BigXthaPlug didn’t set out to become country music’s favorite rapper. When he first heard the twangy, western guitar loop that would become his breakout 2022 single “Texas,” he thought it sounded cheesy. “I was like, ‘What am I supposed to say? Bitch, I’m from Texas?’” he told Rolling Stone. Well, yes. BigX didn’t even listen to country at the time, but he was a natural fit on the track, shouting out his home state as well as local heroes Pimp C and Trae tha Truth in his Dallas drawl. The song not only went platinum and set BigX up as the next big rapper out of Texas, it also got him face time with country heavy hitters Morgan Wallen and Jelly Roll.
BigX soon returned to his comfort zone of southern trap beats. But now he’s making good on the reputation “Texas” earned him by linking with rising singer Bailey Zimmerman on new single “All the Way,” the first offering from the former’s upcoming country-rap EP. It’s not the first genre crossover of the year, but it’s certainly the most successful, debuting at No. 4 on the Hot 100 this week. That’s because, for once, it’s a country-rap collaboration that actually makes sense.
It’s been hard for musicians to shake the idea that fusing country and rap can be more than a lark. Florida Georgia Line succeeded in 2013 when they remixed their hip-hop-indebted hit “Cruise” with “Country Grammar” rapper Nelly, a collab that boosted both artists. But that same year, Brad Paisley and LL Cool J dropped “Accidental Racist,” a song so offensive it never should have made it out of the studio. When “Old Town Road” blew up years later, many country artists (other than Billy Ray Cyrus) defensively tried to keep their distance from hip-hop. Only recently have they felt comfortable enough to give country-rap another shot, like when rap fan Morgan Wallen linked with Lil Durk for 2021’s drill-inflected “Broadway Girls,” which peaked at No. 14.
It’s unsurprising a Texas rapper like BigX would take a genuine interest in country music. And Zimmerman is the perfect liaison for it. He’s a bit of a Nashville outsider himself, discovered on TikTok from the original songs he sang while working construction. His raspy voice also splits the difference between country and ’90s rock; he doesn’t glean as much hip-hop influence as Wallen’s snap-track songs, but he can still nail party-country.
On “All the Way,” both artists stick to their strengths. Zimmerman is in his power-ballad sweet spot, growling about a breakup over a plucky guitar riff. Once the beat clicks in, BigX is off, sounding even more comfortably in the pocket than he does on “Texas.” His bars are pretty run-of-the-mill breakup material — not as audacious as the ones on 2024’s “The Largest,” but also not bogged down by cheap country references.
The formula seems simple: Leave the rap to the rappers and the country to the country singers. That’s been hard for other artists to figure out. The same day “All the Way” was released, singer-songwriter Ernest dropped “Gettin’ Gone” with Snoop Dogg. Outside of Snoop’s presence, nothing about the song reads as hip-hop. The band lays down a rambling shuffle, which Snoop awkwardly attempts to rap-sing over. It’s a stilted performance, but at least it’s not as cringeworthy as last December’s “Georgia Ways,” by Quavo, Luke Bryan, and Teddy Swims, where everybody sounds out of place — from Quavo rapping some cheesy lines about an uncle on the porch with a shotgun to Bryan attempting to rap at all.
Until the next one-man, genre-hopping talent like Shaboozey rolls around, artists and A&Rs are going to keep pushing country-rap collabs. “All the Way” should be the model: Pair a rapper and country singer who both respect what the other does and keep them in their own lane. It doesn’t even have to be a southern rapper and a hip-hop-influenced country star, as long as they mesh together. (Hell, there was a moment when Drake could’ve conceivably hopped onto a Sam Hunt song!) Do it right and you could end up with an inescapable hit. “All the Way” certainly has the makings of one. While it may not slot neatly onto rap or country radio long-term, it has a clear runway at pop radio, where both genres currently rule. And if the song fizzles out, BigX has more country-rap collabs just like it ready.
