Morgan Wallen debuts album Im the Problem after…
“I guess I’m the problem … If I’m so awful, then why’d you stick around this long?”
So asks Morgan Wallen on “I’m the Problem,” the title-track hit of his fourth studio album, which dropped on Friday.
Clearly, the 32-year-old nation sensation — who has taken the style to the prime of the pop charts in current years — is as problematic as he’s fashionable.
Despite all of his controversies, Morgan Wallen is still the hottest factor in nation music. EB Media
But despite all his transgressions — from a video of him utilizing the N-word in 2021 to hurling a chair off a rooftop bar final 12 months to him abruptly bolting at the finish of “Saturday Night Live” in March — Wallen is still the hottest factor in nation music.
Or, arguably, music period.
Wallen’s followers — of which there are enough to fill stadiums — are sticking around through all of the controversies that would have killed many a profession. Instead, he has racked up three Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits and 10 nation chart-toppers.
Wallen represents a large half of the nation that sees themselves in him — flaws, mullet and all.
“I think Morgan is very much a cultural lightning rod,” Holly Gleason — Nashville editor of Hits magazine – instructed The Post. “It’s the difference between how New York and LA and the flyover [between them] tend to view each other.”
Morgan Wallen has already racked up three pop and 10 nation chart-toppers. EB Media
Instead of getting canceled after his sequence of scandals — which started in 2020 with him being arrested after being kicked out of Kid Rock’s Nashville bar and partying without a masks at the top of COVID — Wallen has only come back stronger.
And greater. His new album is a 37-track opus — that includes visitor appearances by Eric Church (“Number 3 and Number 7”), Tate McRae (“What I Want”) and his “I Had Some Help” accomplice Post Malone (“I Ain’t Comin’ Back”) — that has already spawned 4 hits: “Lies Lies Lies,” “Love Somebody,” “I’m the Problem” and the present single “Just in Case.”
Yet the Sneedville, Tennessee native hasn’t precisely embraced all of the trappings of his superstardom.
“I think Morgan has had one of the strangest relationships with fame,” stated Gleason. “Here is this Southern child. He’s obtained a mullet, chicks dig him. And then all of a sudden, the world crashed in … He’s never been ready to actually settle into the reality that he’s a public determine. Every time he goes out, it’s all eyes on him.
Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” is a 37-track LP that includes collaborations with Eric Church, Post Malone and Tate McRae. EB Media
“He feels judged,”’ Gleason continued. “Morgan doesn’t get a break, because if he leaves the house, you know, he’s got a target on.”
At this level, Wallen is rolling with his rabid fanbase — and maybe doesn’t really feel the need to appease the haters.
“He has been so publicly pilloried and judged without anyone trying to understand where he comes from or what his foundation is,” stated Gleason. “He probably does have a little bit of a chip on his shoulder or some anger about no one wanting to hear his side of the story.”
Morgan Wallen carried out “I’m the Problem” on “Saturday Night Live” in March. Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images
When the two-time musical visitor bolted from “Saturday Night Live” — forgoing the common hugging and high-five-ing at the finish — and posted “Get me to God’s country” as he boarded his non-public aircraft, Gleason stated that it might just be merely that “he may not like New York.”
Wallen himself lately stated “I was [just] ready to go home” on the podcast “Sundae Conversation.”
“I’d been there all week.”
Morgan Wallen abruptly exited from “Saturday Night Live” at the finish of the show in March. NBC
Wallen has also had a bumpy relationship with awards reveals, as the “Last Night” singer was banned from the CMAs in 2021. This may clarify why he didn’t even show up when he gained Entertainer of the Year in 2024. He also just ditched the ACMs, where he gained Entertainer of the Year.
And despite all of his success, Wallen has yet to win any Grammys, only being nominated twice — for “I Had Some Help,” his duet with Post Malone.
“I think Morgan has come to a place where he doesn’t care about those awards anymore,” stated Gleason. “And I think once people know you’re not going to show up and you don’t care and you don’t respect them, they’re inclined to give the awards to somebody who does. They’re not going to give an award to somebody who isn’t breaking bread with them.”
Morgan Wallen carried out at the Stagecoach Festival in 2024. Getty Images for Stagecoach
Still, Wallen clearly connects with a huge viewers. And while 37 songs is a lot for anybody to digest on “I’m the Problem,” there’s enough right here to keep Wallen’s scorching streak going. The man is aware of his lane.
“He doesn’t try to sing songs he doesn’t understand,” stated Gleason. “His tone is like that guy you went to high school with who calls you one day because he’s got to talk to somebody. He’s a young man who is trying to figure it out.”
As he sings on the introspective “Superman” — one of the highlights of “I’m the Problem” — he embraces the human imperfections that have a long historical past in nation music: “Don’t always know my wrong from right/Sometimes I’m my own worst enemy/No, I don’t always save the day.”
“When he sings, something about the tone in his voice is truly believable,” stated Gleason. “You can hear the flaws in his voice. You know this isn’t a perfect individual.”
We present you with the trending topics. Get the best newest Entertainment information and content material on our web site each day.
