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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September 17, 2026 @ 7:33 am
Rap just sucks. Everything about it.
September 17, 2026 @ 8:44 am
It’s so incredibly dumb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGcrWHQw-j8&list=RDcGcrWHQw-j8&start_radio=1
September 17, 2026 @ 9:09 am
Like country music doesn’t have a dumb problem:
https://youtu.be/FY8SwIvxj8o?si=a40jVY5foQ16a4gY
Most genres have a very unbalanced dumb to good ratio, but by coming on a country music website and categorically saying “rap just sucks” you’re just reinforcing every negative stereotype there is about country music and its fans. (and yes, I’d say the same about a broad brush country slam on a hip hop website).
Its totally cool for something (even an entire genre) to not be to your tastes, but that doesn’t mean it “sucks” as if there is some sort of empirical truth about what kinds of music are worthy and what kinds are not. Maybe if you take off your hood, you’d understand that better.
September 17, 2026 @ 9:40 am
It’s almost like people forget that SCM was made in response to the scourge of bro country
September 18, 2026 @ 12:46 pm
Fake news.
SCM was founded from the Free Hank Movement.
Years before Bro-Country.
September 17, 2026 @ 9:43 am
That being said, country is so often the butt of the joke that it’s hard for me to feel bad when other genres recieve a fraction of the negativity. Not saying that we should trash other genres, but let’s not pretend that others wouldn’t willingly say the same about us
September 17, 2026 @ 9:44 am
Trigger will censor some of my comments but allow you to make KKK accusations. Anyway.. Yes there is plenty of dumb Country music but it’s understood to be simple and dumb. People who like rappers like Drake think it’s smart music while being oblivious to how dumb it is.
September 17, 2026 @ 10:10 am
I mean Drake is the dumb super popular mainstream version of the genre. He’s Morgan wallen or in a previous era Florida Georgia line. Saying rap music is bad cause Drake is like saying country is bad cause Sam hunt.
And of course one group that’s been saying this for years is other rappers who seem to all hate Drake
September 17, 2026 @ 10:23 am
You think the people that listen to dumb country music know it’s dumb? More so than people that listen to dumb rap?
As far as the KKK thing, everyone in my life that is preoccupied with being evangelical about rap sucking is racist to some degree. Normal people just don’t listen to it. Even more normal people are aware that some of it probably has redeeming qualities even if they themselves don’t feel like figuring out what that is. That’s where I am at.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:03 am
Whatever. You guys can have your little space. I’m done having my comments censored. This is the last comment I will make and the last time I read anything from this site.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:56 am
Strait,
What you’re saying makes no sense. You’re demanding that some else’s comment must be censored, but then you’re complaining that comments are censored. Meanwhile, none of your comments have been censored here.
No, this topic does not have to do with the KKK, and I wish people would refrain from making comments like that. But if you don’t like it, rebut it, which you did. You’ve made plenty of off-topic, off-the-cuff inappropriate comments too.
How about we all be grown ass adults and stop slap fighting about comments?
As said this the other day and I’ll say it again: If people can’t stay on topic with comments, these comment sections are going to go away. I’m done with it. If you would never read this site again because somebody said something in the comments section, why even navigate to it? But yes, bankrupt me because someone called you KKK in a comment. That will solve everyone’s problems.
September 17, 2026 @ 9:49 am
I hope for you that one day you will find these imaginary KKK Nazis that you so desperately wants to confront. (as if you have the physical fortitude to do anything) That way you won’t have to keep relying on name-calling and Kafka traps to pad your ego.
September 17, 2026 @ 9:17 am
As Greg Allman once observed…”Rap” is shorthand for “Crap.”
September 17, 2026 @ 9:54 am
Rap music and country music are two different sides of the same coin. Both were started by the poorer class of their respective races, both eventually went main stream and got co-opted by opportunistic posers and media conglomerates, and now you end up with a situation where a Canadian actor pedo is remixing a song made for sorority girls from Sandy Springs.
I obviously like country better, but to pretend like some rappers don’t have interesting shit to say, or the majority of country music released isn’t shit is a fairly ignorant in my opinion.
September 17, 2026 @ 10:04 am
Yeah rap and country have a lot in common. Specifically they’re both rooted in working class people marginalized by mainstream society and both have by far the most concern with authenticity from their artists. Drake is a great example of that where by far the most common criticism he’s received from other rappers is being inauthentic. He doesn’t write his own lyrics, he is Canadian, he’s of a different class, it’s all the same stuff country artists would say.
Like “kid rock don’t care from where I come from, yeah it’s true he’s a yank, he ain’t no son of Hank” is exactly the type of stuff people have said for years about Drake. Country and rap by far are the genres with the most power in that type of criticism
September 17, 2026 @ 2:24 pm
Kenny Rogers drew a comparison with country and rap many years ago in 1998, and spoke of it many times since. He said many of the things thedevlyouknow and Harris said in their comments. And I agree with all.
To me, it is very easy to see similarities in the origin of country music and rap. Both genres have merit.
September 17, 2026 @ 10:14 am
I have no doubt there are artists out there doing meaningful and innovative things in the hip-hop space that in that universe, are worthy of praise.
I also know that Drake is not one of them.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:54 am
Just so long as no one accuses them of rape, am I right?
September 19, 2026 @ 8:39 am
You’re wrong, Drake is the primary one doing things. He is inspiring to so many people of color in a positive way and that is the thing most people of color need now. Imagine someone telling you you can’t do what you are most talented at doing for reasons that are not even relevant if you are the one truly bringing more to the table. After 50 years, the reasons for rap/hip hop have changed. So it makes sense that Drake is the top artist of the century now. I am an older black adult who gets the need to change things in rap and hip hop. Understanding this means understanding black history which isn’t really taught anymore.
September 19, 2026 @ 2:15 pm
Thats b. S. “people of color” dont look up to no f**cn drake. Are you smoking?! Yes hip hop needed new direction, but nowhere near the direction drake taking it. You need slapped in the back of your head for that take. And dont ever say the words drake and black history again. EVER. Plz and thank you
September 17, 2026 @ 2:30 pm
Once again, just because YOU don’t like something, that doesn’t mean that it “sucks.” I am so tired of this.
There should be room in the musical sandbox for everyone. All music has merit. If it touches somebody, then that is all that matters.
I started listening to Kenny Rogers when I was 2 years old. That led me to discover his catalog, which got me into country music (as well as rock when he was with The First Edition). I wouldn’t love George Jones or Jefferson Airplane without Kenny Rogers.
Despite always being a country fan first, I also discovered rap. I bought albums by East and West coast artists, 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. being my favorites.
What is wrong with liking music besides one specific type of country music? I just don’t get it.
Again, all music should have merit. Just because a pop song is designed to make people dance and have fun doesn’t make it shit.
September 18, 2026 @ 12:47 pm
You can’t spell crap without rap.
September 22, 2026 @ 5:40 pm
Drake is a Pop Star!! Cos-playing as a rapper. We don’t want him.
September 17, 2026 @ 8:39 am
Gross. Has she not listened to “Not Like Us”?
September 17, 2026 @ 8:40 am
Music by a retard for other retards.
September 17, 2026 @ 12:30 pm
Wow…you’re a terrible human. It what universe do people use that word? I work with those students everyday, and they are so kind and generous of spirit that I would never, EVER, use that word to demean them.
September 17, 2026 @ 2:51 pm
In the universe where people understand the use of the word in certain contexts, a universe that is sadly filled with self-righteous and thin-skinned virtue-signalling fools like yourself who are offended by everything.
September 17, 2026 @ 3:33 pm
Comment threads like these are the reason these comments sections are going to be going away if people cannot be more responsible, and respectful of this website. I’m tired of it.
And it was started by someone who said they’ll never read the site again because they were offended by something somebody else said, and that it wasn’t censored.
September 22, 2026 @ 6:34 pm
This comment should be removed. Complete unacceptable!
September 17, 2026 @ 9:06 am
Great to hear that Drake is on board.
Who’s Lamar?
September 17, 2026 @ 9:39 am
Between this and barking at the fake goth girl, Drake is doing everything he can to make people forget about the allegations against him
September 17, 2026 @ 9:48 am
I honestly don’t understand why Ella Langley would want to associate with Drake. I get that none of the allegations against him have been proven, but his reputation is certainly very tainted.
September 17, 2026 @ 10:13 am
I guess she likes his music. Strangely many people like bad music
September 17, 2026 @ 10:31 am
Given the social media stuff they’ve both done, I have no doubt she likes his music. My point is that Ella is flying so his right now, I don’t get why she would want to openly collaborate with someone accused of having sex with underage girls.
September 17, 2026 @ 10:32 am
I mean Travis Scott is also responsible for the deaths of several people, but he still gets cast in The Odyssey and a song in GTA6.
September 17, 2026 @ 10:36 am
Didn’t she release a song with a guy named Big Butt Plug?
September 18, 2026 @ 2:04 pm
That’s exactly why you still have a lot to learn I guess. Just because somebody’s “reputation” is tainted by things that have not been proven, that means you shouldn’t be in contact or want to be connected to someone? You’re the type of guy that would follow the nazi’s because of propaganda. Sorry if this offends anyone.
I think Drake is just doing whatever the fck he wants after pretty much the whole world hated on him.
So many people in this comment section talking about Ella ‘needing’ Drake. Also what this thread is about. Let Ella do whatever the fuck she wants too? Ella’s trying to be herself. Not one of the country stereotypes. I guess a lot of people just feel safe being a stereotype. It’s like you people are delusional and try to protect every single connection with anything you personally don’t like. Y’all look so scared to me.
September 22, 2026 @ 6:37 pm
She recorded a song with Morgan Wallen, so there is a precedent of her associating with trash.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:17 am
RAP sucks um kay…..Its already too late for ella .she’s collabing with rappers and will have pop music soon …and will keep her on tour and write her next album for her while she sips margaritas on the beach somewhere…I just wonder when the magical bangs that has men and woman ,young and old wanting to bang her, will run there course ……just went to bobbys idle hour for reeves brothers,Adam chafin,and silverada ……was amazing and didn’t spend a dime on a ticket..Sat out back and drank $5 beers with the moon pies…always be the moon pies to me …amazing time
September 17, 2026 @ 11:23 am
100 percent Ella doesn’t need Drake one bit. And good on Ella pulling in Muscadine when Ernst dropped out as her opener. Those guys deserve to be in front of her crowds. Her story about how they got to be friends playing the dive bar circuit in Alabama a decade ago being why she called ’em up to open just proves she hasn’t forgotten how she got here.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:39 am
All I know is the writers of this song will never have to work another day in their life.
September 17, 2026 @ 2:57 pm
Nah, what did it take four people to write the song? Split in half so the publishers involved get their 50%, then split the rest four ways, well three because Ella’s label will be taking a cut as part of a 360 deal, and the only ones who may never have to work another day will be Ella and Miranda Lambert.
September 17, 2026 @ 3:08 pm
Too bad they had to give a credit to Ella.
September 18, 2026 @ 8:32 am
Dude, she wrote the hook. “She’s from Texas I can tell…” Unless you also think she’s been lying to everyone.
September 18, 2026 @ 11:47 am
I haven’t seen many, if any interviews with her. I actually wish I could take that comment down. I suppose I was wrong. I have always suspected country artists just put their name on songs they sing (like Elvis used to insist on owning any song he cut or something), then Trigger spoke about it just a few days ago (not specifically with regards to Ella). I need to chill out on the hate. For some reason you all loving her so much makes me like her less. Thanks for the correction. Long Live Ella Langley.
September 18, 2026 @ 2:22 pm
Fair enough. 4 writers is inherently suspicious in this day and age, I get that.
It’s a pretty funny story actually. The line was inspired by teenage Miranda Lambert getting pulled over with a zebra in her car. I guess now that zebra might be one of her best financial decisions.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:40 am
Run away Ella, from the vultures. People like him are always lurking in the weeds looking for the easy money train. Predictable and sad.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:44 am
On the surface, I get it. This is a rapper glomming onto one of the most popular songs in recent memory and a song that’s about to break a record.
I had an issue with this part: 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.
The second sentence is assuming a lot. Even if the remix came out now and gave Ella’s song some additional juice to break the record, that’s different from someone saying “Ella would never have gotten to where it is with Drake’s push.” She already got here, it’s a song that’s spent months at the #1 position without him. At most someone could argue that a Drake remix provided a nudge for a final week to break a record. But if Choosin Texas is this cultural phenomenon and did it on it’s own, isn’t it strong enough to survive a remix?
But overall, there’s this contradiction I see on here and elsewhere with other country fans. Country deserves more respect, more attention, more success and more cultural influence. But when someone who is outside country…I dunno, shines a light on it, whatever you want to call what Drake’s doing, suddenly everyone who is “authentic country” starts getting anxious.
And maybe someone hears a Drake remix and goes “Who the hell is Ella Langley?” and then they hear the original. And then they find Miranda Lambert, Kaitlin Butts and start getting into country music.
Maybe the remix sucks or maybe it’s great. Maybe someone hears an Ella Langley song for the first time and checks out more of her music or maybe they don’t care.
What’s the tragedy here?
September 17, 2026 @ 12:00 pm
If Drake releases a remix of “Choosin’ Texas” and it takes off, he will get credit for its success by the brain dead popular music public. If people still believe Beyonce released a country record, they’ll believe that in a heartbeat. Trust me. We saw this with the Nelly remix of Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise.”
I do think Ella’s people are probably aware of this, and that is why they’re probably trying to delay the remix as long as possible, until it can be useful to bolster the song when it finally starts to fall.
September 17, 2026 @ 3:34 pm
Also, Drake is coming off of an era of his (the first since losing that rap “beef”) that was quite frontloaded commercially but fizzled out rapidly with little staying power: as evidenced by all but two tracks from the album having already left the Billboard Hot 100 entirely.
So I bet Drake is looking at any way to get commercial momentum and attention back on his side after licking his wounds these past couple of months, and this undoubtedly would succeed in doing that if it’s cleared for release (at least short term).
It just screams self-indulgence on Drake’s part, rather than actually adding to Langley’s now modern classic.
September 17, 2026 @ 5:34 pm
I think that’s where we disagree a little. There’s something odd about calling popular loving music public “brain dead” and then giving their misunderstanding that hasn’t happened yet enough weight and importance to shape an argument. If Drake is this terrible and if this remix is this bad and if the general public who’d appreciate this are this clueless, why would you let them define Ella’s success?
I guess Drake could get too much credit if the remix blows up. But I also don’t think that means that people forget that the song was already one of the biggest records of the year before he remixed it….the history doesn’t change. Ella had a massive hit before he ever touched it. But even with Cruise, does anyone seriously think that Nelly created FGL’s success?
The whole thing just seems territorial and a little fear based. Country fans want a seat at the table of what’s culturally relevant, they want the respect and they don’t want to be looked down upon. But the second someone from the outside wants to participate, suddenly there’s a big concern about who is allowed to call what country, who gets credit and a lot of hand wringing about if the “brain dead popular music public” understands it correctly.
But that’s the thing with art, in any medium. The second it’s released, there’s some control lost over what happens to it. In some way, it belongs to the public and anyone that wants to interact with it. There’s forever a group of people that think Born in the USA as a patriotic anthem. Some think Hendrix wrote All Along The Watchtower. People know Johnny Cash’s Hurt and don’t know it’s a Nine Inch Nails song. People know the Nelly version of Cruise better than the FGL original. These things happen when art gets past the original intended audience.
But the brain dead pop loving public who might like a Drake/Ella remix don’t take anything away from the people who really know what’s going on. To me, trying to prevent art from reaching a bigger audience because a part of that audience might misunderstand or not understand the original version is basically saying “I want this to remain smaller than have the wrong people enjoy it for the wrong reasons.”
The whole thing is just cutting your nose to spite your face, in a way. You want Ella to be taken seriously, you want country music to be taken seriously, but then you want to sneer at the mass audience when they’re presented with it. Demanding cultural relevance and then resenting the messiness that comes with being culturally relevant seems to be shooting yourself in the foot.
I’m not here to dice up and decide what the motive is here for Drake…where he’s being honest in his appreciation for her music or just trying to capture a trend. Maybe it’s both…but I also don’t see why country music has to be protected from that.
September 17, 2026 @ 7:50 pm
I totally understand what you’re saying Andrew, and I tried to address some of this in the article itself. I think what makes this situation so unique is that it is a woman, that it’s a country woman, and that it’s more of a traditional country song, and that Ella got here without the collaboration or remix. She could have done a second version as a duet with Luke Combs or Chris Stapleton, or Megan Moroney or Kaitlin Butts. Instead, we get Drake, and because Drake just sort of did it instead of launching a true collaboration.
I have no idea what the outcome of any of this will be. But before it’s released, I wanted to be on the record. Maybe in the long run it’s meaningless. Maybe it poisons the entire “Choosin’ Texas” well, though I don’t think that’s likely to happen. More likely, something happens in the middle of those two scenarios. I just wish it was more about Ella choosin’ what happens with the song instead of Drake swooping in from on high to interject himself into the conversation. I just doesn’t sit right with me.
September 18, 2026 @ 4:36 am
Hey Trigger,
From some of the details in your article, it sounds like there’s been, at minimum, some indirect communication between their two camps. When you write that Drake “swooping in from on high…doesn’t sit well” with you, do you know that’s what’s going on here? If Ella or her camp have had conversations with Drake about it, would that change how you feel? I don’t know how these remixes work/tend to come about, so curious to hear more about how the dynamics of its creation impact your feelings about it.
September 18, 2026 @ 4:44 am
That makes more sense and I think Ella having control over the song is probably the best version of the argument. I’m not sure how it works but I would hope that Ella gets a say-so here.
But I still get hung up on the part where you say she could have done it with Luke Combs, Stapleton, Moroney, etc…if one of those collaborations would feel okay, then I don’t think the issue here is totally about preserving something Ella did herself. It’s still about who belongs and who doesn’t.
I get wanting this accomplishment to remain hers, I just don’t think someone from outside country interacting with the song takes much at all away from her.
September 17, 2026 @ 1:05 pm
@Andrew:
Drake is a has-been. If it were someone actually currently popular doing a remix or duet like – checks Billboard.com wow goodness the charts these days are a mess so I’ll just say BTS or Olivia Rodrigo – we could debate your “country deserves more respect, more attention, more success and more cultural influence” point. As it is, Drake cannot supply any of those. He is desperate for relevance – his albums the last couple of years did well commercially but even his own fans aren’t talking about them – and remixing Langley’s hit is the best way to achieve it. Not just because he is remixing a record-breaking song but is specifically remixing a record-breaking COUNTRY song is a great way to get the usual suspects talking. It would be very good for Drake and the media types who talk about it but the only impact it would conceivably have for country and Langley would be negative.
Trigger is also right to not want a remix from a non-country artist to play any role in the narrative for this record-setting song because if it does, it will be all the media types who hate country talk about. Even if Langley’s song breaks Mariah Carey’s record – which, again a ton of “not-country” types are not happy about seeing happen – and Drake’s remix comes along and gives it a 2 week bump a month later, they’ll find some way to spin it that gives Drake maximum credit.
Finally, Drake by reputation is a horrible person. I totally understand Trigger not wanting Langley and one of the biggest country hits ever to be associated with someone regarded as an utter creep. So if it were a likable and actually currently popular artist remixing or doing a duet with another hit song – even another Langley song – it would be worth pondering. As it is, Trigger is absolutely right in hoping that this remix never sees the light of day.
September 17, 2026 @ 5:53 pm
Hey Rano,
It sounds like you’re arguing that Drake is an irrelevant has-been who has nothing to offer Ella and hugely powerful cultural figure capable of hijacking one of the biggest country songs ever…so which is it? These two things don’t agree with each other.
Drake, no matter what you think of him, has about 95 million listeners on Spotify. You can argue that he’s not as hot as he was a few years ago, that some of his recent albums haven’t had the hits that his previous ones did or that Kendrick Lamar did a lot of damage to him. But “has been” seems to be doing a lot of your lifting here.
The part that doesn’t make a lot of sense is “The only impact it would conceivably have for country and Langley would be negative.”
Really? you can’t even conceive the possibility of someone who listens to Drake’s remix, likes her voice, finding the original and then checking out more of her music? I’m not even arguing that happens at a huge level, but it just means the idea of no upside means you’ve worked pretty hard not to see one.
So then there’s the group of people who hate country, rooting against Ella and are waiting for a reason to give Drake all the credit.
Ok, who cares?
History doesn’t change because someone had a stupid take on it. Ella’s song is huge, way before Drake ever entered the pciture.
That’s the part of your argument I find weird and Trigger’s to be weird, too. You guys have a terrible, low opinion of these people but you give their opinions huge amounts of power. Trigger calls them the “brain dead popular music public.” You seem to think that media people who hate country can’t wait to distort what’s actually happening here.
So if these people are this stupid, why do you organize your feelings about music around what they think?
And if Drake is really washed up and a has-been, why are you terrified that Ella appearing on his remix will allow him to steal her thunder?
As for Drake being a creep, okay…fine. At least that’s a coherent argument. If you dislike him and don’t want Ella connected with him, fine. But flip through your record collection sometime and start throwing out every album made by someone who has questionable behavior. You’ll need a big trashcan.
September 18, 2026 @ 8:46 am
@Andrew:
I am not saying that Drake can hi-jack it. I am saying that media types in New York and Los Angeles who hate country music and especially hate that Ella Langley’s song is breaking Mariah Carey’s record – and Carey is beloved by these people (I will acknowledge for good reasons even though not a Carey fan myself) will create a narrative that hi-jacks it. This narrative will be swallowed wholesale by people who know nothing about country music and are already predisposed not to like it. The narrative that country music blackballed Lil Nas X and Old Town Road still exists to this day thanks to these people. And the only reason why these people failed to turn Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter into an even larger, destructive and more divisive controversy than it did was? The album being so terrible that not even her own fans kept streaming it after a couple of months. Yet that terrible album STILL won a ton of Grammys over far more deserving artists. These folks tried their level best to make hay out of Shaboozey and we are extremely fortunate that – unlike Maren Morris – regardless of his personal politics Shaboozey is uninterested in alienating the people that he wants to buy his records. These folks also raised a ruckus over Luke Combs covering Fast Car. Again, we are VERY FORTUNATE that Combs had a tender autobiographical story of bonding over the song with his dad, plus having performed the song for years before finally releasing the single, his being moderate/apolitical and – most of all – Chapman making it absolutely clear that she had no issues whatsoever Combs making the song. They even threw a softball over the plate for her – “you know his version charted higher than yours did, isn’t that unfair?” – but thankfully she refused to swing.
Yes, I am aware that Drake has 95 million listeners. Adding that to Langley with a remix would be “money” as the hip-hoppers say. But another thing that the hip-hoppers say? “All money ain’t good money.” Just this very morning people were mocking Drake on social media as lame over some video of himself that he dropped.
The same was true of Beyonce by the way. A ton of people claimed that Beyonce was going to bring a bunch of new fans and artists into country. Didn’t happen. Why? Because Beyonce of 2024 is not the Beyonce of 2014. Her album before Cowboy Carter flat out flopped commercially. Before she was able to ride a political narrative to take Texas Hold ‘Em to #1 – including media types, Beyonce fans and other activists harassing country stations to demand that they play the song – her only way to get a #1 hit in years had been to make duet versions of other #1 hits with actually current popular artists. Including Ed Sheeran. Ed. Sheeran. So there was a slight brief bump in country songs streamed – not sales just streams – due to the Beyonce effect but it evaporated quickly. Cowboy Carter didn’t create a single enduring country fan. It didn’t launch the career of a single black country artist (which Beyonce doesn’t sign to her own label) … more on this later. All it did was let everyone know that “black people invented the banjo” (an instrument that almost no one black plays anymore and certainly didn’t start playing again after Cowboy Carter) and reinforce a bunch of negative stereotypes about country and its fans that people wanted to have already.
And on the “more on this later”? Note that I said that that it didn’t do anything for the black country musicians that she featured on her album. Shaboozey was on it? Yes. But Tipsy was already a smash hit BEFORE Cowboy Carter. Beyonce had NOTHING to do with Shaboozey’s success. Yet TONS of think pieces claimed that she did. The media actually ran to Shaboozey asking him about how great it was that being on Cowboy Carter made him into a star. Shaboozey had no choice other than be diplomatic and feign Beyonce gratitude instead of pointing out that his success was the result of his own decade of hard work and that country fans had never had a problem with him – you know the actual objective proof – or else he would have gotten raked over the coals. So to this day a bunch of people who – again – do not know a thing about country music and have no interest in learning anything about it believe that Beyonce is responsible for making a black man into an award-winning country music star to this day. These media types aren’t interested in the truth. Lil Nas X even came out and said that Old Town Road was never a country song and that he just labeled it as one in order to game the streaming algorithm.
I repeat: all over social media this morning the guy’s own fans were saying “Drake’s so lame now, I want the 2010 – 2018 Drake back!” Not the first time. Won’t be the last. Drake is incapable of bringing new fans, good attention or anything else positive that would outweigh the real negative. Let be restate that: the negative is going to happen either way. The positive has to outweigh the negative. With Luke Combs’ Fast Car, the positive outweighed the negative. Big time. Tracy Chapman doing a duet with Luke Combs at the Grammys, her first high profile performance in decades, was epic. So much so that even the mainstream music writers that had spent months trying to spread as much negativity about Combs and the song as possible were forced to stand down and admit defeat. Anything that a pop, rock or rap artist does with Choosin’ Texas needs to be more along those lines. And Drake is long past his ability to produce anything close to epic.
September 18, 2026 @ 11:04 am
Rano, I think this response actually makes my original point stronger, but there are also a few things here that are wrong.
First, yesterday you said the only impact it would conceivably have for country and Langley would be negative. Now you’re acknowledging that putting Drake’s 95 million listeners in front of Ella would be “money”…but arguing that the positive wouldn’t outweigh the negative.
Okay…then we’ve already moved quite a bit. There is a conceivable upside. Now we’re just arguing over how much weight to give it.
But the Shaboozey chronology is backwards. Cowboy Carter came out March 29…A Bar Song (Tipsy) came out April 12. Billboard has actually reported that Shaboozey’s team called what happened a “Beyoncé bump” and moved the release of A Bar Song UP a couple weeks specifically to capitalize on the exposure from Cowboy Carter.
That doesn’t mean Beyoncé made Shaboozey successful. Of course she didn’t…he made a gigantic record and ultimately that record stood on its own. But Tipsy was already a smash hit BEFORE Cowboy Carter simply isn’t what happened. https://www.billboard.com/music/country/shaboozey-a-bar-song-tipsy-country-music-cover-1235790910/
Same thing with calling Renaissance a flat out commercial flop. It debuted #1 with 332,000 units, had what was then the biggest streaming week of the year for an album by a woman and produced a #1 Hot 100 single. Maybe it wasn’t peak Beyoncé…fine. But “flat out flop” is making the phrase basically meaningless. https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/beyonce-renaissance-billboard-200-debut-no-1-1235123568/
And I’m really curious where you’re getting the Lil Nas X claim. When Time directly asked him whether Old Town Road was a country song during that whole controversy, his answer was that it was country trap, that it was both country and hip hop and that it should be on both charts. If there’s some later quote where he says it was never country and he only called it that to game the algorithm, show me…because the quote I can find from him says basically the opposite. https://time.com/5561466/lil-nas-x-old-town-road-billboard/
Then we get into things that I don’t know how anyone could possibly know.
Cowboy Carter didn’t create a single enduring country fan…not one? How would you know that?
Shaboozey didn’t genuinely appreciate Beyoncé featuring him, he was just feigning gratitude because the media would punish him otherwise…how do you know what Shaboozey actually feels?
Media people in New York and LA hate country music. People are rooting against Ella because they love Mariah Carey. Beyoncé’s success was mostly some political narrative. Drake can’t possibly introduce anyone worthwhile to Ella.
At some point you’re not really presenting evidence anymore…you’re assigning motives to everybody involved, then using the motives you’ve assigned them as evidence that you’re right.
And I think that’s exactly the thing I’ve been trying to get at.
There doesn’t seem to be any possible interaction between country music and the broader culture that can pass this test. If Beyoncé draws attention to Shaboozey, the attention didn’t count and his gratitude isn’t sincere. If Drake brings 95 million listeners with him, he’s washed up and the listeners don’t count. If the press writes positively about it, they’re hostile media people with an agenda. If casual listeners enjoy it they’re uninformed and will understand it wrong. If Cowboy Carter wins awards, the awards aren’t legitimate because other artists deserved them more.
You’ve done a bang up job at deciding what the outcome will be and then have worked backwards to explain why whatever happens will prove you right. Drake helps the song? Bad, he hijakced the narrative. He doesn’t help it? Bad, because he was washed up and brought nothing to the table. People discover Ella through the remix? Not the people I want listening to Ella and interacting with country. They don’t discover Ella? See, there was never any upside.
There’s no possible result here that’d have you reconsider the situation.
But we’re back where we started….you’re giving people you clearly don’t respect an incredible amount of power.
If some writer in New York publishes a stupid article crediting Drake for Ella Langley’s career, he’s wrong…Ella’s history hasn’t changed. If somebody thinks Beyoncé single handedly created Shaboozey, they’re wrong too…Shaboozey’s history hasn’t changed.
I don’t understand why them being wrong needs to determine how everybody else experiences the music.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:48 am
And the pop star princess makeover begins…
September 17, 2026 @ 11:58 am
Like everybody’s said, it’s defiantly odd that Drake, of all people, is the one remixing the song. Aside from the novelty of it, the only real reason to remix “Choosin’ Texas” would be to put male vocals on it, such that people who find the female singing voice grating would listen. I’m not trying to open a can of worms here, but there are people out there who will listen to George Strait, but not Langly for that very reason. As has been implicitly said before, Drake isn’t the guy who’s going to bring this song to the attention of converted classic rock fans and such, so again, it’s just odd.
As a side note, and I don’t mean to take away from any important discussions or album reviews, but do you have any thoughts on Chris Stapleton fronting The Heartbreakers at the Americana Awards the other day? I know it’s probably not article worthy stuff, but it’s still notable that this was their first reunion since Tom Petty’s death, and Chris was fronting them for it.
September 17, 2026 @ 12:06 pm
I missed the Americana Awards for the first time in a long time this year. I might have something on the Chris Stapleton stuff at some point.
September 17, 2026 @ 12:22 pm
I hadn’t seen that. I’ve been wondering who’d get tapped for that. I actually had my money on Sturgill. If one of the prerequisites is being contemporarily famous, then you add the criteria of actually being talented, it doesn’t really leave many options. And I’m sure I’m blanking on someone, but it almost had to be someone from country as well, Jack White is the only non country guy I can think of that meets those two pieces. I think a woman would be an interesting choice, make it less “Tom Petty Karaoke”, like Lady Gaga, Miley, or Kelly Clarkson, probably Miley. With that said though Chris Stapleton is a fine choice.
I know the Coral Reefer band is touring with I believe Mac McAnally as lead, but when they decide they need to do a tv appearance it’s going to be Kenny Chesney for sure right?
September 17, 2026 @ 12:13 pm
Someone is now Losin’ Texas.
September 17, 2026 @ 3:01 pm
“She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way she grip on my wood grain…”
Complete trash. Ella would be wise to stay away from this guy.
September 17, 2026 @ 6:05 pm
are wood grain steering wheels not popular in Houston???
September 17, 2026 @ 3:48 pm
Drake’s just fucking weird these days
September 17, 2026 @ 9:46 pm
i liked the drake better when he was in a wheelchair on Degrassi
September 17, 2026 @ 10:18 pm
i have heard enough
deport the drake
September 17, 2026 @ 10:22 pm
Perhaps we shouldn’t keep idealizing Ella Langley. It is clearly her and her team’s decision to allow a remix like this. Even though she does record occasional a pure country song, she is primarily a highly commercial product making mainstream Nashville pop, open to anything that brings money and fame. It is entirely up to Ella Langley and her team that Drake’s remix casts a shadow over “Choosin’ Texas.” It is sheer greed.
September 18, 2026 @ 6:39 am
Who is “iealizing” Ella Langley? I think there’s a lot of people that are getting it mixed up in their head the difference between “idealizing” an artist, and simply reporting on what is a clearly historical moment in this history of country music, and the history of all popular music.
“It is clearly her and her team’s decision to allow a remix like this.”
“It is entirely up to Ella Langley and her team that Drake’s remix casts a shadow over “Choosin’ Texas.” It is sheer greed.”
I don’t know any of these statements to be true. My belief is that Ella’s team has probably tried to delay the release of this remix, and is probably trying to “manage” the situation without looking to be combative towards Drake. I’m not saying they are in communication or they might not even look forward to it. But since Ella has no involvement in the track, and Drake can do whatever he wants as long as writers credits are given to the right people, Ella might not have any choice.
September 17, 2026 @ 11:34 pm
Yess Choosin Texas is one of the most historic country singles!! And I thought drake might put out a collab with morgan wallen, but I never expected him to remix an ella langley song instead…
September 18, 2026 @ 6:28 am
Drake can do whatever he wants and Drake is life.
Yall don’t know Drake like that
September 18, 2026 @ 7:10 am
Kendrick Lamar > Drake.
September 19, 2026 @ 8:24 am
This will never be true, but dream on.
September 18, 2026 @ 9:49 am
Drake doesnt need a “comeback” after what happened with kendrick because he never fell off. He has and will probably continue to be the best Artist of this generation
September 18, 2026 @ 11:16 am
I always find these discussions so interesting because they’re a reminder of how wholly subjective musical preference is!
My shameful sin as a lifelong country fan is that I could not be more indifferent to the song Choosin’ Texas if I tried. I listened to it several times in hopes of finally understanding its massive appeal, especially because I do like a few of Ella’s other songs.
However, as someone who’s currently stuck assessing and annotating AI output for a (partial!) living since AI rendered my former position obsolete, Choosin’ Texas truly sounds like the result of someone requesting that AI generate the most blandly generic and mediocre song possible. The vocals, melody, lyrics and instrumentation are all so thoroughly and utterly meh to me that part of me wonders whether I’m somehow hearing a different and markedly inferior version of the song that literally almost every other person I know seems to adore!
This is not meant as any sort of shade towards the overwhelming majority of fellow country fans who love the song. In fact, I’m genuinely envious of you! If anyone else secretly thinks this is the most spectacularly mediocre song ever, though, I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. Suffice it to say I’ll be giving Drake’s version a hard pass as well.
September 18, 2026 @ 1:53 pm
Well my disdain for the song is no secret but im right there with you. Though noeline hofman just released a new song and Ian noes new album comes out next week so things are improving.
September 19, 2026 @ 6:34 am
Hey friend, thanks for validating me about the mediocrity of the insanely overrated, painfully bland Choosin’ Texas and thank you even more for reminding me to check out the amazing Noeline Hoffman! Always love the suggestions that the fans here come up with. This site is where I discovered a huge number of country artists I would never have heard of otherwise, which is why I still read every post despite hating how everything devolves into the usual hellscape culture wars that music should help to divert us from!
September 19, 2026 @ 8:22 am
This just proves that no matter how good something is, there is always someone that hates it. I bet someone, somewhere hates Thriller. Ha-ha. Carry on.
September 19, 2026 @ 10:12 am
No, what it “proves” is that taste is wholly subjective. And also that you’re an arrogant, obnoxious moron who should keep your mouth shut.
September 18, 2026 @ 11:30 am
Congratulations for writing this completely unneccesary piece that has catalyzed a comment section full or racist remarks and slander against the biggest artist of his generation.
Very interesting that you would repeat the corporate-driven lie about Drake getting “shellacked” as you call it by Kendrick. Who paid you to write this piece of a song that hasn’t even been released? Where is the evidence of such shellacking when Drake is as popular as ever. Where is the evidence of the misogny in his raps when Drake consistently encourages female empowerment.
September 18, 2026 @ 12:21 pm
Congratulations on being a Stan.
Nobody paid to have this article written.
September 18, 2026 @ 1:52 pm
Choosin Texas is ok, but the first time I heard it I knew it would be way better as a hick hop song. I’m holding out hope she got someone talented like upchurch or jelly roll to help keep things authentic country rap. Drake is ok but he doesn’t look like he knows a damn thing about four wheelers or being addicted to gas station drugs. Kinda hard to make a good hick hop song when you can’t identify with the audience.
September 18, 2026 @ 2:17 pm
“Choosin’ Texas” is in no universe a “hick hop” song, and that characterization really shows the aggressively cynical approach many traditional and independent fans are bringing to it. I hope this comment is sarcasm.
September 18, 2026 @ 4:53 pm
Are you questioning my love of upchurch and gas station narcotics?
Yeah that was sarcasm. The song has been number one for almost six months so it obviously doesn’t need any outside help so this remix looks like a transparent attempt to piggyback off her success and help him hopefully sell albums to a group of people he normally wouldn’t.
September 19, 2026 @ 8:17 am
As much as I like Drake’s interpolation of the song Choosing Texas, I hope he doesn’t release it. People tend to perceive things he does as trying to step on another artist moment and make it his own even if he’s just being a fan. I mean it doesn’t sound like Ella’s version. It is just a cool hip hop interpolation. Drake doesn’t need to do that at all. He is just a fun, nice guy who has admiration for other artist. I hope the hate and cynicism never changes him.
September 19, 2026 @ 9:23 pm
I think all hip-hop is awful and most modern pop is awful but that some modern country — such as “Choosin’ Texas” — isn’t awful. So, I wish hip-hop and pop artists would stay the hell away from country.
September 19, 2026 @ 10:49 pm
I’m suprised Beyonce, Seboozy, Jelly Roll etc haven’ t now reached out to collaborate. (Or her record company, handlers or social justice arbitrators will force this to happen…)
September 22, 2026 @ 10:51 am
College Station doesn’t deserve to be dragged into this degeneracy.