Okay, I’m into this… To be honest, I didn’t expect to really like it at all, but today, rapper BigXthaPlug released his country-inspired rap album I Hope You’re Happy, which features some of country music’s biggest stars in Ella Langley, Jelly Roll, Shaboozey, Bailey Zimmerman and Mr. Luke Combs. BigX has already had some success with the pre-released singles, as the song with Bailey Zimmerman on “All The Way” topped the country airplay charts, and cracked the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it a crossover hit there. The Dallas native and grew up hearing country music being in Texas, and it was actually being imprisoned in solitary confinement during a jail stint that led him to becoming a rapper. He had violated a probation, and at 20-years-old, was in jail on his son’s 1st birthday. He said in an interview with Billboard that took a toll on him, obviously, and he used writing and poetry at first to help him cope. Eventually, that turned into a music career: “It took a toll on me, and made me very emotional. So they [jail officials] had to confine me by myself. And in that confinement, I felt like I was losing myself mentally.” In terms of his motivations for doing an entire country-inspired album with so many country artists involved, BigX previously explained that he believes that a true “artist” doesn’t want to be boxed into one genre… adding that “they can’t hate it if it sounds good.” At it’s core, it’s still a rap album, it just features guest vocals from country singers. “I mean, it’s the difference between somebody that doesn’t like… hip-hop, a rapper and an artist. So I’m saying, people like Beyoncé, me and a bunch of people that have been able to do it are artists. You can’t just hold them in one lane. It’s like telling a painter you can only paint red apples. No, he’s an artist, he’s gonna play a lot of different things. So I feel like you can’t really, I mean of course there’s gonna be some hate about it, but they can’t hate it if it sounds good.” It’s no secret that country music is the hot genre right now, and everyone wants in… but like some of the other artists outside of country who have tried similar projects over the last several years, I really wasn’t expecting to be blown away by this project, but I was open to hearing how he would combine rap with country, especially when it comes to Combs, whose music stays very true to the country genre and to himself. But their collab “Pray Hard” is actually super cool, and as many pointed out in the comments section on the YouTube video, sounds like some sort of college football anthem, which we all know is a Luke Combs specialty, so that shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Several of his songs have been used for college football theme songs on different networks, and last year, the SEC Network used Combs’ cover of Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” as the leading tune for the season. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Luke Combs (@lukecombs) In 2021, the SEC Network used Luke’s song “South On Ya” as the theme, which was my personal favorite. And this year, Combs will once again be the voice of the SEC Network alongside his collaborator Bailey Zimmerman as their song “Backup Plan” will be the official anthem of the SEC on ABC. But honestly, one of the other networks needs to scoop this one up quick… The first week of college football is called “Week Zero,” and tomorrow, on Saturday, August 23rd, we will officially be back in full swing at campuses across the country. I love the NFL, but for me, absolutely nothing compares to the electricity of a college football Saturday, so maybe I’m a little blinded by the fact that this is going on my tailgate playlist immediately and I get to use it SOON. Anytime Luke Combs just lets it rip vocally, I feel like he really can’t do anything wrong because he has such an incredible voice. If you want appreciate this song for what it is, and go into it with the understanding that BigX isn’t trying to get himself into the Country Music Hall of Fame with this project, I think you can actually enjoy some of it. I can just hear these lyrics behind some sort of opening montage on the TV on a crisp fall Saturday: “A little bit of magic, a little bit of smoke up in these lungs Runnin’ from the Devil with my guitar Angel on my shoulder got me this far Had to make it happen Go and touch the sky or die too young But, I don’t take the credit for the good part Blame it on my mama ’cause she prayed hard” Combs is a featured co-writer on this song, and it’s hard for me to explain exactly “why” this sounds like a college football anthem, aside from the fact that it just has that sound and upbeat energy that’s comparable to some of the others Luke has done that have (rightfully) ended up as college football anthems across multiple networks. You should just listen for yourself… “Pray Hard” I Hope You’re Happy Tracklist: 1. “I Hope You’re Happy (feat. Darius Rucker)” (Xavier Landum, Krishon Gaines, Tony Coles Anderson, Charles Nelson Forsberg, Chris Stapleton, Anderson East) 2. “Gone (interlude)” 3. “Box Me Up (feat. Jelly Roll)” (Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Gregory “Aldae” Hein, James Gutch, Stavros Tsarouhas, Xavier Landum, Jason DeFord) 4. “All The Way (feat. Bailey Zimmerman)” (Xavier Landum, Charles Nelson Forsberg, Krishon Gaines, Ben Johnson, KK Johnson, Jenna Johnson) 5. “Hell At Night (feat. Ella Langley)” (Xavier Landum, Ryan Vojtesak, Krishon Gaines, Yuval Haim Chain, Rocky Block, Joybeth Taylor, Ella Langley, Ro’Darrion Harrison) 6. “Gift & a Curse (interlude)” 7. “Pray Hard (feat. Luke Combs)” (Xavier Landum, Luke Combs, Nick Monson, Jon Robert Hall, Mark Nilan Jr., Dave Cohen, Krishon Gaines) 8. “Home (feat. Shaboozey)” (Xavier Landum, Collins Obinna Chibueze, Bryant Taylorr, Scoot Teasley, Krishon Gaines, Tony Esterly, Sean Cook, Dave Cohen, Charles Nelson Forsberg) 9. “24/7 (feat. Ink)” (Xavier Landum, JT Daly, Nick Gale, Krishon Gaines, Hank Compton, Emily Weisband, Ro’Darrion Harrison, Atia Boggs) 10. “About You (feat. Tucker Wetmore)” (Written by: Xavier Landum, Jon Hume, Krishon Gaines, Dave Cohen, Laura Veltz, Jackson Nance, David Ray Stevens) 11. “Long Nights (feat. Thomas Rhett)” (Xavier Landum, Krishon Gaines, Ryan Vojtesak, Bryant Taylorr, Mike Ewing, Jenna Andrews, Stephen Kirk)The post “Pray Hard,” Luke Combs’ Collab With Rapper BigXthaPlug, Sounds Like A College Football Anthem, & I’m Here For It first appeared on Whiskey Riff.