BigXthaPlug just committed the one sin no Texan should ever dare. He admits he doesn’t know who George Strait or Willie Nelson is.
The Dallas-born rapper has been making headlines for his new country-inspired record I Hope You’re Happy. It ropes in some of the biggest names in the genre. Ella Langley, Bailey Zimmerman, Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, and even Darius Rucker show up on the project. His duet with Zimmerman, “All The Way,” already topped country radio and cracked the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. On paper, it is a major crossover success. In practice, though, the whole thing feels about as authentic as a cowboy hat bought at Target.
BigX’s story has been positioned as redemption. He has spoken about how time in solitary confinement during a jail stint at 20 years old left him broken, and how he turned to writing and music to find a way out. That background has been spun into the kind of narrative Nashville execs salivate over. Raw pain turned into art, polished just enough to fit radio formats. But redemption stories do not excuse ignorance. Especially not when that ignorance comes with shrugging off the two men who basically built the Texas sound he is now trying to cash in on.
In a recent interview, BigX was asked to choose between George Strait and Willie Nelson. His response? “George Strait. I’m not gonna act like I know who either one of those people are, but I’ve heard George Strait a lot more than I’ve heard the other guy.”
The other guy. That is how he referred to Willie Nelson, the Red-Headed Stranger, the outlaw who rewrote country music and made Texas a capital of storytelling. As for Strait, the King of Country himself, the man who turned dance halls into cathedrals? BigX basically admitted he had heard the name floating around more often, and that was enough to make his pick. That is not a choice. It is a confession.
@billboard @BigXthaPlug plays This or That: Texas Edition with Billboard 🤘 #bigxthaplug #texas #houston #hiphop #rap
♬ hip hop beat with bass(1325081) – Beats by METCHFor You
It is one thing for a pop artist like Beyoncé to step into country lanes but still tip her hat to pioneers like Linda Martell. It is another thing entirely for a Texas-born rapper to release a “country” record and admit he doesn’t know the bedrock of the music. Fans online weren’t shocked. Furious, maybe, but not shocked. Everyone can smell what this is. An industry move. Country is hot right now, and attaching a couple of banjos to rap beats is a fast track to streams. Authenticity doesn’t matter when crossover clout is the prize.
Of course, defenders will say the man is just being honest, and that being from Texas doesn’t automatically mean Strait and Nelson have to live in your playlist. But if you grew up anywhere near Dallas, you couldn’t walk into a bar, a grocery store, or even a gas station without hearing their voices blasting out of a speaker. Pretending otherwise feels less like honesty and more like arrogance. Like walking into a barbecue joint and saying you’ve never heard of brisket.
What stings most isn’t just BigX’s blind spot. It is the way the industry embraces it. Rolling Stone and other outlets have been quick to crown him as “where country is now.” That is insulting to every Texas troubadour grinding in honky-tonks, every songwriter chasing truth in a world of trends, every fan who still cranks up “Amarillo by Morning” and feels it in their bones.
BigX might believe genres are just paint colors on an artist’s palette, but country is not a color you splash on to sell records. It is a heritage. A way of life. And if you don’t even know Willie and the King, you have already told us all we need to know.
Here is the truth. Country music doesn’t need BigXthaPlug. But BigXthaPlug sure needs country music. And right now, he looks like a man trying to two-step in sneakers.
