In the music world, Drake and Morgan Wallen, who were recently recognized as the second and third most streamed artists on Spotify in the United States in 2023, have made waves with their collaboration in the music video for Drake’s latest single, “You Broke My Heart.”
Drake and Morgan Wallen’s Streaming Success
The song is a part of Drake’s album “Scary Hours 3,” which was released in November 2023. This album is a bonus edition of his eighth studio album, “For All The Dogs,” which was unveiled a month earlier.
The music video features Drake and Wallen in the initial two minutes of the six-minute visual narrative. The pair are seen engaging in a conversation over drinks at a bar, discussing their past relationships.
Following their departure from the bar, they get into a car which subsequently becomes the target of an explosion orchestrated by two women, presumably their former partners.
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Wallen’s Growing Appeal in Hip-Hop
While neither Drake nor Wallen has publicly addressed the release of the video or potential future collaborations. Wallen’s appeal in the hip-hop genre continues to expand.
In a recent interview with Billboard, Big Loud co-CEO Seth England hinted at the collaboration, stating that both artists, whose labels are distributed via Republic Records, have the ability to diversify their musical styles.
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In 2021, representatives from Big Loud Records expressed to The Tennessean that Wallen is an enthusiast of hip-hop and rap music, in addition to country.
They shared his interest in merging his music with that of his favorite rap artists, and expressed excitement about music that transcends genre boundaries and appeals to a wider and more diverse audience.
Previous Collaborations and Chart Success
This collaboration with Drake marks the second time in three years that Wallen has ended the year by delving into the hip-hop genre. On December 20, 2021, Wallen collaborated with Chicago’s Lil Durk for the song “Broadway Girls,” which garnered nearly 2 million views on YouTube within 24 hours of its release.
In 2021, Durk and Wallen dominated the streaming platforms, with the rapper making 35 appearances on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, and Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” ending 2021 as the No. 1 Billboard 200 Album of the year.
The duo also had approximately 30 million regular monthly listeners on their Spotify tracks.
Fast forward two years, Wallen’s “Last Night” and “You Proof” were among the top-10 most streamed songs in America on the platform. His monthly listeners also increased by 50 percent compared to two years ago.
In comparison, Drake currently boasts over 80 million monthly listeners, significantly more than Lil Durk’s 15 million in 2021.
Wallen’s crossover appeal in the streaming-led country-to-hip-hop crossover space has been amplified by Drake’s endorsement in the “You Broke My Heart” video, making it possible to assert that he is 200 percent more viable in that realm than he was in 2021.
Wallen’s Journey and Controversy
The rise of Morgan Wallen in the music industry has been intriguing, especially considering the controversy he faced almost three years ago when he was caught on camera uttering a racial slur.
Jimmy Butler on his friend Morgan Wallen's N-word controversy in 2021:
"Wasn’t no controversy for me. I don’t even know what happened. I heard about it. I didn’t see the video. I didn’t look much into it and I’m not going to look much into it."
🔗 https://t.co/4Otm6cAXq4 pic.twitter.com/AvS88utdBb
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) October 2, 2023
In a feature by Billboard, Wallen addressed the incident and its aftermath. Which included being removed from Apple and Spotify playlists for several months, radio stations stopping the play of his music, and his record label Big Loud indefinitely suspending his contract.
He also mentioned his conversations with Kevin Liles, the chairman/CEO of 300 Elektra Entertainment, Eric Hutcherson, the executive VP/chief people and inclusion officer at Universal Music Group, Grammy-winning gospel artist Bebe Winans, and the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC). Wallen stated:
“I’ve never made an excuse and I never will. I’ve spoken to many people, heard their stories, things I would never have considered because I wasn’t the one experiencing them. In my heart, I was never the person people were making me out to be, so there was a bit of frustration because I knew I shouldn’t have said what I did, but I’m really not that person.”
During the “MLK Freedom Fest” concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on January 15, 2022, Lil Durk expressed his views on Wallen and the possibility of him being socially ‘cancelled’.
He told the audience that Wallen was “genuine at heart” and added, “No one can cancel anything without my say-so, you know what I mean?” Two months later, Wallen reciprocated by inviting Durk on stage during his final show of the week at Bridgestone.
Exploration of Hip-Hop in Wallen’s Music
Wallen’s exploration of hip-hop sounds and culture continued with his highly popular 2023 album release, “One Thing At A Time.” The track “180 (Lifestyle)” from the album is a reimagining of Rich Gang, Young Thug, and Rich Homie Quan’s 2015 single “Lifestyle.” To clear the song for sampling, Wallen’s team had to take an extraordinary step.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, has been incarcerated in Georgia for over a year, denied bail pending a 56-count racketeering case and seven additional felony charges related to possession of illegal substances and firearms.
The charges allege that Thug was involved in gang activity and criminal conspiracies.
Kevin Liles shared with The Tennessean his reaction when Seth called him to get the ‘Lifestyle’ sample cleared for “180”. He said, “I told him he had to send the demo to me right away. Thankfully, it was respectful, loving, and truthful to being a rap record from a modern country perspective.”
Liles further added, “Morgan is a creative individual who tells a true story and has a love for hip-hop music and culture. ‘180’ transcends genres.”
The collaboration between Drake and Morgan, along with the multiple chart-topping singles of 2023 for country and rock rapper-turned-singer Jelly Roll and rising pop-to-country crossovers like Post Malone, only begins to reveal the potential of such collaborations.
As Jelly Roll stated in a November 2023 feature in The Tennessean, “Hip-hop’s swagger is the most defining ‘cool factor’ of modern country music.”
