7-5 (41,000; down 5%); Sleep Token's Even in Arcadia falls 1-6 in its second week (38,000; down 70%); Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet steps 8-7 (just over 37,000; down 6%); PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake's $ome $exy $ongs 4 U drops 5-8 (37,000; down 21%); and Bad Bunny's Debí Tirar Más Fotos climbs 10-9 (nearly 37,000; down 3%). Fuerza Regida's 111XPANTIA closes out the top 10, falling 6-10 with 32,000 equivalent album units earned (down 26%). Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Morgan Wallen's ‘I'm the Problem' & ‘What I Want' With Tate McRae Launch Atop Billboard's Country Charts
Morgan Wallen's 37-song collection I'm the Problem blasts in atop Billboard's Top Country Albums chart (dated May 31), as well as the all-genre Billboard 200. The set (which contains one more track than on his previous LP, 2023's One Thing at a Time) grants the singer-songwriter from Sneedville, Tenn., his fourth and third leader, respectively. In its first week (May 16-22), I'm the Problem earned 493,000 equivalent album units in the United States, according to Luminate — the biggest week by that metric of 2025. More from Billboard Morgan Wallen's 'I'm the Problem' Album Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With Year's Biggest Debut Post Malone Brings Out NBA Legend Allen Iverson for 'White Iverson' Performance in Philadelphia Nicki Minaj Reveals Why She Doesn't Want to 'Rush' Into Her Next Album I'm the Problem (on Big Loud/Mercury/Republic) sold 133,000, marking Wallen's best career sales week, inclusive of a personal-best vinyl sales frame of 48,000. The set's sales were helped by its availability on vinyl across five variants. (One Thing at a Time wasn't released on vinyl until its fourth week on sale.) On the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart, Wallen boasts 37 tracks — the entirety of I'm the Problem — as he breaks his own record for the largest one-week share of the survey, surpassing the 35 that he logged on the March 18, 2023, chart when One Thing at a Time debuted at No. 1 on Top Country Albums and the Billboard 200. 'What I Want,' featuring pop star Tate McRae, Wallen's first collaboration with a female artist, rockets in atop Hot Country Songs, marking his 11th chart-topper and record-extending eighth No. 1 arrival. As for the 21-year-old McRae from Calgary, Alberta, she scores her first Hot Country Songs No. 1 with her rookie entry in the genre. 'What I Want' launches with 31.2 million official U.S. streams, 3.9 million airplay audience impressions and 2,000 sold. As previously reported, the collaboration roars in at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. With five debuts in the Hot County Songs top 10, I'm the Problem has generated 13 top 10s (including three leaders), the most top 10s ever from a single album. Wallen infuses the entire top 10 on the May 31 chart, also a first, besting the nine that he logged on March 18, 2023. Below 'What I Want' (which is being promoted to pop and adult radio), 'Just in Case,' Wallen's current single at country radio, hops 3-2 on Hot Country Songs, rebounding to its best rank. The rest of his top 10 monopoly: 'I'm the Problem' (2-3, following a week at No. 1 in February); 'I Got Better' (No. 4, debut); 'Superman' (No. 5, where it flew in a week earlier); 'Love Somebody' (6-6, after a week at No. 1 last November); 'I Ain't Coming Back,' featuring Post Malone (8-7, after hitting No. 3); '20 Cigarettes' (No. 8, debut); 'Kick Myself' (No. 9, debut); and 'Eyes Are Closed' (No. 10, debut). Wallen ups his career top 10 total on Hot Country Songs to 40. Dating to his first week in the tier, on the chart dated May 12, 2018, with 'Up Down' (featuring Florida Georgia Line), his 40 top 10s are almost twice the amount of runner-up Luke Combs (21 in that span). Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Morgan Wallen is no longer controversial. He's the culture.
In February 2021, Morgan Wallen's future as country music's golden goose was hanging in the balance. First, there were the reports of drunken disorderly conduct during a night out in Nashville. Then, a video of Wallen flouting COVID protocols at a party in 2020 resulted in the postponement of his "Saturday Night Live" debut. But his then-latest incident, in which he was caught using a racial slur on camera, threatened to torpedo his career. As quickly as the industry had lifted him up as the genre's next global star, Wallen was disinvited from awards shows, criticized by peers, blocked from radio play, and suspended by his record label. Country music cable network CMT announced it would scrub his appearances from its platforms, saying Wallen's words and actions were "in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion." Then, something happened: People kept listening anyway. Four years later, Wallen, now 32, is bigger than ever. His 2023 album "One Thing at a Time" spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the longest reign ever for a country album. He went back on "Saturday Night Live," where his latest viral controversy, in which he walked offstage while the cameras were still rolling, garnered him enough defenders to launch a cheeky merch line. (It's now sold out.) His new album, "I'm the Problem," only needed one day to become Spotify's most-streamed country album of 2025. These days, it pays to be the problem. Sonically, there's nothing particularly special about Wallen's brand of stadium country music. His signature Tennessee twang is pleasant enough, but it pales in comparison to the richness of Shaboozey's, for example, or the expressive texture of Chris Stapleton's. The melodies aren't any catchier than the average single by Luke Combs or Florida Georgia Line, and his lyrics are teeming with tropes: the word "whiskey" is sung no fewer than 18 times on "I'm the Problem." In a genre historically obsessed with first-person storytelling and narrative cohesion, Wallen also isn't distinguished by his songwriting: he's not listed as the sole songwriter on any "I'm the Problem" tracks, and on 15 out of 37, he's not credited at all. (Forty-nine other songwriters are credited throughout.) However, a closer look at the album's title track and opener offers insight into a core element of Wallen's appeal. On the taunting kiss-off, addressed to an ex who's equally flawed but can't bear to share the blame, Wallen is equal parts self-loathing and vindictive: "You hate that when you look at me, you halfway see yourself / And it got me thinkin' / If I'm the problem / You might be the reason." These themes are woven into the fabric of Wallen's songs, many of which double as sly implications. He often sings about drunken screw-ups and toxic relationships that paint his friends, lovers, and listeners as co-conspirators, or even instigators. "Don't Think Jesus," his first solo release after returning to the spotlight in 2022, makes this theme explicit: "World likes to rear back and throw a few stones / So boy wants to throw a few stones of his own." In his big hit from last year, the Post Malone duet "I Had Some Help," Wallen reasons, "It ain't like I can make this kinda mess all by myself." John Malanga, a 21-year-old rising senior at James Madison University, said he likes Wallen more than other country stars because he sees him as authentic: the themes of his music align with his unpolished, unapologetic public persona. "He recognizes his flaws and yeah, he's kind of like this young guy who's a little bit of a douchebag sometimes, but that's his character," Malanga said. "It seems like he's really not afraid of that." Devin Selvala, a Boston-based 27-year-old who said she's been in Wallen's top 1% of Spotify listeners for at least three years, agreed. "Nowadays in the music industry, it's easy to be consumed by the machine," Selvala said. "He isn't one that's willing to be shape-shifted and evolved based on how the industry or how 'big music' wants him to be. I think he's very, 'Take me as I am or leave me.'" Still, not everybody has accepted Wallen's career rebound. When Tate McRae was announced as a feature on "I'm the Problem," some of her fans objected based on Wallen's reputation and presumed political views, describing their team-up online as tone-deaf and meme-ing McRae as a MAGA Republican. The Wallen fans I spoke to were well aware of the singer's slur scandal and didn't let it slide, either, calling his language "repulsive" and inexcusable. (Wallen, for his part, said much of the same at the time, instructing his supporters to stop defending him in a video shared online.) But none said the incident ultimately deterred them from enjoying and supporting Wallen's music, especially following his public apology. "I know I've never called anybody the N-word, but I've called people other things and done really crappy things. I think everybody has," Laragh Thooft, a 32-year-old from Iowa, told me. "I would never stop listening to music that I like, or stop watching a movie that I like, because it's somebody doing really dumb and potentially hateful things if they're not seeming to me to be a dumb and hateful person." "If we start doing that," she added, "then we're just gonna have to listen to only AI music." Wallen's relatability is also bolstered by streaming-optimized savvy. His music is extremely popular on TikTok, a platform that rewards broad appeal and repetition to serve users content that echoes what they already know and love. To this end, Wallen and his collaborators are masters at integrating other sounds and genres into his well-worn country formula. His songs bear tones of '70s rock, radio-friendly pop, electronic, and hip-hop, and his duet partners are carefully selected to help legitimize those unions: Hardy ("Come Back as a Redneck"), Tate McRae ("What I Want"), Diplo ("Heartless"), Lil Durk ("Broadway Girls"). Wallen's most high-profile collaborator in recent years, Post Malone, has achieved similar success hopping between rap, pop, and country trends. Wallen also releases a lot of music. Like, a lot. "One Thing at a Time" had 36 songs on its tracklist, just one fewer than "I'm the Problem." Its predecessor, 2021's "Dangerous," was a double album with 32 songs total, including bonus tracks. Much has been written about the "more is more" strategy that excels in the streaming era, and Wallen is far from the only artist to take advantage of it. But he arguably does it better than anyone else. The proof is in the pudding, which is to say, his chart performances. As of Wednesday, tracks from "I'm the Problem" dominated nearly half of Spotify's Top 50 in the US, with four of the top five slots. "We see that the demand is there and we are happy to meet that demand," Wallen said in a press release for the album. In the process, Wallen avoids disappointing any fans who prefer specific flavors in his sound. It's a familiar failsafe — something for everyone — and it suits Wallen's creative process, which he has characterized as relatively directionless. "We just went with our gut. That's what we do a lot of times, we don't necessarily have a plan," he told Rolling Stone of his debut album, "If I Know Me," in 2018. "Hopefully it sounds good." Wallen may not be leading the writing or production of his songs, but there is something to be said for his sonic pliability. Paired with his everyman ease and nonconformist attitude, Wallen is the ideal avatar for an attractive idea — a feeling of freedom, of open roads and judgment-free zones. After all, Wallen was right: He had some help. His record label resumed promoting his music a few months after he apologized for the slur incident in 2021. Last year, he was nominated for male video of the year at the CMT Music Awards and won entertainer of the year at the CMAs. He's hitched a ride on a powerful pendulum, one that's swinging away from DEI initiatives and toward self-styled free thinkers and rebels against social etiquette. Consider "Working Man's Song," a track from Wallen's new album, which echoes recent anti-establishment, anti-elite hits like Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond" and Jason Aldean's "Try That In a Small Town": "I punch the clock, wanna punch a ticket to New York and punch the boss," Wallen sings. Never mind that Wallen's 2023 tour grossed over $300 million, making it the highest-grossing country tour of all time. When he moans about the indignity of 9-to-5 jobs and "underpaid checks," it strikes a nerve. For a lot of Wallen's fans, Selvala theorized, "It's not just the music. It's the embodiment, the aesthetic of everything." "When I think of country music, I think of long drives, being with my friends, feet in the grass, sunny and 75, beers in the cooler," she said. "A lot of amazing memories I have over the years, just like being with people I love, have Morgan playing in the background." "I'm the Problem" concludes as it begins, with a double-edged confession. In the chorus of "I'm A Little Crazy," Wallen casts himself as a "coyote in a field of wolves" — scrappy, perhaps, and proud to stand out, yet no more wild than anyone else. "Yeah, the only thing keeping these tracks on the train," Wallen sings, "Knowing I'm a little crazy, but the world's insane." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Morgan Wallen is back in God's country
In February 2021, Morgan Wallen 's future as country music's golden goose was hanging in the balance. First, there were the reports of drunken disorderly conduct during a night out in Nashville. Then, a video of Wallen flouting COVID protocols at a party in 2020 resulted in the postponement of his "Saturday Night Live" debut. But his then-latest incident, in which he was caught using a racial slur on camera, threatened to torpedo his career. As quickly as the industry had lifted him up as the genre's next global star, Wallen was disinvited from awards shows, criticized by peers, blocked from radio play, and suspended by his record label. Country music cable network CMT announced it would scrub his appearances from its platforms, saying Wallen's words and actions were "in direct opposition to our core values that celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion." Then, something happened: People kept listening anyway. Four years later, Wallen, now 32, is bigger than ever. His 2023 album "One Thing at a Time" spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the longest reign ever for a country album. He went back on "Saturday Night Live," where his latest viral controversy, in which he walked offstage while the cameras were still rolling, garnered him enough defenders to launch a cheeky merch line. (It's now sold out.) His new album, "I'm the Problem," only needed one day to become Spotify's most-streamed country album of 2025. These days, it pays to be the problem. The making and marketing of a modern antihero Sonically, there's nothing particularly special about Wallen's brand of stadium country music. His signature Tennessee twang is pleasant enough, but it pales in comparison to the richness of Shaboozey's, for example, or the expressive texture of Chris Stapleton's. The melodies aren't any catchier than the average single by Luke Combs or Florida Georgia Line, and his lyrics are teeming with tropes: the word "whiskey" is sung no fewer than 18 times on "I'm the Problem." In a genre historically obsessed with first-person storytelling and narrative cohesion, Wallen also isn't distinguished by his songwriting: he's not listed as the sole songwriter on any "I'm the Problem" tracks, and on 15 out of 37, he's not credited at all. (Forty-nine other songwriters are credited throughout.) However, a closer look at the album's title track and opener offers insight into a core element of Wallen's appeal. On the taunting kiss-off, addressed to an ex who's equally flawed but can't bear to share the blame, Wallen is equal parts self-loathing and vindictive: "You hate that when you look at me, you halfway see yourself / And it got me thinkin' / If I'm the problem / You might be the reason." These themes are woven into the fabric of Wallen's songs, many of which double as sly implications. He often sings about drunken screw-ups and toxic relationships that paint his friends, lovers, and listeners as co-conspirators, or even instigators. "Don't Think Jesus," his first solo release after returning to the spotlight in 2022, makes this theme explicit: "World likes to rear back and throw a few stones / So boy wants to throw a few stones of his own." In his big hit from last year, the Post Malone duet "I Had Some Help," Wallen reasons, "It ain't like I can make this kinda mess all by myself." John Malanga, a 21-year-old rising senior at James Madison University, said he likes Wallen more than other country stars because he sees him as authentic: the themes of his music align with his unpolished, unapologetic public persona. "He recognizes his flaws and yeah, he's kind of like this young guy who's a little bit of a douchebag sometimes, but that's his character," Malanga said. "It seems like he's really not afraid of that." Devin Selvala, a Boston-based 27-year-old who said she's been in Wallen's top 1% of Spotify listeners for at least three years, agreed. "Nowadays in the music industry, it's easy to be consumed by the machine," Selvala said. "He isn't one that's willing to be shape-shifted and evolved based on how the industry or how 'big music' wants him to be. I think he's very, 'Take me as I am or leave me.'" Still, not everybody has accepted Wallen's career rebound. When Tate McRae was announced as a feature on "I'm the Problem," some of her fans objected based on Wallen's reputation and presumed political views, describing their team-up online as tone-deaf and meme-ing McRae as a MAGA Republican. The Wallen fans I spoke to were well aware of the singer's slur scandal and didn't let it slide, either, calling his language "repulsive" and inexcusable. (Wallen, for his part, said much of the same at the time, instructing his supporters to stop defending him in a video shared online.) But none said the incident ultimately deterred them from enjoying and supporting Wallen's music, especially following his public apology. "I know I've never called anybody the N-word, but I've called people other things and done really crappy things. I think everybody has," Laragh Thooft, a 32-year-old from Iowa, told me. "I would never stop listening to music that I like, or stop watching a movie that I like, because it's somebody doing really dumb and potentially hateful things if they're not seeming to me to be a dumb and hateful person." "If we start doing that," she added, "then we're just gonna have to listen to only AI music." Wallen doesn't innovate — he resonates Wallen's relatability is also bolstered by streaming-optimized savvy. His music is extremely popular on TikTok, a platform that rewards broad appeal and repetition to serve users content that echoes what they already know and love. To this end, Wallen and his collaborators are masters at integrating other sounds and genres into his well-worn country formula. His songs bear tones of '70s rock, radio-friendly pop, electronic, and hip-hop, and his duet partners are carefully selected to help legitimize those unions: Hardy ("Come Back as a Redneck"), Tate McRae ("What I Want"), Diplo ("Heartless"), Lil Durk ("Broadway Girls"). Wallen's most high-profile collaborator in recent years, Post Malone, has achieved similar success hopping between rap, pop, and country trends. Wallen also releases a lot of music. Like, a lot. "One Thing at a Time" had 36 songs on its tracklist, just one fewer than "I'm the Problem." Its predecessor, 2021's "Dangerous," was a double album with 32 songs total, including bonus tracks. Wallen is the ideal avatar for an attractive idea — a feeling of freedom, of open roads and judgment-free zones. Much has been written about the "more is more" strategy that excels in the streaming era, and Wallen is far from the only artist to take advantage of it. But he arguably does it better than anyone else. The proof is in the pudding, which is to say, his chart performances. As of Wednesday, tracks from "I'm the Problem" dominated nearly half of Spotify's Top 50 in the US, with four of the top five slots. "We see that the demand is there and we are happy to meet that demand," Wallen said in a press release for the album. In the process, Wallen avoids disappointing any fans who prefer specific flavors in his sound. It's a familiar failsafe — something for everyone — and it suits Wallen's creative process, which he has characterized as relatively directionless. "We just went with our gut. That's what we do a lot of times, we don't necessarily have a plan," he told Rolling Stone of his debut album, "If I Know Me," in 2018. "Hopefully it sounds good." Wallen may not be leading the writing or production of his songs, but there is something to be said for his sonic pliability. Paired with his everyman ease and nonconformist attitude, Wallen is the ideal avatar for an attractive idea — a feeling of freedom, of open roads and judgment-free zones. After all, Wallen was right: He had some help. His record label resumed promoting his music a few months after he apologized for the slur incident in 2021. Last year, he was nominated for male video of the year at the CMT Music Awards and won entertainer of the year at the CMAs. He's hitched a ride on a powerful pendulum, one that's swinging away from DEI initiatives and toward self-styled free thinkers and rebels against social etiquette. Consider "Working Man's Song," a track from Wallen's new album, which echoes recent anti-establishment, anti-elite hits like Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond" and Jason Aldean's "Try That In a Small Town": "I punch the clock, wanna punch a ticket to New York and punch the boss," Wallen sings. Never mind that Wallen's 2023 tour grossed over $300 million, making it the highest-grossing country tour of all time. When he moans about the indignity of 9-to-5 jobs and "underpaid checks," it strikes a nerve. For a lot of Wallen's fans, Selvala theorized, "It's not just the music. It's the embodiment, the aesthetic of everything." "When I think of country music, I think of long drives, being with my friends, feet in the grass, sunny and 75, beers in the cooler," she said. "A lot of amazing memories I have over the years, just like being with people I love, have Morgan playing in the background." "I'm the Problem" concludes as it begins, with a double-edged confession. In the chorus of "I'm A Little Crazy," Wallen casts himself as a "coyote in a field of wolves" — scrappy, perhaps, and proud to stand out, yet no more wild than anyone else. "Yeah, the only thing keeping these tracks on the train," Wallen sings, "Knowing I'm a little crazy, but the world's insane."
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Does Morgan Wallen Dominate the Charts But Get Shut Out at Awards Shows?
Over the past four years, when Morgan Wallen releases an album, it has camped out at the top of the Billboard 200 for quite some time. Starting with the 10-week No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album in 2021 and continuing with 19-week chart-topper One Thing at a Time in 2023, Wallen has a pretty unimpeachable commercial track record. This week, he'll release his 37-track fourth studio album, I'm the Problem, and all signs point to another blockbuster. So why didn't the country superstar pick up any new prizes at last week's 2025 ACM Awards, despite seven nominations including for the top prize of entertainer of the year? More from Billboard The 100 Best Country Songs of All Time (Full List): Staff Picks Lady Gaga's Record-Breaking Rio Show Has Us Wondering: Could the U.S. Ever Host a Concert That Big? Inside Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Tour Night 1: She's Every Woman On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith — with a research assist from Billboard awards editor Paul Grein — are talking about why Wallen's awards shelf doesn't seem to match his popularity. Does his seeming dismissal by country voters stem from being caught on camera saying the N-word back in 2021, or to a series of public mishaps in the years since, like when he pleaded guilty to throwing a chair from the roof of a six-story Nashville bar last year? Or maybe it's because he didn't show up when he was named entertainer of the year at the CMA Awards, one of two total prizes he's won there. Listen to the new episode here for the full conversation: Also on the show, we have chart news on Latin music history being made atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, where we have two Spanish-language albums at Nos. 1 and 2 for the first time. Plus, as Kendrick Lamar and SZA's 'Luther' makes it a dozen weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, Lola Young scores her first No. 1 on Pop Airplay with 'Messy.' Plus, we're taking a look at the top 10 of our just-published 100 Best Country Songs staff list. The Billboard is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard's weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard's executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard's managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on or or your favorite podcast provider. ( on Best of Billboard Drake's Historic Chart Week: How He Matched The Beatles' 57-Year-Old Record How Elton John Keeps Up His Hot 100 Hot Streak With Dua Lipa Duet 'Cold Heart' Pink's 'All I Know So Far' Has Us Looking Back at the History of Live Music on the Charts
