Count Lainey Wilson among those who are welcoming pop stars into country music. Wilson is publicly praising both Post Malone for dropping his F-1 Trillion album, and Beyoncé for releasing Cowboy Carter.
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"I'm proud of it," she tells NME, adding that it can only do good things for the genre.
"So many people are finding out that they love country music who didn't know they liked it at all," Wilson says. "Artists like Post and Beyoncé are introducing their audiences to this kind of music, and it's only done good things for the genre. It's cool to see."
Wilson's Friendship With Post Malone
To be fair, Wilson has been a fan, and friend, of Post Malone for a while. She has also spent time in the studio with him. Wilson sings "Nosedive" with him for his latest album, and also co-wrote his "Have the Heart" duet with Dolly Parton for the project.
"I loved every second of it, and I love him. We've become great friends. What I noticed about him is, even the people who are coming into the studio and taking the trash out and whatever, like, he treated them just like he treated the guy that was running the sound board," Wilson says on the Artist Friendly with Joel Madden podcast (via American Songwriter).
"And I'm like, he's good people... I'm so proud that he's part of country music," Wilson says. "You could quiz him and be like, 'Who wrote that song back in 1951?' and he would know it."
Wilson not only is a fan of Post Malone's inclusion in country music, but she also makes a bold prediction.
"I'll bet you he does country for the rest of his life," she says of the rapper.
Post Malone also challenged Wilson as a writer, helping her mark a career first in the process.
"I think we wrote 12 hours," Wilson recalls. "That was the first-night write I had ever done."
Post Malone currently has a Top 10 hit at country radio, with "Guy For That." The song, from F-1 Trillion, is a collaboration with Luke Combs. Both Post Malone and Beyoncé are nominated in country categories at the upcoming Grammy Awards.
