Ella Langley Doesn’t Need Drake’s New “Choosin’ Texas” Remix

Perhaps the coolest and most remarkable aspect of the elevation of Ella Langley and “Choosin’ Texas” to the most popular song in all of music is that Ella has done this all by herself, generally speaking. There was no featured artist. There were no remixes. There was no real effort at crossover appeal, either in the production or promotion of the song, until it began to cross over to pop naturally. Usually all of these things are required for a woman to get to #1 in country, let alone in all of popular music.

This week it will likely be the week that “Choosin’ Texas” officially bests Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” as the longest-running #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in history. Even if it doesn’t reach this feat, it’s run has already been beyond historic. It’s one of the biggest success stories for a song and an artist in the entire history of the country genre, and it’s happening to a traditional-leaning track no less.

That it’s why it’s unfortunate that Canadian hip-hop superstar Drake seems bound and determined to swoop in and try to co-opt some of the “Choosin’ Texas” attention for himself. Drake first set off headlines about his love for the song when he played it at a nightclub in Houston as part of a DJ set in July.

Ella then seemed to reciprocate the appreciation by posting a video of herself on TikTok lip-syncing to the Drake song “HYFR (Hell Ya Fu–ing Right)” that includes the line early on, “All my exes live in Texas like I’m George Strait.” Drake responded in the comments section with the comment “Goated Pen” and a pen emoji.

Then on August 22nd, Drake was spotted at an Ella Langley show at the Simmons Bank Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas on the big screen singing along to “Choosin’ Texas” with songwriter/performer Ernest by his side. The two have also been seen in photos together.

It’s great that Drake counts himself as an Ella Fella, and there’s nothing wrong with him liking the song and supporting Langley. It speaks to just how wide-ranging the appeal is in “Choosin’ Texas,” despite some saying they’ve never heard it, or that it’s not as “popular” as its chart placement would have you believe.

But Drake seems bound and determined to release a remix of the song, and likely very soon. On Tuesday, September 15th, Drake unveiled a project he calls Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) in a livestream. It’s not as much an “album” as it seems to be a succession of videos and songs. Included in it is a long-rumored remix of “Choosin’ Texas” that also features hip-hop artist Don Toliver.

The Drake remix has yet to be officially released publicly, though captures of the song from the livestream have been making the rounds. As you can imagine, Drake’s version is nowhere near “country,” and the lyrics supplant (or subvert) Ella’s original ones.

She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way she grip on my wood grain,
She’s down to take a hundred shots with me and talk about my pain,
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see,
A cowgirl ends up riding off on me,
Drinkin’ yak all by myself,
She’s from Texas, I can tell, baby,

Big wooden wheel, where should I go?
Johnny Manziel with hits that I throw,
College Station nights you used to know,
Now you’re getting fried down in River Oaks, I already know,
Sugarland, Pearlland, Woodlands, you just need a good man, oh”

The good news is that so far, Drake has held off releasing this remix in a way that could affect the perceptions about Ella Langley breaking the all-time #1 record. If Drake had released a remix, even if Ella’s involvement was only ancillary or even non-existent on it, critics would say “Choosin’ Texas” would have never gotten to where it is without Drake’s push.

It’s currently uncertain just exactly when Drake’s remix will officially be released, how Drake’s remix will be handled by the charts, who will get credit for it, or how popular it might become. Officially, we haven’t even heard it yet, except in a one-off stream. But it feels like as soon as he does release it, the remix will become an inextricable part of the “Choosin’ Texas” story thereafter.

You could also see Drake trying to weasel his way onto the CMA Awards, or the Grammys to collaborate with Ella where she’s poised to sweep the major awards. If “Choosin’ Texas” extends its historic run well into the fall, you most certainly will see people saying it’s due to Drake, true or not. And of course Ella herself will say she loves it, because she’s not here to rock the boat, and wants the crossover attention. But it’s really dependent on Drake to not smother Ella with whatever he’s planning.

This isn’t necessarily a knock on Drake, though frankly, the guy’s misogynistic lyrics and self-centered behavior isn’t exactly flattering. It feels like Drake trying to glam onto this “Choosin’ Texas” moment could be part of his rehabilitation project after his shellacking from Kendrick Lamar in their recent rap battle.

Ella Langley doesn’t need Drake. Drake needs Ella Langley. She got her by herself, and a pretty small team of people who believed in her. “Choosin’ Texas” did the rest. If anyone should share in this moment, it should be other country women like Miranda Lambert, who co-wrote and co-produced “Choosin’ Texas,” or Kaitlin Butts who co-starred in the video and has been appearing on tour with Ella—not some guy from the hip-hop world or anywhere else.

Maybe Drake’s “Choosin’ Texas” will barely raise a blip on the radar. Maybe it will blow up and supplant Ella Langley at #1, or beat another one of her tracks in the charts. Either way, this should be Ella’s moment, and country music’s. Not Drake’s.

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