Could Tate McRae Be Morgan Wallen's ‘What I Want’ Duet Partner?

When Morgan Wallen made a rare appearance on X (formerly Twitter) to confirm ‘What I Want’, which appears on his new album, I'm the Problem, will be his first female collaboration, social media became awash with speculation as to who it might be.

Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney quickly emerged as the three leading candidates. Yet today (Thursday, April 10th), ever the tease, Wallen has returned to his socials to reveal, “I haven't seen one person guess the female collab on this album correctly yet”. Given that the majority of outlets and fan-pages have been proposing Lambert, Langley or Moroney, this must mean it's not one of them.

Through a little sleuthing, we think we might have discovered who this mystery guest is. Until we get an official announcement from Morgan Wallen's camp, of course, this is just speculation... but our money is on Canadian pop prodigy, Tate McRae.

The idea of this cross-genre collaboration might sound somewhat outlandish at first, but hear us out. Firstly, having scoured ASCAP, we've found what we assume to be Morgan Wallen's ‘What I Want’. There is no performer listed, as is often the case for unreleased songs, but the co-writers are Ryan Vojtesak (otherwise known by his stage-name of Charlie Handsome), John Byron and Jacob Kasher Hindlin.

Charlie Handsome has become a pivotal figure in Morgan Wallen's team, with Charlie often doubling-up as a co-writer and producer, while John Byron is a songwriter signed to Wallen's Big Loud Records label, and has penned a slew of fan-favourites for the Sneedville megastar, such as ‘865’. Jacob Kasher Hindlin is another Wallen stalwart, having worked on his record-breaking 2023 smash, ‘Last Night’.

We therefore think it's safe to say this is the same ‘What I Want’ that's due to appear on Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem. Wallen leaked the song-title during his easter-egg-filled Saturday Night Live performance of ‘Just in Case’ a few weeks ago.

Now, although Jason Kasher Hindlin has dabbled in country music with Morgan Wallen and Thomas Rhett (‘Look What God Gave Her’), he is better known for crafting global chart-toppers for the likes of Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Selena Gomez...and Tate McRae.

Jason Kasher Hindlin - or JKash - has helped create Tate McRae stand-outs such as ‘rubberband’ and ‘feel like shit’. McRae has expressed her love for country music in the past, covering Post Malone and Morgan Wallen's uptempo earworm, ‘I Had Some Help’, during her soundcheck in July 2024. The pop phenom also brought out Megan Moroney during her momentous Nashville show the following month.

Interestingly, Morgan Wallen - who, as we all know, is famously inactive when it comes to his social media - made a point of resharing Tate McRae's stripped-back ‘I Had Some Help’ cover on TikTok. Aptly, McRae captioned the clip ‘lil country gal at heart’.

The final piece of ‘evidence’ (if you can call it that) that we present before the Wallenteer jury is the fact that Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae follow each other on Instagram.

Morgan Wallen also follows Lana Del Rey, with Lana following Wallen back. With Lana currently readying her debut country album, could she be the hidden feature on ‘What I Want’?

We're sticking with our Tate McRae prediction for now, as it doesn't feel as though Lana Del Rey's sound and ambience aligns as neatly with Morgan Wallen's aesthetic. What's more, none of the writers on ‘What I Want’ have a history of working with Lana.

If we are right, then this is undoubtedly a top-tier collaboration we can't wait to hear. McRae's sleek, pop-leaning sound will mesh seamlessly with Morgan Wallen's ability to bring genre-blending instrumentals into the country sphere through his signature drawl.

At this point, we don't know much about the vibe or lyrical content of ‘What I Want’ - but with such a stellar songwriting team behind it and two of today's biggest artists (potentially) delivering it, the track is already looking like a summer-hit-in-waiting.

There's no word at the moment on when Morgan Wallen is planning to reveal his 37-song tracklist, but the ‘Thought You Should Know’ singer-songwriter continues to sprinkle hints and cryptic clues onto our feeds as the anticipation builds for May 16th.

For more on Morgan Wallen, see below: