When Morgan Wallen released I’m the Problem on Friday, May 16, the 37-song album was already home to three No. 1 hits at country radio – the title track, “Lies Lies Lies,” and “Love Somebody.”
It’s home to cross-genre collaborations with artists including Post Malone and Tate McRae, along with his close country music friends Eric Church, ERNEST, and HARDY.
“There were three styles on the last album that I had in my head, and I went with that same approach with this album,” Wallen explained in a statement. “We had straight-up country songs, which I always do. Then we had more of an alternative-indie approach on a few of them. Those songs end up being a little bit countrified, just because that’s who we are and that’s how we do them. And then the more cross-genre approach might end up on a multi-genre radio station, just because of all the influences that I’ve had throughout my life, listening to every single type of music.”
Wallen said he kept that approach on I’m the Problem by finding what he calls “an anchor song” for each style. From there, he filled each sonic bucket. The East Tennessee native recorded 50 songs for I’m the Problem, used 37 of them, of which he had a hand in writing 22.
“I feel like we accomplished what I had in mind, and a huge shoutout to my close collaborators on this, too,” he said. “They came in ready and fired up every single day, and they inspire me as much as anything else.”
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Morgan Wallen Incorporated Three Musical Styles on New Album
Highlights on the album include “Superman,” which he wrote for his son, Indigo. He joked with Apple Music that Indigo, almost 5, is much like him. Wallen expects his son to repay him for his questionable behavior, and the singer thinks it’s hilarious. At least he does right now. Wallen wanted to address his public foibles in “Superman” because he knows there’s no way to hide them from his son.
“You’re going to hear about it, and there’s no way around that, especially at this position that I’m in and that he’s going to be in,” Wallen said. “So that was kind of what I wanted to accomplish, too. There’s a lot of different things that I felt like I was trying to, not only let him know where I fall short, but also give him advice, let him know I’m protecting him. I tried to say a lot in that one song just because it’s really my only song to him at this point.”
In the title track, Wallen wanted to be accountable for his actions. He prides himself on it.
“I don’t know the future,” he said. “I’m really taking things day by day, but it feels like… just the way that my life has taken me and where I’m at as a man, it just seems like it might be the last time that I really get to honestly say that as a person. So, I think it’s me.”
Morgan Wallen Made ‘I’m The Problem’ Biblical
The Bible inspired two songs on the album – “Genesis” and “Revelation.” Trannie Anderson, Rodney Clawson, Nicolle Galyon, and Chris Tompkins wrote “Revelation,” which namechecks Billy Graham and Jim Beam.
Lyrics include: I been goin’ too hard, I slipped pretty far| Yeah, mama and Heaven both know| I’m a man on a run with a hand on a gun| I’m a father and a son who needs that holy ghost
The title isn’t included in the song’s lyrics. Wallen wrote “Genesis” with John Byron, Rocky Block, Jacob Durrett, Blake Pendergrass, Ryan Vojtesak, and James Maddocks.” Revelation inspired him.
“I love that song,” Wallen said of “Revelation.” “I love everything it said. And then I’m just, ‘Why can’t we write a Genesis song? And then how would you write a Genesis song? What would it mean?’ And all that stuff. How do you do that without sounding cheesy, without sounding too biblical?”
Wallen and his co-writers started writing “Genesis” before they had the song’s hook. All they knew was the title, so they started with the first verse and wrote their way to the chorus and the hook.
I’m losin’ me to pretty eyes and the proof| He knew what I’d battle, he knew what would tempt me| He threw out the apple, said, “Let there be women and let there be whiskey”
“I enjoyed writing it that way,” Wallen told Apple Music. “That was something that we don’t normally do. We usually have the hook before we start anything else. So, it was cool to write it that way.”
An Unexpected Keith Whitley Tribute
For inspiration, the singer also leaned on beloved Country Music Hall of Famer Keith Whitley, who died in 1989. Like Morgan, Whitley was also known for his hard-living lifestyle. He assumes the rap-infused song will offend people. Wallen doesn’t care. He and his “boys”, Ryan Vojtesak, Ernest Keith Smith, Blake Pendergrass, Chase McGill, and Michael Hardy, had fun writing it. And Wallen gave Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy” writers Dean Dillon, Hank Cochran, and Royce Porter writer credit.
“I think obviously that guy, it seems like he was in a lot of pain,” Wallen told Apple Music. “I just seem to empathize with people like that. And then you throw his vocal and those songs on top of it, I mean, it’s just incredible. I already know I’m going to get crucified for that song. I’m not going to do a Keith Whitley cover, probably. I don’t feel right doing that. This is my own way of paying my respect.”
Wallen Credits Sister for Tate McRae
Wallen’s Tate McRae collaboration “What I Want” is similarly progressive. He credits his sister for introducing him to McRae’s music and calls her “a new age real deal pop star.” “I also think she’s underrated vocally,” Wallen told Apple Music. “We had the song; it was not written with the female in mind. I’m thinking about what song could I get Tate to sing. And this is the one that we ended up sending to her. This is the only song that we ended up sending to her. And she was awesome, man. The range that she has is something that’s truly remarkable, and you can tell it. She sang this song that’s written for a dude, and she absolutely crushed it out. I can’t say enough great things about her.”
Wallen Talks Post Malone
While dueting with McRae was new, he’s eased into a comfortable collaborative relationship with Post Malone. Wallen has been a Malone fan for years and thinks he’s a “special person and a special artist.”
“Me and him have been able to be really honest with each other,” Wallen said. “And I think that that’s really the key to any relationship. I mean, if you can start off with some honesty and collaboration, it has to be that in order to maintain a real friendship. And that’s something that we’ve had not only as artists, but as people. I got nothing but great things to say about Post.”
(Photo by: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC via Getty Images)
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