“I Thought, ‘That Doesn't Sound Like Me!’”: Darius Rucker Shares the Story Behind His New BigXthaPlug Collaboration, ‘I Hope You're Happy’

Mainstream artists making a genre-blurring foray into country music has become a touchy subject in recent months. Some fans roll their eyes and dismiss such moves as ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ simply because country is cool again, while others celebrate the new sounds and increased visibility it brings to the genre.

This writer is definitely in the camp of the latter, as it's incredibly exciting to see artists like BigXthaPlug, Beyoncé, Post Malone and Lana Del Rey put a fresh spin on country music.

Although billed as a country record, BigX's new project, I Hope You're Happy, is undoubtedly grounded in the hip-hop sphere, with the Texas native rapping all of his contributions to this body of work. Nonetheless, the featured artists and twangy instrumentation help to bring a distinctly country feel, with BigX teaming up with top-tier titans of the genre such as Luke Combs, Ella Langley and Darius Rucker.

During his recent interview with Holler in London ahead of his eagerly anticipated UK arena tour this Fall, Rucker sheds light on how his stellar collaboration with BigXthaPlug - which ended up being chosen as the album's title-track - arose.

The ‘Have a Good Time’ singer-songwriter reflects, “I got a phone call a couple months ago from a buddy of mine who's friends with X, and those guys asked if I'd be interested”.

He went on to suggest that he felt a little daunted after hearing the demo, which was sung by none other than Chris Stapleton, who co-wrote the hook with Anderson East.

“They sent me some of the stuff they'd already done”, Darius Rucker warmly muses, “Then they sent me the song, and Chris [Stapleton] was singing the demo. It was so good, and they asked me to do it. I told them, ‘If you don't like it, don't use it...!’”

The ‘Wagon Wheel’ hitmaker then pays tribute to BigX, “We went in, and I tried to make it my own. It's just really cool to get to sing a little blues thing, then X has these great lyrics”.

Rucker concludes by joking that, when he first heard the studio version of ‘I Hope You're Happy’, he was shocked, “When I listened to it, I thought, ‘That doesn't sound like me!’ I realized that it's just different...I was trying to be one of those old blues guys”.

It's undoubtedly one of the most arresting and striking vocal performances on the project, rivalled only by Luke Combs’ rousing, choir-backed chorus on ‘Pray Hard’. On ‘I Hope You're Happy’, Rucker's soulful vocals meander wistfully across the sparse guitar.

It's a beautifully delivered hook, and serves as a powerful introduction to the project. Elsewhere during his conversation with Holler, Rucker delves into his friendship with Post Malone, his forthcoming run of shows and his brand new rock band, HowlOwlHowl.

Read Darius Rucker's full 2025 interview with Holler here.

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