Sam Hunt is a popular name in the country music scene. What some don’t know, however, is how he manages to put an interesting spin on the classic genre.
The country star found his way to fame incorporating elements of hip hop music.
“I think now more than ever, if you’re somebody who has interest in doing different stylistic things, you can do both without people being confused as to, you know, which one is you.” –Hunt.
Hunt’s track from earlier this year, “Hard to Forget”, became the singer’s seventh #1 track on Billboard’s country airplay chart. The song begins not with Hunt’s voice, but with that of 1950s honky-tonk star, Pierce.
http://https://youtu.be/Wxhv_HsEIl4
The success “Hard to Forget” earned illustrates how country music blending with hip hop is becoming a norm. When Hunt first came to Nashville a decade ago, such a combination would be considered totally outlandish.
Hunt is a Georgia born singer and songwriter. His debut studio album, Montevallo, broke several chart records. The lead single from the album, “Leave the Night On”, peaked concurrently on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. This resulted in Hunt being the first country artist in 22 years, since Billy Ray Cyrus, to be #1 on three country charts simultaneously. His single “Make You Miss Me” also hit #1 on the Country Airplay chart, making Hunt the first solo male artist to land four number ones on the Country Airplay chart from a debut studio album.
Artists like Sam Hunt are blending and shifting music norms before our very eyes, and it is very exciting.
