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Morgan Wallen has once again joined forces with Chicago rapper, Lil Durk, for a genre-blending song on the latter's new album, Almost Healed.
The uplifting, infectious track pivots around Wallen's infectious hook, during which he pleads with his lover to remain loyal (“If tomorrow I lost it all / And everything that I have was gone / When there's nobody else to call / Would you stand by me, would you stand by me?”).
The collaboration ended up being replaced by ‘B12’ on Lil Durk's new album.
Lil Durk then introduces his sinuous, melodic croons, before Morgan Wallen returns for another high-energy chorus and second verse. It's an electrifying, club-ready anthem that'll no doubt become a huge hit as the summer festival season hits its stride.
‘Stand By Me’, which was released on May 26 as part of Durk's Almost Healed project, marks the second collaboration between Morgan Wallen and Lil Durk. The two previously teamed up for their explosive, Platinum-certified 2021 hit, ‘Broadway Girls’.
Although he's not the lead artist on the song, ‘Broadway Girls’ has become a staple in Wallen's rapidly expanding discography, with the Sneedville megastar often opening his shows by playing the fiery, uptempo crowd-pleaser over the stadium speakers.
Wallen has never shied away from his love of rap music, incorporating a variety of trap-inspired beats and instrumentation on his new album, One Thing At A Time, particularly on the likes of ‘Thinkin’ Bout Me’, ‘Sunrise’, ‘Ain't That Some’ and ‘180 (Lifestyle)’. The latter even interpolates ‘Lifestyle’ by Lil Durk's close friend and frequent collaborator, Young Thug.
Ever since their ‘Broadway Girls’ link-up, Lil Durk has remained a staunch supporter of Morgan Wallen. Durk gave Wallen a shout-out in a recent interview, and even changed his Instagram profile photo to the One Thing At A Time artwork in the lead-up to the album's release.
The inclusion of Morgan Wallen on ‘Stand By Me’ signifies the increasing blurring of lines between country music and hip hop, trap and R&B, with a number of artists regularly fusing these genres, including Wallen's 2023 tour-mates, Ernest and Bailey Zimmerman.
For instance, Zimmerman recently appeared on the new hip hop-leaning Fast X track, ‘Won't Back Down’, alongside Dermot Kennedy and YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
Morgan Wallen's record-setting, chart-topping current single, ‘Last Night’, is another rap-infused fire-starter that epitomises the newfound genre-fluidity emerging within country music.
If the popularity of ‘Last Night’ - which recently became the longest-running country No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history - is anything to go by, it seems we'll be hearing a lot more of this new sound across country music in the months to come.
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