“Is It Country? Is It Pop? I Don't Know...But It Feels Cool to Me”: Charlieonnafriday Ushers in a New Era

It's no secret that country music is the golden child of 2024, with a host of pop, rap and R&B-leaning artists deciding to make a foray into the genre. The list reads like a who's who of the biggest names in modern music, with Beyoncé, Post Malone and Lana Del Rey all announcing country projects, while the likes of Tate McRae and Olivia Rodrigo have brought out Megan Moroney and Tyler Childers at recent shows.

This year, we've witnessed more line-blurring between genres than ever, which has opened the door for more experimentation and alleviated the pressure on artists to stay in one lane.

Having just unveiled his new studio album, Wild Child, Seattle prodigy Charlieonnafriday feels poised to emerge as one of the leading figures in this post-genre generation.

His reverb-soaked vibrato and rattling hi-hats draw from the trap and rap worlds, but the whiskey-fuelled wordplay and Nashvillian melodies of his two latest singles, ‘When It Rains’ and ‘Warning Shot’, hint at Charlieonnafriday's deep-seated love for country.

He's collaborated with George Birge and Kidd G, as well as appearing on line-ups at high-profile country festivals, and you'll often find Charlieonnafriday sharing videos of him singing along to viral hits by Morgan Wallen and Tucker Wetmore on TikTok.

As he explains to Holler, Charlieonnafriday's unique sound is the result of dual influences from his father and mother, “I lived in two households, where my dad lived in the city and my mom lived hours outside the city in the middle of nowhere. So I grew up around a dad who was listening to NWA and Eminem, and then my mom was only listening to Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert”.

His two newest releases, ‘When It Rains’ and ’Warning Shot’, have clear country-leaning impulses, while being grounded in trap. But Charlieonnafriday - whose name stems from his desire to ‘live every day like a Friday’ - underlines that his incorporation of country-inspired lyrics and instrumentation is not a new process for him.

He highlights, “I feel like some of my earlier songs, like ‘After Hours’ and ‘Colorado Boulder’, had a country feel to them, and a lot of country fans really liked them. If you go to my older catalogue, there's a country feel. With this new era of where I want to take my career, getting back to the roots of that vibe was really important to me”.

Charlieonnafriday expands, “I love country music culture and I love doing shows with country fans. We did Tailgates & Tallboys in Bloomington, Illinois, and it was the most fun I've had at a show in a super long time. With my brand, I feel like there's a lot of correlation. Is it country? Is it pop? I don't know what it is, but it feels cool to me, so I'm gonna rock with it. I've been playing with this idea for a while now”.

Since his 2022 single, ‘Enough’, went viral, Charlieonnafriday has drawn comparisons with The Kid Laroi and Post Malone, with the latter being the first artist to start forging inter-genre pathways between the trap, rock, R&B and country spheres.

Unsurprisingly, Charlieonnafriday cites Posty as one of his biggest inspirations, “If I had to name one artist I love the most, it's probably Post. The way he is on-stage, he's just lit. That's how I want to be. He was one of the first people to be like, ‘Yo, what the fuck really is this? I don't know, but it's cool’. He's a rapper and he's a rockstar...Right now in music, the boxes are going away, and I think that's a cool thing”.

The ‘When I'm Leavin’’ crooner goes on to reference Morgan Wallen as a key flag-bearer for a more open-minded style of country music. Charlieonnafriday gushes about One Thing At A Time and hails Morgan as a dream collaboration, singling out his 2023 album cut, ‘180 (Lifestyle)’ - which interpolates Young Thug's ’Lifestyle’ - as the touchstone for this new wave of artistry. “That was like favourite shit”, Charlieonnafriday gushes, “Songs like ‘180 (Lifestyle)’ where he flipped the Young Thug song, that's the tightest shit to me. That whole concept is just fire”.

For his new album, Wild Child, which serves as the follow-up to his 2022 mission statement, ONNAFRIDAY, Charlieonnafriday has embraced Music City's writing culture. He teases that we can look forward to more country-adjacent textures on Wild Child, “I went to Nashville for like three months when I was working on all this new music. I think the way they write songs down there is super dope”.

Regardless of the label you want to put on Charlieonnafriday, it's evident his forthcoming record will mark another significant milestone in the 21-year-old's rapidly accelerating ascent.

With a headlining World Tour on the books for 2024, after a high-profile supporting slot on Tate McRae's Think Later run earlier in the year, and plenty of new music on the way, it seems it won't be long before Nashville's Broadway strip will be bouncing to the infectious beat of Charlie on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday and beyond.

Charlieonnafriday's new album, Wild Child, will be released on August 23rd.