“Back Then, I Always Had Some Kind of Excuse”: Morgan Wallen Candidly Opens Up on His Personal Growth

Morgan Wallen's new album, I'm the Problem, finds one of country music's biggest stars looking a little more closely in the mirror, as he movingly reflects on his shortcomings.

Of course, there are still the biting tracks directing blame elsewhere and absolving himself of guilt from particular break-ups. Yet, on the whole, I'm the Problem, Wallen's fourth studio record, the Sneedville native takes accountability in a striking way, epitomised by the likes of ’Falling Apart’, ‘Leavin's the Least I Could Do’, ‘Kick Myself’ and the lustrous hidden gem of the project, ‘Revelation’.

In a discussion with Apple Music's Zane Lowe, Morgan Wallen has candidly opened up about the personal growth and newfound sense of clarity that have coloured the album.

When delving into the motivation for choosing the pointed I'm the Problem as the title, Wallen explained, “Well, I think there was a little bit of, you know, playing into just everything I've been through in my life...not like I'm the victim or anything, I've caused a lot of it. I think that's my way...of accepting that responsibility and saying, ‘Hey, maybe I am the problem sometimes’. It was also a moment, you know, like, where I thought just because of some of the recent changes and things that I've done in my life, this might be the last time I get to honestly play that part, you know? I don't know that for a fact, I just live day by day, but that just seems to be where I'm at as a man...maybe just one last time of being that guy”.

It's interesting that Wallen talks about ‘playing the part’ of the self-destructive, spiteful ex and the whiskey-fuelled troublemaker for pockets of I'm the Problem. The ‘Last Night’ chart-topper seemingly steps into the shoes of his oft-maligned public persona, before pulling down the veil and adding context to this character as a misunderstood “coyote in a field of wolves” on ‘I'm a Little Crazy’.

Wallen muses, “I hope they can understand and hear the kind of clarity that I have in my life, you know? I think for me to be able to take that mindset into a record, and to spend this much time in making a 37-song album...That's what I'm most proud of as a person...how I'm seeing the world. So I hope that comes through in my music”.

With a string of controversies plaguing his career, ranging from his 2021 racial slur furore to his 2024 chair-throwing incident, Wallen has frequently cited alcohol as his weakness.

The ‘Love Somebody’ singer-songwriter lays it out plainer than ever before on the indie-rock earworm, ‘Genesis’, where he describes a battle with the Devil, “I'm losin' me to pretty eyes and the proof / He knew what I'd battle, he knew what would tempt me / He threw out the apple, said, ‘Let there be women and let there be whiskey’”.

When Zane Lowe presses Morgan Wallen about whether he feels as though he has overcome some of the hurdles that have troubled him in recent years, Wallen responds, “Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna sit here and act like I've got it all figured out, you know, because I definitely don't. But I think I've identified things and people...those two things combined, I think I've identified problems that I don't really want to partake in anymore, and...I'm able to see a lot more clearly now”.

He implies that he has removed some of the vices - or ‘crutches’ - that were muddying his view, and giving him an ‘excuse’ to act out, “Once you take a step back from a couple of those things that are clouding your vision, and for me this is probably as clear as I've seen the world in my entire life...If I were to go and make a terrible mistake or do something stupid right now...I wouldn't have any excuse, you know? Back then, I always had some kind of excuse...“That really wasn't me”, you know, [or] “I would never actually do that”...I always had some kind of crutch or something to blame it on...I don't have that right now. So it's a different place, it's maybe a little more pressure, but I also feel a lot more powerful, too”.

It's a fascinating discussion, with this latest chapter seeing Morgan Wallen at his most honest - both in terms of his conversations around the album, and in the music itself.

I'm the Problem is a stellar project, with Wallen allowing fans into his deepest fears, anxieties and anguish across the 37-opus, as he tussles with temptation, blame and heartbreak.

As for the artwork, which features a mock courtroom drawing of Wallen, the country titan sheds some light on how the idea for this came about, “I was actually on my way to go to court one day and I was at my lawyer's office and I saw old school court drawings in there, and at the same time, me and my team were talking about what's this artwork going to be? I'm like, ‘Ah, I'm not really sure’. And I saw those old school court drawings and something just clicked in my head. I was like, ‘That might be cool’. So I started looking and trying to find other artists, see if anybody had done that before, and I figured somebody had had something like that in the past. I couldn't find anything, so I said, ‘Maybe I'm onto something’”.

Wallen admits he didn't want it to be too lifelike, “I didn't want to use my exact court image because it's not, I wasn't... I don't know. I feel like I [it was too real] So I just wanted to just pay a little bit of homage to that and make people say, ‘Hey, is that what that is?’ And I feel like we toed the line of it pretty well, and I think it looks cool”.

Elsewhere during their insightful discussion, Morgan Wallen pays homage to two of his star-studded guest on I'm the Problem, Tate McRae - who delivers Wallen's first ever female duet on ‘What I Want’ - and his close friend, Post Malone, who joins him for ‘I Ain't Comin‘ Back’, the keenly awaited follow-up to ‘I Had Some Help’.

With I'm the Problem spending a second week atop the Billboard 200, and seeing the smallest post-debut percentage dip in sales in over a year, with just a 42% decline. The project currently appears to be on track to emulate the success of 2023's record-breaking One Thing At A Time, which tallied a whopping 19 weeks at No. 1.

Listen to Zane Lowe's full interview with Morgan Wallen on Apple Music's New Music Daily Show.

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