After much anticipation from his viral TikTok clip, Morgan Wallen finally dropped a full-length version of “Broadway Girls” in collaboration with rapper Lil Durk last Friday, December 17, as an early Christmas gift to some of his fans, but as Whiskey Riff called it, it’s quite the head-scratcher for the rest.
Recalling a few months back, Morgan Wallen uploaded a teaser of the song on his TikTok. Set in Jason Aldean’s bar on Broadway in Nashville, the teaser gained traction when people started posting photos and videos of them hanging out in Music City with the clip playing in the background. And soon enough, it blew up. But while some vibed with it, a lot of his fans weren’t really impressed with its direction basically because it was way more hip-hop flavored rather than country. In fact, some even said that the track didn’t sound remotely country at all.
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An ode to untrustworthy women, this cross-genre collaboration was a mix of country’s twangy tune and hip-hop’s stripped-down trap beats and double-time rhymes. Wallen opened the first verse drawling, carried the hook, and then dipped into a chorus on how to avoid tripping up in love. Lil Durk then followed with his quick-time rhymes on the second verse extending the theme. It’s a beat-heavy mix that some fans likened to Post Malone’s brand rather than Wallen’s.
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But one thing that fans and the general audience found unexpected more than the so-called out-of-brand song for the country singer was the collaboration itself: a white country artist teaming up with a Black rapper from Chicago.
We have all seen the headlines: Morgan Wallen canceled by the industry after a video of him saying a racial slur during a drunken party with friends got leaked. His music got pulled from radio stations and other streaming platforms, his invites to award shows were canceled, and on top of it all, he was suspended by his label. And it seems like this invite for a collab was the ‘apology accepted’ ticket for Wallen.
Though even with attempts of corporate America to really cancel him, he remained a strong figure in the genre. And in less than a year, he was able to slowly bounce back with his song “Sand In My Boots,” which returned to the Top 10 Hot Country Songs chart just as he dropped his new song. Now, it looks like we’ll be seeing more of Wallen not only on TikTok but also on stage as he goes back on tour next year.
Listen to “Broadway Girls” below.
