Did anyone else just throw up a little bit? Or is it just me? I was having a great day until I laid my eyes upon Billboard’s Top Hot Country Songs of the 21st Century chart earlier this morning. Listicals are sometimes meant to get a rise out of people, and I’m here to say that it most definitely worked on me. Billboard knew exactly what they were doing when they put this 100-song ranking out. And labeled “Meant To Be” by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line as the No. 1 hot country song of the 21st century. Now to be clear, this list was put together solely based on the performance of Billboard’s weekly Hot Country Songs chart. They looked at the rankings from 2000 all the way to the end of 2024, and then just ran the numbers to see which songs fell where. Technically, there’s no doubt about the success of “Meant To Be.” My only concern with its ranking is… are we sure it’s even a country song? Unfortunately, the “Bro Country” movement occupies much of the Hot Country list, which is a testament to just how dominant it was when FGL was in the commercial prime of their career. That’s also why the sound has been so hard to shake off since its inception, but I think country music is know moving in the right direction in 2025 And on the plus side, we’re only 25 years into the 21st century, so there’s still plenty of time for this list to correct itself… and I sure hope it does. Though it might seem like the sky is falling with “Meant To Be” at the top spot, the rest of the list doesn’t get much better. While we’re at it, I suppose I can go ahead and include the Top 10 list of Country Songs of the 21st century (according to Billboard), which is admittedly atrocious. Besides a couple of contenders from Morgan Wallen, I don’t see a legitimate country music artist in sight on this list: 10. “The Bones” by Maren Morris 9. “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen 8. “Wasted On You” by Morgan Wallen 7. “You Proof” by Morgan Wallen 6. “Fancy Like” by Walker Hayes 5. “Tequila” by Dan + Shay 4. “I Hope” by Gabby Barrett 3. “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line 2. “Body Like A Backroad” by Sam Hunt 1. “Meant To Be” by Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line Are we sure that Billboard didn’t reference the wrong list? Or perhaps forget what country music actually is? Obviously, since the rankings are solely based on “country song” performance, Billboard can’t be entirely to blame with having an almost full-on “Bro Country” takeover with the Top 10 Hot Country Songs of the 21st Century chart. I suppose we music fans have to shoulder some of the weight. Billboard was just reporting the numbers. Still though… “Fancy Like” by Walker Hayes at No. 6? “Tequila” by Dan + Shay a spot ahead at No. 5? It almost feels like a satirical list when you think of actual, quality, genuine country music. God help us all as we move through the rest of the 21st century, and let’s hope that some other, actual country songs come along to dethrone some of this Top 10 list.The post Billboard Names Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant To Be” As The No. 1 Country Song Of 21st Century… & The Only Good News Is We Have 75 Years To Fix It first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

If you don’t love this song, we can’t be friends. Gretchen Wilson came out swinging in 2004 with her debut single “Redneck Woman,” which was included on her debut album Here for the Party, both of which were released in 2004. She co-wrote the song with half of Big & Rich duo John Rich, and it remains her only number-one single on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was minor crossover hit, too and reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards in 2005, and of course, remains her signature song to this day. I was a kid when this song came out, but I have vivid memories of hearing it on the radio, both country and Top 40, all the time… I think I had those words memorized before I was even 10 years old, if that gives you any indication of how I grew up. This song came out in the early 2000’s, during a time when artists like Faith Hill were extremely popular… no slight to Faith, I love her, but let’s be honest, she isn’t necessarily the most relatable women on the planet just by her looks alone. Songs like “Breathe” had come out towards the end of the ’90s, and mainstream country music was starting to lean back into the more polished music that sounded nothing like “Redneck Woman,” which is why Wilson was afraid it wouldn’t work. During a recent interview, she talked about how she just felt like women like her, who wanted a simple life that included raising kids and dogs out in the country, and who didn’t look like Faith Hill, weren’t represented, and deserved to be celebrated too: “‘Redneck Woman’ was it. I mean, it was the whole, people tell you, there are a lot of really talented people, but it takes the right voice, also the right song and the right time. Those things have to kind of come together for you to have a really monster hit. And that’s what happened with redneck woman. And it was just the perfect time. Women like me weren’t really being spoken to or sung about, and you know, when I turned on the music channels, all I saw was beautiful women like Faith Hill rolling around on silk sheets, ‘I can feel you breathe.’ And I’m like, who the hell looks like that at 6 o’clock in the morning, you know? Not me, or anybody that I know. So it was just the time, it was time to write a song for women like me that we’re happy to be like me. That thought that their whole world was fulfilled living in a mobile home, driving a pick up truck, raising kids and dogs and then going to the football game on the weekend. Not everybody wants the same thing in life, and if that’s what your life is, and that’s what you’re happy with, you should be celebrated too.” While she obviously didn’t know what a huge hit it would become, she knew it was special to her because she had finally written a song that “truly represented” who she was. Though the fear was that no one else was doing anything like that at the time, so it may not work, that ended up being the reason it did work so well: “It felt special to me, because it felt like my home. It felt like I finally, truly, had written a song that that really represented me. Honestly, our feeling was nobody’s gonna play this. We were in a in a moment in country music where that pendulum was swinging more towards the slicker sound, and we just thought that we might’ve missed our window, or that the timing wasn’t right. Girls weren’t doing what I was doing at that moment, so that’s the reason it worked, but we were afraid that it could be the reason that it wouldn’t.” Not only did it work, but it became a huge hit, and the start of a very successful career that Wilson still enjoys to this day. There’s just something in this song that scratches a certain part of my brain… I become a different person when this song comes on, and I have never heard the full story behind it, which makes it that much better. Turn it up… “Redneck Woman” The post Gretchen Wilson Wrote “Redneck Woman” Because Country Music Wasn’t Singing To Girls Like Her: “All I Saw Was Beautiful Women Like Faith Hill Rolling Around On Silk Sheets” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

You’ll never refer to them as just “baby skunks” or “baby peacocks” again.

The following article, The “Assassination Culture” – Normalizing Violence?, was first published on Conservative Firing Line. Miranda Devine is one of the few people who are actual journalists. She wrote a column yesterday in the New York Post that suggests the current constant threats against Trump and Musk, and the lionization of murderers like Luigi Mangione is an “assassination culture.” Is this orchestrated by the left? It would seem that their … Continue reading The “Assassination Culture” – Normalizing Violence? ...

The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the authority of judges to block infrastructure projects due to environmental concerns. The nine justices handed down the lone decision Thursday morning, slightly curbing judicial authority at a time when President Donald Trump's administration is loudly complaining about alleged judicial overreach. The case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, relates to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the requirement for...

 South Koreans turned out in record numbers for early voting on Thursday ahead of next week's snap presidential election, official data showed, as both leading candidates urged voters to back them to change a country in crisis. The June 3 election comes after months of political turmoil and a power vacuum following the ouster of former leader Yoon Suk Yeol over a botched attempt to impose martial law.

Columnist David French knows the Democratic Party has a "man problem" with young males pushing Trump and MAGA over the finish line in the last election. But the party’s $20 million proposal to “study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality” in the growing manosphere is a waste, he says, because the roots of the manosphere are about “deep personal need,” not politics. “You can’t write a history of the manosphere without acknowledging that it was a response...