“There Was All Kinds of Pushback”: Morgan Wallen on Incorporating Hip-Hop Beats into His Music

Morgan Wallen has shed some light on the criticism and skepticism he faced when he first made the decision to start introducing Hip Hop and Trap-leaning beats into his music.

The Sneedville megastar has become synonymous with the seamless way in which he can incorporate thumping 808s and rattling hi-hats, while still maintaining a distinctly “country” aesthetic across his expansive catalogue of chart-toppers.

We see this blend of trap and country most prominently on One Thing At A Time, particularly with electric tracks like ‘180 (Lifestyle)’, which interpolates a Young Thug song, along with the simmering ‘Ain't That Some’, ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Thinkin’ Bout Me’.

On his latest album, I'm the Problem, despite billing the project as a more traditionally country body of work, Wallen still explored trap-inspired sonics on ‘Interlude’ and ‘Miami’. The latter even got a star-studded remix featuring Lil Wayne and Rick Ross, while the former is the subject of rumours regarding a Drake collaboration.

In his official I'm the Problem zine, Wallen reveals that his label were initially worried about his move to embrace Hip Hop and trap textures in this way, “I have subs in my truck, and when I’m riding around I still like it to have that bass and that beat. That’s the main reason I even started working Hip Hop into my music. As I got more involved with my sound, I thought, ‘Man, why can’t we put an 808 here?’”

He expands, “At first, there was all kinds of pushback from the label, and we changed songs with beats on them to make them sound more country. But a few versions of the original songs got out. People would notice, and I could see that people were gravitating toward it. That kind of gave me a signal. I thought, I love it. These people love it, and I can try this again on the next record. It started working”.

Wallen is no stranger to the rap sphere, of course, having linked up with Lil Durk on two occasions for the infectious ‘Broadway Girls’ - which remains Wallen's galvanising pre-show walk-out anthem - and ‘Stand By Me’, as well as joining forces with Moneybagg Yo in 2024 for the swaggering, long-teased ‘WHISKEY WHISKEY’.

He adds the caveat, however, that country fans don't have any need to worry about him ever making a complete transition towards Hip Hop and trap, “I don’t want all my songs to be like that. I like having songs that are stripped back and slow, too. For me, the variety just makes it super fun. There aren’t really two songs in my set that are alike. I’m super thankful that I don’t have to get up there and just sing all straight down the middle country songs every single time that I start a chord”.

The ‘Love Somebody’ singer-songwriter repeatedly expresses his gratitude towards his fanbase for allowing him to experiment in this way, and supporting him regardless.

We love when Wallen pushes genre boundaries in this way, and there's no question that this sonic fluidity has helped to propel him into the mainstream star he is today.

With the ‘Just in Case’ hitmaker continuing to hint at potential side projects in other genres - such as House music - it looks like the country titan has no plans to pump the brakes on his outward-facing approach to making music. And in a genre that has often felt restricted by “traditional” labels and cries of “that ain't country!”, we're glad to see Wallen cultivating a more open-minded approach to his craft.

For more on Morgan Wallen, see below: