Sam Hunt Wants to Bring a “House Party” to Country Music
Going into this, the prospects I had for being able to squeeze any bit of entertainment value or cultural insight for the amount of time invested seemed incredibly slim. The premise was flimsy, my knowledge and interest in the subject matter was superficial to say the least, and the whole thing just seemed to be a vehicle for robbing the public by exploiting a rising trend with shallow and shoddily-produced content.
But what I found despite my cultural ignorance and suspicions going in was an entertaining glimpse into a side of culture I would likely otherwise never be exposed to, and something that could act as an illustrated snapshot of a moment in America that we may have otherwise only have our memories to call back on—something that could act as a cultural guidepost and frame of reference for a time and place for generations to come.
…Wait, we’re talking about the MOVIE House Party, right? The comedic Kid ‘n Play vehicle from 1990 that spawned two sequels, has ridden its stature as a cult classic to an aggregated rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and had Roger Ebert singing its praises about how it showed black teenagers with a freshness and originality?
….Oh you mean the SONG “House Party” from Sam Hunt that he’s releasing as his next single.
Yeah, that shit sucks.
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The theory has been floated many times that something can’t be qualified as “cool” in American culture unless young black males are into it. Whether you personally buy into that theory or not, country music has bought in lock, stock, and barrel. Sam Hunt’s “House Party” is cultural appropriation for commercial enterprise of the highest order. It isn’t enough that mainstream country music is raping its own culture, now it’s got to ooze its filthy mandibles into a different sector of society and make a mockery of someone else’s too. Safe white America’s appetite for subjugating other people’s art forms and sterilizing them in its insatiable consumerism binge is as embarrassing as it is destructive.
Proponents of Sam Hunt and “House Party” will tell you that this is all part of country music’s necessary “evolution.” But as I attempted to illustrate above, there’s absolutely nothing evolved, or even topical about subject matter that hit its apex of relevancy 25 years ago, especially when it’s appropriated into the foreign context of country music. Sam Hunt is simply a manufactured machination of the Music Row machine constructed to cull the highest possible amount of dollars from the gullible masses to help prop up the industry’s crumbling and unsure infrastructure.
From an artist who’s consistently offered the most blindingly non-country songs in the entire 70 year history of the genre, “House Party” is Sam Hunt’s most non-country song overall, if you even can believe that’s possible. What about the banjo you ask? That’s the biggest giveaway that this song is nothing more than a calculated ruse. In an absolute vacuum of country influences, Sam Hunt and producers Zach Crowell and Shane McAnally were forced to add the banjo track or risk exposing the song and the entire calculated project for the sham that it is.
The record scratches, the overt use of Auto-tune as an audio filter, the references to “blowing up phones” and “rattling roofs,” and the Ebonic annunciations are enough to not just alarm country fans, but fans of the integrity of culture in all of its forms, especially black artists who are getting sold out by country carpetbaggers that would appropriate and water down everything cool in their culture until there’s nothing left to pilfer in the bankrupting of American culture at large.
So no, I didn’t find Sam Hunt’s “House Party” particularly stimulating or culturally gratifying. I would call this the worst country song ever, but even that would endow it with a modicum of potential country music affiliation that it is not qualified to carry. This is nothing more than outdated electro-pop that country music should be wholly embarrassed for even considering as part of its format, and should violently spit out like a petulant toddler does something unsavory forced into its mouth.
Kid ‘n Play and the high top fade? …. Still more country than Sam Hunt.
Two guns way down.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:03 am
So annoying. Just send him to Top 40, pop music and be done with it. It’s beginning to get ridiculous. Kudos to Hunt though for exploiting a genre for the mighty dollar. He throws a banjo in his song somewhere for about 5 seconds so he can say it’s country. Can’t wait for this slap to become obsolete and people tire of is shotty music. I always said, nothing is more country then throwing out a Train reference in a song.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:12 am
Worrying about being “cool” is a sure sign of insecurity. The men behind this should be obliged to turn in their testicles; they are not worthy of carrying them. (I suspect they won’t miss them all that much, anyway. It’s not as if they’re using them.)
May 18, 2015 @ 8:22 am
He/it is not country, no. Pretty catch pop song, though. You know what a house party is? A party in a house. I wouldn’t call it a “cultural appropriation.”
And “ebonic annunciations”?….hmmmm….
May 18, 2015 @ 9:45 am
I wasn’t saying a “house party” is a cultural appropriation specifically. I was speaking more to the style and influences of the song itself.
May 19, 2015 @ 11:47 am
It sounds like standard issue pop from the last 20 years, made mostly by white guys. The vocal track could easily be swapped to Justin Beiber or One Direction and nobody would be writing an article like this. It doesn’t seem like this song is any sort of “cultural appropriation,” the appropriation was done years ago.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:23 am
His “Take Your Time” song is regularly in the daily top 5 countdown on the local pop station here in Charlotte. That tells you everything you need to know.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:29 am
I didn’t listen to it because I don’t want to listen to such crap. It can’t be the worst song, that (in my opinion) goes to Michael Ray “Kiss You in the Morning”. It might be as bad though.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:38 am
Anything I could add would only be, in the words of Louis CK, ‘mildly racist.’
So I’ll just shut up.
(I just don’t see this style of ‘country’ gaining the traction that bro-country did.)
May 18, 2015 @ 8:40 am
Unfortunately this is what most teenagers and young adults have grown up listening to in country music, this pop-country crap. So for them it is just the “normal” evolution of the genre. There’s nothing out of the ordinary for them. And since they have no real life “country” up-bringing or experiences to base anything against, they think this is country music at its finest. So I’m sure it’ll rocket to the top of the charts but won’t have any staying power. As with any of these manufactured artists of the past decade.
Fortunately, and with the help of this site, I can side-step this bullsh*t and find artists that are writing original songs in the vein of my country heroes.
May 18, 2015 @ 9:27 am
Exactly. THIS is what kids think country music is . City kids ,country kids , kids from other countries , kids listening to other genres . ….
May 18, 2015 @ 9:47 am
I wouldn’t even call this pop country. It’s just pop.
May 18, 2015 @ 6:01 pm
I may like modern country music, but this just takes it too far. Sam Hunt is a perfect example of what’s wrong with the genre: Too much pop and instead of just making that (which I could ignore him then, since I dislike pop) they hide it behind thin country instruments that barely feel like it’s there. Yet, Sam Hunt is really popular and his bad song “Take Your Time” has been in Billboard’s Top 30 for MONTHS now, which just makes me sick thinking about it. It gives the genre an even worse name than it already has. It really makes me even more sick knowing one of my favorite genres is more hated than rap. Also, I’m in high school and I really hate how, whenever I mention country music, most people denounce my opinions because they only think of bro country and nothing else. When I try to mention country music that, not only is nice to listen to, but actually has effort in it, they don’t want to, based on biased opinions.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:43 am
It pisses me off how they can pass this off for country music, and not just sam hunt but all the other princesses too. Whats it gunna take to get some real country music back on the air
May 18, 2015 @ 8:43 am
I don’t understand how this is even country,yeah, that shit sucks Trigger.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:44 am
The current Sam Hunt/Thomas Rhett/Brett Eldredge EDM/Pop movement has done what even Bro-Country couldnt do and that is make me completely ignore mainstream Country radio. Honestly it has been a couple of years since I have really paid much attention to Country radio, but in the past as awful as it was I could stand to have it on in the background for short periods of time.
This music is just shit though. No other way to put it and with streaming services being so easy to use, there is really no excuse to pay attention or listen to Country radio anymore.
May 18, 2015 @ 8:49 am
It’s not a terrible song; it’s catchy, and that’s all I’d give it. It’s a mediocre song that’s incorrectly filed as country.
That video though? It’s almost funny how bad it is. It was either made in iMovie or had a $2 budget. I’m leaning toward both.
May 18, 2015 @ 9:05 am
Sam Hunt – The new Pat Boone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv-LAbMbEn4
May 18, 2015 @ 11:30 am
a Pat Boone/Sam Hunt collaboration needs to happen. like a passing of the torch kinda…
May 18, 2015 @ 7:25 pm
One of the best comments I’ve seen! And, hopefully, Sam Hunt will be a joke in country history for the same reasons.
May 19, 2015 @ 3:37 pm
And lord knows every Pat Boone cover of classic black songs was atrocious. The middle America of the 1950s might have eaten it but It’s unbearable to listen to some of his songs now. I’ll give Sam Hunt the benefit of the doubt for now before going that far.
May 18, 2015 @ 9:34 am
Holy **** ….we have a new low . This is what happens when the Kruise Kids are allowed to sing on public airwaves . EVERY Tom , Dick and Hunt thinks he can do it . Listeners deserve what they get when they tune into this shit . Let’s say a prayer that T.S and Hunt never get married . It will surely be a musical apocalypse .
May 18, 2015 @ 12:37 pm
Maybe T.S. can teach Sam Hunt what real country sounds like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkD20ajVxnY
May 19, 2015 @ 4:32 pm
Maybe T.S. can teach Sam Hunt how to commercially go pop.
May 18, 2015 @ 9:49 am
This is bad, and it’s not country, but it’s honestly not the worst I’ve ever heard, either. I was expecting a Pitbull song or something using sell-out radio programmers as a way to snake itself into the country format, but really this is kind of just par for the course at this point. It definitely doesn’t offend my basic intelligence and taste as much as, say, “Drink to That All Night” being passed off as a country song.
May 18, 2015 @ 9:50 am
I do not like this song it’s not country at all it is pop at best.
May 18, 2015 @ 9:52 am
Here’s a lyric snippet from the Rollins Band song “LA Money Train”, which was on the Get Some Go Again album and released in 2000. I’d say it applies quite a bit to Mr. Hunt.
Now what about that new visionary turned big spender, taking all those musical genres and puttin’ ’em in a blender? The music shake he makes made the critics get up on their little hind legs and exclaim: “Now THIS is what’s happening!” Aaaaaaah! It’s just more crap from a culture that’s evaporating. Stealing from here and there. He’s on the cover of every magazine with his dear caught-in-a-primetime-limelight stare. Really cosmic. Pretending to be totally unaware as to what all the fuss is about as the record company moves with ruthless efficiency and lightning speed to attract every last cent from his listenership before they move on to real drugs, sex, and suddenly find his music one hundred percent unnecessary. You know the situation. Feel free to choose one or utilize any combination. You lose your job. You get your ass kicked. Your woman leaves you. You spend a night in county jail. Reality gets all up in your face, and says: “Hey, man, the rent’s due.” And all of a sudden that Offspring record just doesn’t do it for you anymore. Did I just say that? Man! So what if it’s true? Yeah. Money train. Money train. Just get on. Just get on the money train, man.
Link to the full song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_R2Iy7XBko
May 18, 2015 @ 9:58 am
You have to hit rock bottom before you rise. It looked pretty bleak right before Randy Travis too. Maybe we’ll look back on Sam Hunt as that last ridiculous overvalued company before the stock market crashed. Everything will come around… but any time now would be nice.
May 19, 2015 @ 10:29 am
I think you are seeing a bit of a revival in Country music, you just arent hearing it at Country radio. Artists like Sturgill, Whitey Morgan, Jason Eady, Chris Stapleton, Randy Rogers/Wade Bowen and many, many more have been putting out albums in the past year or two that have been damn good Country music albums. The rise of streaming has opened up an avenue that these artists no longer need Country radio to get some attention from music fans.
I don’t see Country radio getting better anytime soon though. You basically have 2 companies that control everything you hear on the radio and those 2 companies could care less if the music is thoughtful or good. All they care about is that it appeals to enough listeners for the station to be kept on, even if they aren’t really listening to what’s being played. Those one or two radio companies that maybe decided to start playing Randy Travis in heavy rotation back in the 80’s and started a snowball effect, don’t exist anymore. Now all you have is Clear Channel/iHeart Media playing whatever the hell they want you to hear and what the record labels want you to hear.
May 18, 2015 @ 10:23 am
Don’t you think this pop-country bit has gotten out of hand? Next thing you know Shooter Jennings will be collaborating with Sam Hunt for a Billy Ray Cyrus tribute album. BTW, I am Shooter Jennings fan. I just find his most recent offerings weird and confused which. My typical ramblings……………
May 18, 2015 @ 11:16 am
Got through :59 seconds. There is literally nothing different from this and anything on pop radio. godawful
May 18, 2015 @ 11:36 am
what?…barn dances and the VFW arent good enough now? smh.
May 18, 2015 @ 11:59 am
I mean… I like the song better than his last single.
It’s still not even close to being country, though and I’m not looking forward to hearing my local COUNTRY station play it eight times in a twelve hour shift.
May 18, 2015 @ 12:07 pm
Who wants the over/under for Sam Hunt being on the updated version of VH1s The Surreal Life in 1 year? Takers? Although Bret Michaels has shown that the life cycle of a washed up entertainer can go from popular to washed up to VH1 reality series then back to country music again! The circle of life! Country music is the last one on the human centipede.
May 18, 2015 @ 12:11 pm
OMG, LIYKE THIS SONG IS AWESOMEEEE!!!!!!!!! #SarcasmAlert
May 18, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
If you’ve watched any Letterman over the past few weeks or months, you’ve seen some insanely talented country/roots/Americana artists — almost none of whom are on the radio. The fact that this will be on instead is a sad, sad statement on where we are in mainstream country right now.
May 18, 2015 @ 1:29 pm
This isn’t a country song….this is a One Direction song…
May 18, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
Good Goddess…………THANK YOU for pointing out how that token banjo actually outs this song as his most non-country release yet!
*
I’m alarmed, and personally offended, as to how many apologists of Sam Hunt’s debut album “Montevallo” there are…………….but especially how many of them cite this song as evidence of “See, Sam Hunt records country songs too! The first two songs admittedly didn’t sound country, but this one does!” You see this most everywhere; from the usual suspects that are Taste of Country, Roughstock and The Boot, to music message boards like Pulse Music Board who have pretty much paid lip service to the “Sam Hunt is evolving county music!” narrative.
No, this is even further distant from the heart of the genre. It’s a full-scale Ebonix and EDM culture insurrection. If I want to listen to a song about house parties, I’d much rather listen to LMFAO’s “Sorry For Party Rockin'” than this. Sure, the LMFAO song is akin to a nuclear waste disposal site lyrically and the synth effects are grating and cheap, but at least they play it straight and are being true to their tycoons-masquerading-as-dancehall-superstars intentions. Sam Hunt, in contrast is utterly disingenuous throughout the “Montevallo” cycle.
*
Two Thumbs Way Down for me. That makes it three consecutive strikes for Mr. Montevallo.
May 18, 2015 @ 4:00 pm
There is more than one way to play an instrument, and the strummed pop chords performed on a banjo (or more likely, a guitjo) on this track are not reminiscent of country-style banjo playing, which has a totally different technique and texture. In fact, if I heard this song out of context, not knowing who Sam Hunt was, I doubt that I would even recognize the fact that there’s a banjo in it, and if I did, I would simply assume it was a stylistic reference to the Mumford & Sons pop-folk craze of a couple years ago. After all, Kesha and other pop stars have used banjos and other folk instruments on their songs in recent years. More importantly though, the faux-banjo on this track is buried beneath hip hop- style DJ scratches – the turntable is actually the lead instrument on this song, along with “funky,” processed electric guitar.
I understand that some mainstream music fans don’t care that Sam Hunt, a nominally-country artist, is releasing pure pop songs such as this, but to claim that “House Party” is evidence of his country cred boggles my mind.
May 18, 2015 @ 4:13 pm
By the way, speaking of Kesha, the other day I heard a song by this *great* new country artist named Haley Georgia. I think she just might just be the one we’re looking for to restore substance to the country format!
(… shudder …)
May 19, 2015 @ 2:05 pm
Oh, I’m sure we can expect a rant on Haley Georgia’s “Ridiculous” from Trigger soon enough………..especially if it receives the “On The Verge” payola treatment! 😉
She’s trying to be the Iggy Azalea of “country” music. Which is mind-boggling considering Iggy Azalea has struggled to retain relevancy since “Black Widow” peaked on mainstream radio.
May 19, 2015 @ 5:34 pm
UGH Iggy Azalea sounds like the name of a rejected Muppet. And didn’t she claim she was from New Zealand and yet front a faux ghetto accent while actually hailing from Georgia somewhere. The only thing I liked about “Fancy” was Weird Al’s parody of it.
May 22, 2015 @ 11:02 am
Pasty white suburban girl rapping over a drum machine and a token banjo, as I put it elsewhere. The absolute worst thing I have ever heard, and I’m not kidding.
May 18, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
Have you listen to all new country? It’s all pop country but we are nailing Sam Hunt? He at least writes his own songs and is super talented. Lady A and LBT are on pop stations too! Really Little Red Wagon, country?
May 18, 2015 @ 4:54 pm
He writes his own songs? The credits say 3 or 4 people wrote every one and in the country world they are worse than most country songs artists didn’t write or co-write. It’s disgusting that country radio plays this generic pop instead of Kacey Musgraves far better and country songs that share a writer with Hunt. This is not new country it’s new old pop for teenyboppers and frat parties. New country doesn’t replace every country instrument with synthesizers and have pop lyrics. Lady A and LBT on pop stations is just crossover. Hunt’s songs started out pure pop. Little Red Wagon is a cover of a pop/rock song and overall Miranda is far more country than Hunt.
May 22, 2015 @ 2:01 pm
Shania Twain wrote her own songs and they sucked too.
May 18, 2015 @ 3:01 pm
Well I listened to it told myself I wouldn’t till you posted it up here and did a review and I Knew you would. It’s not the worst song I’ve ever heard but it’s definitely not Country. Because of songs like this on todays Country Radio Station I stopped listening to Country Radio last week I switched to a Classic/Oldies Station.
May 18, 2015 @ 4:15 pm
So glad you reviewed this as I have been trying to describe this abortion to my wife but couldn’t recall the name or theme. Now she can get a good laugh at our civilization’s demise. Excellent, well-written review, Trigger. Thank you!
May 18, 2015 @ 4:30 pm
This “house party” is a booty call and it’s Hunt’s worst and most pop song so of course they are making it a single. If I could stand to listen to country radio anymore, nothing would make me shut it off faster than this super annoying hot mess.
May 18, 2015 @ 4:34 pm
Saw him “sing” this one live at iHeart. All I could think of was one of my favorite Bible verses.
“Jesus Wept.”
May 18, 2015 @ 4:39 pm
Great article Trigger.
There was one thing that really stood out to me though, partly because I’d never heard it before, and partly because I think the notion is completely ridiculous.
This:
….”The theory has been floated many times that something can”™t be qualified as “cool” in American culture unless young black males are into it.”….
For me, the complete opposite is true. I couldn’t care less what young black males are into, and I’d go as far as to say a lot of the things they’re into are harmful to society. Think about all the things they’re into: looting, vandalism, rap, fighting, murder, drug use, welfare, degrading women, etc, etc, etc, What, on this list, could be considered cool?
It’s important to note, that I’m not a racist, although some on here will make that accusation. I don’t believe this stuff has anything to do with skin color. It has everything to do with culture and geography.
And you’re right on about generic white America. It loves to live vicariously through anything it perceives as “edgy”.
May 18, 2015 @ 4:47 pm
“And you”™re right on about generic white America. It loves to live vicariously through anything it perceives as “edgy”. ”
This statement is so dead -on !
May 18, 2015 @ 5:01 pm
That theory I think is one that is held by people who deal in the commodity of popular culture, such as entertainment industry types and advertisers.
Have no desire to get into an argument about what young blacks are “into,” but I think their interests are a little more varying than you portray.
May 18, 2015 @ 10:01 pm
Easily the most racist comment I’ve ever read lol. You all sound like my neighbor, who swears nothing the younger generation listens to is even considered music. He’s old, white, and has a fat ass… Since we’re all throwing around uneducated generalizations, I’m gonna go ahead and assume all you clowns harping on Hunt are all old white men with fat asses?? How is rap harmful to society? Another dumb ass generalization, as well as the vices you’ve named, only being enjoyed by our African American brothers… Bigotry and stupidity aside, just don’t let your lady go to a concert of his. I’m positive that’s your only issue with the fella. That shyt you guys are wanting to hear is dead, just like my old, fat assed neighbor will be pretty soon. @Clint- from health reasons, not African Americans… Clown lol. Hey trigger, I’d love to meet you sometime! Your articles bring out all the loonies, and I love it!
May 18, 2015 @ 11:07 pm
Man …you REALLY have some issues . If you knew this website better you’d understand more completely where we’re coming from . Most people here will tell you this pop stuff is all well and fine but it shouldn’t be called ‘ country ‘ because it isn’t . Lyrically and musically it is nowhere near country music and it upsets us that it would be referred to as that .You wouldn’t call “Coke” “Root Beer” . You wouldn’t call chicken …hamburger . Sure that’s simplistic but its exactly what’s going on with mainstream country radio . Most of what gets played is anything but country in sound , in lyric , in traditional instrumentation , in sentiment and in lack of narrative . It should be easy for anyone to understand why this concerns longtime fans of real country music . Would you want to hear a jazz band playing to a beat box rather than a real drummer with feel , nuance , time and an excellent understanding of the art-form ? We’re frustrated with what ‘s being shoved down our throats .
May 18, 2015 @ 11:51 pm
Albert, who’s forcing you to swallow?? I kid… But Literally everything on this planet evolves, including your beloved country. If you think otherwise, you sir are a fool. Passing your conjecture off as fact is as dumb as the extremely bigotted comments made by dear sweet Clint. While yours and trigger’s opinions are acceptable, they’re opinions and nothing more. Here we have comments condeming Hunt as a douche, or even a bad person, as well as comments vilifying an entire race of men(again based on opinion)… Yet I have the issues?? Oh…
May 19, 2015 @ 6:21 am
Cristobal: Something tells me you haven’t had a “deep reading” class yet, that’s okay, you’ll take one when you reach the eighth grade. Country radio IS forcing Albert to swallow, swallow or leave, because it refuses to play country music. Let me explain it so that even you can understand. If you go to a chinese restaurant everyday, and then one day all they serve is big macs and whoppers, and tell you it’s the evolution of chinese food, would you believe it? I think you would. Albert’s conjecture is fact, as are “most” of Clint’s. Have a nice day.
May 19, 2015 @ 6:47 am
But Literally everything on this planet evolves, including your beloved country. If you think otherwise, you sir are a fool.
In my opinion, Sam Hunt is not an example of the artist driven evolution of country music. Such evolution is going on, but outside of the mainstream country industry. When I listen to Sam Hunt, it doesn’t even sound like watered down country music. It’s watered down pop music with R&B, EDM and hip hop elements made safe for white folks whose relationship with music is a passive one. Like Pat Boone covering Little Richard in the ’50s. My opinion, of course.
May 19, 2015 @ 8:46 am
Cristobal: I play thirteen instruments and I’ve played in a band near every week since I was sixteen. I went to college and got a degree in music. That MAKES me qualified to know what is country music, because I’ve done it all. Country AND western AND bluegrass AND folk AND world. Where do you live? Because I don’t believe you could tell the difference between a finch and an oriole, or the difference between hay and straw. I won’t toot my own horn but Clint’s opinions, and Albert’s ARE facts, because they’re accurate. You may well be entitled to the opinion that tomatoes are vegetables, but it just makes you wrong. and you know something? You have a god-given right to be wrong.
May 19, 2015 @ 9:57 pm
“But Literally everything on this planet evolves, including your beloved country.”
True but our beloved country radio isn’t playing those evolved country songs. Instead they play pure pop metro-jock from Hunt, which some people falsely call country and evolved country to sell it. The issue is the powers that be are killing country by replacing it with pop. I love mainstream country so I hate it being replaced with pure pop and there’s never been a shortage of pop stations where we can listen to pop. What’s the point of having a country format if it’s playing the same songs?
“Webster”™s definition of country music: a style of music that developed in the southern and western U.S. and that often contains lyrics relating to the lives of people who live in the country”
You have to do more than read a dictionary definition of country music to know what it is. If Hunt is country so is every song top 40 pop radio plays and some of those are more country than Hunt but don’t get played on country radio.
May 19, 2015 @ 7:44 am
“In my opinion, Sam Hunt is not an example of the artist driven evolution of country music. Such evolution is going on, but outside of the mainstream country industry.”
Bingo ! Mainstream country music’s ” evolution ” is NOT artist driven . It is chart-driven . It is a case of ” what can we sell and to what demographic ? ” If you tell a baby that a chocolate ice cream cone is vanilla , the baby has no reference and no reason not to believe it . The baby is , obviously , impressionable and somewhat dependent upon people to tell him/her the truth . The young demographic being marketed country music currently has no frame of reference if it isn’t PLAYED by radio . To them Sam Hunt IS country music because they were TOLD that he is by the marketers , the radio station and the artists themselves . Why don’t they call it what it is …..pop music with a banjo ?
THIS is the ‘crime’ most real country fans are speaking out against . It has nothing to do with ‘evolution’ of the genre and everything to do with cashing in on a term ( country music ) by taking advantage of the naive and ignorant . Nowhere else would this be acceptable ‘ marketing ‘ , as I’ve cited in my examples above .
Real country music , as Jack points out , IS evolving ( outside of mainstream )…it is strong and based in tradition and new artists are respecting and honoring that tradition and the people that helped to build it . The bros don’t seem to know , care , or build on ANY country traditions but instead steal from the pop genres of rap , hip hop , pop rock and Sesame street .
May 19, 2015 @ 8:36 am
Webster’s definition of country music: a style of music that developed in the southern and western U.S. and that often contains lyrics relating to the lives of people who live in the country… Two fuzzyshits… We’ve heard enough from you and Clint lol. Who the hell are any of you to say what isn’t country music?? Any country artists or pioneers of country music in this thread??? Opinions mascarading as facts, are still opinions, and that is a fact. His music is the epitome of country music, if we’re basing it off of the definition and not dumb ass opinions. Please base any further rebuttals off of FACTS! (Talking to you two fuzzyshits)
May 19, 2015 @ 2:51 pm
Bless your heart, Cristobal. You’re probably one of those backwards-hat-wearing [EDITED] that I see standing around in front of EZ-Marts, trying to look cool smoking cigarette’s, while your fat girlfriend’s trying to pay the bills working at Subway.
I agree with your old, white neighbor about modern music. But I happen to be a middle-aged, white guy with a tight, muscular backside, that my gorgeous, baby-doll Spanish wife loves to squeeze when I’m making love to her.
Unsurprisingly, despite the fact that I specifically stated I’m not a racist, a sheltered, simple-minded reprobate like you has come along and accused me of typing, “Easily the most racist comment I”™ve ever read”……..ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
May 19, 2015 @ 3:01 pm
Two fuzzyshits: how’s your budding music career doing now? You sell out any venues playing that jazz flute of yours?? I’ll wait… Clint, I though I said we’re done hearing from you. (A little respect for marrying Hispanic though) you talk about our Latino brothers like that though? Someone please give me some actual facts with evidence, telling me why he’s not country please… Because all I hear are still opinions. I’m in ft Lauderdale/ Hollywood if anyone would like to meet and discuss over beers 🙂
May 19, 2015 @ 5:25 pm
“You sell out any venues playing that jazz flute of yours?? I”™ll wait”¦ ”
So there’s the ‘nut’ of the issue , Cristobal ( ‘Cristobal’ …I like that ) …It seems to me that you are saying it has to sell out venues to be valid musically …no matter what the genre is called . THAT , my friend is a big part of the issue . Several weeks ago , a big time label exec said about ‘country ‘ music ” If it ain’t on the chart , it doesn’t exist ” . I think that meant that if it ain’t making money for us , it doesn’t exist ” . We all know that in the Kardashian Kulture there’s a market for anything and everything . Several years ago someone put a small stone in a box and sold it as a Pet Rock and it was HUGE . Yes you can sell Sam Hunt’s generic genre-less pap all day long IF YOU FIND A DEMOGRAPHIC THAT DOESN’T CARE what it is or how good it is lyrically . By the Webster definition you’ve quoted above , Hunt’s lyrics don’t even begin to indicate a way of life in the country . It is anything BUT country in narrative , instrumentation and in terms of reflecting traditional country lifestyle . Maybe he’s a good singer/writer/guitar player ( not in my estimation …but for some , I guess )……so are hundreds of musicians . But he is not a country artist even by the Webster definition . So let’s call him something else and put him in the genre he SHOULD be in and give the airplay on COUNTRY radio to an actual COUNTRY artist . I can’t understand why that logic …that rationale doesn’t seem to make sense to you . We’d just like to see these non-country artists ANYWHERE but on country radio where so many actual country artists deserve to be .
May 19, 2015 @ 7:00 pm
Cris: As a matter of fact this past Wednesday I was informed by the manager of a venue I frequent that I’ve been his most popular headliner, and as he put it: “the star of the show.” Not with my flute, or with jazz music, though. The venue is pretty big into rootsy string-band stuff and country music older than even my grandparents. Why don’t you come up to cold as a witches teets Michigan and see what the fuss is about, maybe Albert will come too, he can bring his pet rock. Maybe Clint can bring his wife up for an anniversary gift. Also, you might want to work on spelling my name right.
May 19, 2015 @ 11:32 pm
Sorry Fuzzy . My rock doesn’t travel well . You might say my rock don’t roll . But at least its a country- rock ….and that’s ” Close Enough To Perfect for me .( Here’s where a REAL drummer goes ‘bada-bump’ and a looping drum machine just keeps looping along to those fake handclaps til somebody hits the STOP button . At least I wish to hell someone would hit the STOP button ) . BTW I heard Andrea Bocelli is recording a country album cuz , as he puts it ” Hell yeah …I’m from a country ” . And apparently that ‘s the only criterion necessary to get airplay on North American country radio . Hope he at least wears a cowboy hat …
May 20, 2015 @ 6:33 am
you’re a good sport, Albert. Andrea Bocelli is a fantastic singer, but he doesn’t belong in country music either, although I imagine he’d approach the genre with some respect and class. I wouldn’t mind hearing him sing “Choices” or “Old Violin,” though.
May 18, 2015 @ 10:30 pm
Nice job in derailing the thread from the main topic and hurting the cause again.
I sure hope that there aren’t any blacks reading this thread, but if there are, let it be known that the above comment does NOT represent country music or its fans.
Since this is a music forum, let’s talk about the most important thing that blacks are “into”: inventing new genres. Nearly every popular genre of American music since the early 20th century has been invented primarily by blacks: jazz, rock, and hip-hop. Country music was also heavily influenced by the blues, through fathers of the genre like Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams.
Also, blanketly condemning an entire ethnic group is racism by definition. It is true that blacks are disproportionately involved in crimes, but there are many more who are victims of crimes, both by the bad apples in their own communities as well as by bad apples in the police force.
Imagine if someone used statistics showing how white Southerners murder and assault and take meth at higher rates than white Northerners, and then used that data to argue that “white Southerners are into murder, maiming, and meth!”. Wouldn’t white Southerners naturally be offended by that crass generalization?
As a final note: rap does not belong in your list of social ills. Rap is just a form of poetry; whether it is “cool” or not depends on the contents. At its best, rap can tell a story of real-life grit without glorifying the negative aspects of that lifestyle, much like Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”. Here’s an example of well-written rap:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/common/adream.html
May 19, 2015 @ 4:53 pm
Nice job in being the predictable, exaggeratory, emotional ideologue that I expect you to be…again.
If there are any black people reading this thread Eric, there’s a good chance they’re intelligent, and cultured enough to know that I was correct in my assessment. And I’m glad you’ve developed a fondness for my culture’s music, but you’re still an interloper, and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t speak for Country music fans. I was only speaking for myself anyway.
Look, I believe you’re a smart guy. Unlike some of the people who accost me on here, you don’t seem to be an imbecile; and you’re probably highly educated. You’re just very misguided Eric, which is probably due in part to your education; along with where you were raised. I’ll bet you even get most of your news from Colbert and Stewart.
I don’t hate black people in a general sense, nor do I believe my race is superior to theirs. And I certainly didn’t blanketly condemn anybody. I dealt out some realistic observations of YOUNG, black males in America. You don’t like what I said because it was too blunt for your politically correct ears. You’ve been programed from the time you were in elementary school, to overreact in an emotional way to anything that may sound even the slightest bit offensive, regardless of whether it’s true or not.
I’m not offended by stereotypes, Eric. I live in the real world, and stereotypes are founded in reality. In fact, to my shame, I used meth when I was young hellion. Lots of people I know did too. People who are offended by stereotyping, are offended by, and live in purposeful denial of, reality.
FYI: In my original comment, I wrote the following, specifically in an attempt to keep YOU from responding to me:
….”It”™s important to note, that I”™m not a racist, although some on here will make that accusation. I don”™t believe this stuff has anything to do with skin color. It has everything to do with culture and geography.”….
I guess it didn’t work.
May 20, 2015 @ 11:30 pm
Clint, I know you were talking to Eric, but I wanted to reply to you since I’m someone who you probably wouldn’t think of as an “interloper”. I was born and raised in rural East Texas, living in a trailer house in the country. I have worked blue collar jobs such as landscaper, mover, and oilfield worker. I’m not highly educated; I’ve yet to complete college due to a severe lack of money. I was raised on country music and though I now listen to blues, rock, pop, metal, punk, and yes- even rap, country music is still the genre I listen to most, by far. Having said all that, you sound like a piece of shit racist. You claim not to be, and maybe you aren’t, yet you seem to have all the markings of one. I come from a very conservative little town, rife with racism, though it’s often shrouded in comments such as, “I’m not racist, but…”, or “It’s not racism, it’s facts.” I know that nothing I’ve said here will cause you to think about what you said, but hell, I kinda felt like ranting tonight. As we say in Carthage, TX, “Bless your heart.”
May 21, 2015 @ 7:10 pm
Hey Trainwreck,
Interestingly, about an hour after I read your reply to me, I turned on the news and saw the latest national headline:
Black male beats family of 4 to death in their own home. The victims included 2 small children.
Did you see it?
May 21, 2015 @ 7:40 pm
No, Clint. I didn’t see that. I googled it and nothing resembling that story showed up, though I only looked at the first page of results. Anyway, is that supposed to back up your point about young black males (Not all of them of course, there’s some good ones.) being violent criminals? In any case, I tend not to pay much mind to the news, at least television news, be it Fox, CNN, or MSNBC. Horrifying murders and scandals, and tragedies are the only things that seem to be newsworthy, so that’s all that is shown.
May 22, 2015 @ 1:29 pm
First, I will note that you are the one who brought ideology into this discussion by diverting the thread into racial stereotypes about topics that have nothing to do with music.
Stereotypes are founded in statistical differences that can vary in size, not set-in-stone broad reality. For example, if statistics show that Southerners are more racist than average, it does not mean that all, or even most, Southerners are racist. Similarly, most young black men are not criminals, but rather are the ones who are hurt the most both by the criminal elements in their own ranks as well as by police stereotyping.
It’s rather disappointing that I was too busy this week to respond to your comment here earlier, because your assumptions about me are so laughable that they serve as a good case study of exactly why stereotypes do not equal general rules. If you think that I am easily offended or that I get my news from a narrow range of sources, then you truly know nothing about me. I have been a political and news junkie since my early teens. Believe it or not, I actually spend more time reading conservative blogs than liberal ones, due to the fact that I enjoy learning about what the other side thinks, along with the fact that coming up with counterarguments in my mind helps me sharpen my debating skills. Heck, I even sometimes visit white supremacist forums, just to see what exactly makes them tick.
There’s very little about politics and related matters that I learned from my education. Back in high school and even junior high school, I knew more about current events than most of my teachers. And I know that the Seattle area has a liberal reputation overall, but I was raised in the outer suburbs, in a town that roughly matches the country in political orientation. In 2004, about 48% of the students in my high school voted for Bush over Kerry in the mock election, and in the real election Bush won the town by a narrow margin. As you might imagine, I had a number of conservative friends whom I enjoyed debating.
As for political correctness, you once again have me all wrong. I do not shy away from criticizing cultures for heightened anti-social behavior. I will admit that African-American culture has some issues with violence, much of it likely stemming from the legacy of slavery. However, it is the condemnation of the entire young black male population, at the expense of the ones who are peaceful and often very talented, that I find offensive.
May 19, 2015 @ 12:14 pm
Holy crap, Clint. I’ve known for a long time that you were exactly what Blake Shelton had in mind when he talked about old farts and jackasses. But good God you are a racist old jackass, whether you believe it or not. You give country music fans a bad name. Trigger should have banned you for this comment and removed it from the site. I am disappointed to read this here.
May 19, 2015 @ 12:27 pm
You sir, have missed the point. I’m from cold North Michigan, I can count the number of black people I know on one hand, and they’re all good folks. In the inner city, where there are both more colored folk, and more crime, it is statistically obvious that the criminals are colored folks. It’s because they represent a majority ethnicity where the crimes are taking place, not because they are inherently criminals.
May 20, 2015 @ 6:28 am
“I’m not racist, I have black friends.” Nice one.
According to Clint, “Think about all the things they (young black men) are into: looting, vandalism, rap, fighting, murder, drug use, welfare, degrading women, etc, etc, etc.”
Are you telling me that is not a blatantly racist thing to say? Come on. He’s accusing an entire category of people of being “into” violence, crime, and drugs.
May 20, 2015 @ 6:41 am
Jared, you don’t get it. If most crime takes place in the inner city, and most people in the inner city are colored folk, then most criminals are colored folks. That has nothing to do with racism, that’s just an observation. For instance, I live pretty close to Canada. There aren’t very many ethnic people here, and there isn’t a whole lot of crime, but due to the majority of Caucasian folks (most of Scandinavian descent here, although there’s a Dutch community within a three hour drive.) most of the criminals are Caucasian. It’s just statistics.
May 18, 2015 @ 5:32 pm
3 strikes and you’re out Sam Hunt.
May 18, 2015 @ 5:40 pm
This man has absolutely no shame. He doesn’t care how much he spits in the face of country music as long as the checks are coming in. It is sad, truth be told.
May 19, 2015 @ 10:22 am
Eh, I’m not surprised. Might be a bit of a stereotype, but considering Hunt was a failed NFL QB, I doubt he had much knowledge of anything beyond a cheerleaders skirt and his letterman jacket.
The problem with new artists like Sam Hunt is the machine is so strong on Music Row that few of these guys pay any dues before getting a record deal. Sam Hunt probably walked off the street, Music Row figured he looked good on a billboard and gave him a deal.
I highly doubt Sam Hunt spent many nights slumming it in some run down bar in the rural South playing for tips. The guy has probably had virtually everything handed to him most of his life and I suspect a recording contract was just another one of those things.
May 18, 2015 @ 7:34 pm
“House Party” is to “Leave the Night On” what “Funky Cold Medina” is to “Wild Thing.”
They’re the exact same damn song.
May 19, 2015 @ 5:30 pm
LOL! I disrupted some guests laughing at that one.
But aren’t all these songs part of that same new genre called Mono as in monogenre. Actually I wish they would all get mono and for good year so we can all forget about them.
They all sound the same. I’ve heard more variation in speed metal.
May 18, 2015 @ 7:44 pm
“McAnally” is both the producer and the perfect adjective to describe the song.
May 18, 2015 @ 7:48 pm
This is a great, feel good pop song. I absolutely love it, I listen to it anytime i’m really depressed and it gets me up and going. However, it DOES NOT belong on country radio, this IS NOT a country song in any way. But then again, look at most of the music that is currently on country radio, a large majority of it sounds like adult contemporary or pop music. Sam Hunt is not out of line. This song is just part of the clusterfuck of other country songs that don’t have a true country sound. Sam Hunt just happens to do the non-country music thats being labeled as so, better than many of these other fake country music artists, at least in my opinion. I have heard “Take Your Time” being played on pop radio, and I’m more than sure House Party will be played there too.
May 19, 2015 @ 8:49 am
This just in! Country music legend Hank Williams is still currently rolling in his grave!
Rest In Peace Hank, this nightmare will end soon.
May 19, 2015 @ 10:13 am
“We don’t need nobody?” Really? Sure looks like more than 2 people at that “house party” in the awful ass video . I would really like to know who thought this guy was worthy or capable of sharing a stage/song with Dwight Yoakum. Country or not it’s just a cheesy teenage girl song. Thank God for Sirius radio and Bluetooth capability in vehicles because I haven’t listened to mainstream country radio in many years and don’t plan to if this type of music is what is played. Someone needs to slap this dude. Really. Trigger, you are pretty much dead on with your reviews of these terrible pop songs. I just hate that you have to force yourself to listen to this garbage simply for our reading pleasure. Thanks for taking one, actually several, for the team!
May 19, 2015 @ 4:51 pm
Trig, Luke Bryan is pissed off because we’ve all been focusing on Sam Hunt and ignoring his music, so he rectified the situation by releasing his crappiest single out of all his crappy singles, “Kick The Dust Up”.
I barely could not even make it past the chorus, so maybe it suddenly morphed into a Grammy-worthy song halfway through and I missed it lol.
May 19, 2015 @ 5:25 pm
LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL! High top fade… Sam Hunt should do a song featuring The Fat Boyz assuming they are still around.
The number of times I have seen the phrase “worst country song ever” on this means we must have passed the seventh layer of hell 20 songs ago or something. This is to country what All Time Low is to punk music. And both All Time Low and punk, still more country than Sam Hunt.
May 19, 2015 @ 8:25 pm
I predict that this will be the Song of the Summer. No, it’s not country, and it’s not any brilliant pop or hip-hop song, either, but it’s fun.
May 19, 2015 @ 9:46 pm
Of course it will be because “country” radio is playing every song he releases to #1 because he’s male and pop. I say switch him with Kacey, who they have stranded at #45, in fact this song is close to passing the lead single for her album.
May 20, 2015 @ 2:04 pm
This site sure loves to promote Sam Hunt. His name has been mentioned numerous times in the past month or so. I get that his music is bad and not reminiscent of country music at all, but I think the best method to go about getting him off the airwaves is to ignore him and act like he doesn’t exist. Instead, this site talks about him constantly. It gets old seeing him in the headlines of this site so much. Why can’t this site be a domain to escape from artists like Sam Hunt?
May 20, 2015 @ 11:13 pm
If I want to hear a song about a house party, I will listen to the excellent J. Geils Band doing (Ain’t Nothin’ But A ) House Party. No, it is not country, but I do consider it real music. I also saw Shooter Jennings mentioned, I know that he is working with Julie Roberts (who is definitely country) on her new cd. I am not sure if he is just producing or participating in the music or both.
That is all the random thoughts that I have for now.
May 24, 2015 @ 11:13 pm
Hot Chelle Rae did this song way better when it came out in 2011 as “Tonight, Tonight.” At least that song had some sense of irony. And was a perfectly good mindless pop song.
May 28, 2015 @ 12:57 pm
I actually like Sam Hunt – he’s the first pop artist I can say that about in a long time…
August 21, 2015 @ 11:44 am
Hot dog by led zepplin is more country than this crap
September 17, 2016 @ 1:55 pm
I am so glad that I am not alone regarding my feelings toward this song! I am not really a country music fan, or a pop music fan, really, but I laughed (yes, out loud) when I heard this song. And all I could think was, ‘I wonder how many female pop stars passed on this song.’ I can’t even imagine how lame the video is.