Morgan Wallen's I'm The Problem album is out. Wallen reveals that the record, 37 songs in all, could have actually been a lot longer than the finished product.
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"We recorded around 50 songs for this album and ended up cutting 13," Wallen says. "I feel like we accomplished what I had in mind, and a huge shoutout to my close collaborators on this too. They came in ready and fired up every single day, and they inspire me as much as anything else."
Wallen wrote 22 of the songs on the record. A major country star, the Tennessee native tried to incorporate a variety of sounds on the project, which includes his "I Ain't Comin' Back" collaboration with Post Malone.
"There were three styles on the last album that I had in my head, and I went with that same approach with this album," he says. "We had straight-up country songs, which I always do, and 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."
The Most Personal Song on Morgan Wallen's 'I'm The Problem' Album
Wallen includes a lot of personal songs on I'm The Problem. But perhaps none as much as "I Got Better."
"'I got better since you got gone' would be how I feel right now," Wallen says "I'd say that's one that really came from my heart, and it can mean many things. It's not just a song to a girl, it could be a song to anything that's holding you back. That's why I like that song so much. For a long time I had a lot of things holding me back. I've finally said goodbye to a lot of those things, and I'm proud of the results that have come from doing that. So, I'd say 'I Got Better' is my most personal song right now."
One thing that isn't on I'm The Problem is rap-sounding songs, an intentional decision for Wallen.
"It's just subtle changes. It don't have to be huge things," Wallen says on This Past Weekend with Theo Von. "My last album I had plenty of trap beats and stuff like that. This time I was like, 'Hey man, let's tone that back a little bit.'"
