Before writing for some of the biggest names in country music, ERNEST (real name, Ernest Keith Smith) was drawn to hip-hop early on. By 3rd grade, the soundtrack of the 1996 animated comedy, Space Jam, was his gateway into the genre. Shortly after, he was consuming Eminem‘s The Marshall Mathers LP and Slim Shady LP and filling his school notebooks with rhymes.
By 2017, Smith, January 11, 1992, in Nashville, Tennesse, was releasing his country-rap singles like “Bad Boy” and “Dopeman” under the moniker of ERNEST, while starting to write songs for country artists.
In 2019, ERNEST was signed and by then he had already written for Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane, and others within the Nashville circuit. He also released his debut Lonely Hearts, followed by Flower Shops (The Album) in 2021, and its extended version Two Dozen Roses in 2023, and has continued writing for everyone from Kane Brown, rapper Lil Durk, Jelly Roll, Thomas Rhett, and Diplo, among others.
Here’s a closer look at seven songs ERNEST wrote for other artists
Videos by American Songwriter
1. “Dig Your Roots,” Florida Georgia Line (2016)
Written by ERNEST, Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Brett James, Will Weatherly
When ERNEST was connected to Florida Georgia Line (FLG) by his brother-in-law Matt Royer, it was his official break into writing for other artists.
[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Brian Kelley Wrote for Other Artists]
ERNEST ended up co-writing the title track of the duo’s third album Dig Your Roots in 2016. a reminder to plant as many seeds as possible in life. He also went on to co-write “Blessings” on FLG’s next album, Can’t Say I Ain’t Country in 2019, along with “I Love My Country,” “Beer:30,” and “Good to Me” on their fifth album Life Rolls On from 2021.
I grew up 10 minutes from the sticks
10 minutes from the beach
And there ain’t a bible verse, y’all, I ain’t heard a preacher preach
Mom and dad up in the bleachers, screaming while I pitch
B&D up on the speakers finally riding around town with my best friends
Ain’t life like a whirlwind, one second I’m playing checkers with grandma
Then my world ends
I used to hear my granddaddy say before it’s too late
You gotta dig your roots
‘Fore the sun goes down
Show some love back to your hometown
Fall in love
Plant some seeds
Carve some names in the family tree
Raise your kids
Love your wife
Put God first just to live your life
I think I’m gonna go and get a little more dirt on my boots
2. “Big, Big Plans,” Chris Lane (2019)
Written by ERNEST, Chris Lane, Jacob Durrett
Released as a single in 2019, Chris Lane intended to put this engagement ballad, co-written with ERNEST and Jacob Durrett, on his third album but it never made the cut. The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and No. 3 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Prior to working on “Big, Big Plans,” ERNEST also co-wrote the title track for Lane’s 2018 album Laps Around the Sun.
She don’t know I got some big, big plans
Build a little house out on some hand-me-down land
Find a little island where we go to get tan
I bet we take our kids down there one day
And I know she wouldn’t mind if I
Did a little somethin’ like find a flight
Overnight to paradise and leave tonight
And I’ma put a diamond on her hand
3. “Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90’s” Sam Hunt (2020)
Written by ERNEST, Sam Hunt, Zach Crowell, Chris LaCorte, Josh Osborne
Following the success of his 2014 debut Montevallo, Sam Hunt‘s second album Southside went to No. 1 for a number of reasons: his chart-topping “Body Like a Back Road,” along with three Country Airplay No. 1s “Kinfolks,” “Hard to Forget,” and the breakup ballad “Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90’s.”
[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Sam Hunt Wrote for Other Artists]
The latter track, co-written with ERNEST, also peaked at No. 4 on the Hot Country Songs chart and explores the more personable ways people had to break up in the 1990s before everything turned digital. The lyrics also follow the story of a man who can’t forget about a past lover.
Back then, I could’ve convinced myself that maybe you called when I was out
And you didn’t know what to say, so you didn’t leave a message
And that you’re probably at home right now, sound asleep
‘Cause goin’ out isn’t really your thing
And I wouldn’t have a clue what you’ve been up to lately
Or who you’ve been up to it with
But when I don’t miss your calls, I miss you callin’
And I go ’round and ’round again
“The trick was not filling it up with a bunch of technology references and trying to find the story within it,” said Hunt of the song. “It’s just the world’s so much smaller now … like the fact that I can release the record and still stay in touch with my fans, there’s so many positive, but when it comes to relationships and navigating old relationships or new relationships and especially breakups”
ERNEST also co-wrote another song on Southside “Let It Dow.”
4. “Broadway Girls,” Lil Durk, featuring Morgan Wallen (2021)
Written by ERNEST, Morgan Wallen, Durk Banks (Lil Durk), Alexander Izquierdo, Ryan Vojtesak, Joe Stephen Reeves, Rocky Block, Grady Block
Rapper Lil Durk‘s 2021 album 7220 featured rappers Future and Gunna and a surprise twist at the end: Morgan Wallen. The country artist joins Durk on “Broadway Girls,” which they co-wrote with ERNEST and follows a night out in Downtown Nashville. The song even gives a shout-out to Jason Aldean‘s local establishment (Jason Aldean’s Kitchen & Rooftop Bar).
In 2023, Durk and Wallen teamed up again for “Stand by Me.” The track from Durk’s eighth album Almost Healed went to No. 8 on the Hip-Hop/R&B chart.
I met her down at Aldean’s
She said that she saw me walkin’ in about a mile away
Bean just had to take her phone, and that just took her smile away
She said I’m too drunk and crazy, she don’t like the way I dance
I said, “You don’t have to join in”, she said she’d take a chance
I’ve been kinda crazy ever since it went down
I get kinda lost and baby, this what I found
Girls like you just wanna take me around, around and around
5. “Son of a Sinner,” Jelly Roll (2021)
Written by ERNEST, Jelly Roll, David Ray Stevens
In 2023, Jelly Roll earned his first No. 1 with “Son of a Sinner,” which topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart. Co-written with ERNEST and David Ray Stevens, “Son of a Sinner” was inspired by Jelly Roll’s past drug addiction and life on the road.
I never get lonely
I get these ghosts to keep me company
I took the rearview off of this old Ford
So I only see in front of me
Now the past is out of sight and out of mind
Swore I changed, now I’m back chasing these white lines
I’m just a long-haired son of a sinner
Searching for new ways I can get gone
I’m a pedal to the highway
If you ever wonder why we write these songs
‘Cause I’m only one drink away from the devil
I’m only one call away from home
Yeah, I’m somewhere in the middle
I guess I’m just a little right and wrong
Released on Jelly Roll’s major label debut, Ballads of the Broken, “Son of a Sinner” also peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.
“There is no greater reward for a singer and songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee than to have the No. 1 song on country radio,” wrote Jelly Roll on Instagram. “Now imagine that happening to a guy that grew up in this town, a guy that at every turn the first 25 years of his life he made the wrong decision.”
He added, “Imagine everyone telling that guy he had no chance at country radio. Now imagine country radio proving everyone wrong and taking the chance on the song, the message, and the man.”
6. “One Mississippi,” Kane Brown (2022)
Written by ERNEST, Kane Brown, Jesse Frasure, Levon Gray
For Kane Brown’s third album Different Man, ERNEST co-wrote five tracks, including “One Mississippi,” which went to No. 4 on the Hot Country Songs chart and No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart. The song is a reference to a form of counting—one Mississippi, two Mississippi, and so on—and follows the story of hooking up again with a past romance.
[RELATED: 3 Songs You Didn’t Know Kane Brown Wrote for Other Artists]
You and I had this off and on so long
You’ve been here, then you’ve been gone
So many times
And every night, yeah I’m always bumping into you
Well, you do the same things we used to
It’s your place or it’s mine, so
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh
We’ll lie and swear we’re through
With the lonely, drunken deja vu
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh
Five minutes out of downtown
Ain’t nothing but a countdown
7. “One Thing at a Time,” Morgan Wallen (2023)
Written by ERNEST, Morgan Wallen, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome
The title track from Morgan Wallen’s 2023 double album, “One Thing at a Time” is a heartbreak ballad of regret and moving on. “One Thing at a Time” crossed the charts for Wallen, hitting No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 along with the No. 2 spot on the Country chart.
You say I gotta get over you and get sober too
I got a lot of habits I gotta kick
Weigh out all your options and take your pick
I can either burn the bar down
Or I can take your number out my phone
I can give you up right now
And never want you back long as I’m half-stoned
If you want me to quit you, want me to get you
Outta my heart and, baby, off my mind
I hate to tell you, girl, but I’m only quittin’ one thing at a time
I know I got me some problems
About a thousand memories I gotta forget
But if I’m gonna solve them
Baby, I’ll take all the help I can get
Along with working on “One Thing at a Time” with Wallen, ERNEST also co-wrote 10 additional tracks on One Thing at a Time, including “Everything I Love,” and No. 1 “You Proof” He also appears on the track “Cowgirls.”
[RELATED: 7 Songs You Didn’t Know Morgan Wallen Wrote for Other Artists]
Wallen and ERNEST’s collaborations started years before One Thing at a Time. ERNEST previously co-wrote the title track of Wallen’s 2018 debut If I Know Me. He also co-wrote an additional 11 tracks—including No. 1s “Wasted on You” and ‘More Than My Hometown”—from Wallen’s Dangerous album in 2021.
Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
