NEW YORK (AP) - Rising country singer Morgan Wallen has a new collaboration with three-time Grammy-winning mega-producer Diplo, but Wallen admits Diplo probably didn’t know who he was before they worked together.
Managers for Diplo, who is working on a country music project under his real name Thomas Wesley, reached out to Wallen’s manager, Seth England, looking for new material. England, who also manages Florida Georgia Line and Chris Lane, sent over songs including a tune Wallen worked on.
“(Seth) was like, ’Oh, by the way, I also want to throw in this one with this kid’ - me - which is a song that I had put my voice on,” Wallen recalled. “And they ended up liking that one the best, I guess. And we just went back and forth.”
The result is “Heartless,” which was released this month. Wallen said he and Diplo, who has produced for everyone from Justin Bieber to Beyoncé, recorded their parts separately.
They didn’t meet until they filmed the music video. Wallen called Diplo “a super cool guy.”
“It’s way very different than anything I’ve done before,” Wallen said. “I’ve always liked all kinds of different types of music. Right after high school … the first time I ever recorded music was with a rapper, a friend of mine, and I would just be like, ’I’ll sing your choruses.’ So I would sing his hooks and he would go in there and rap.”
“If a song can make you feel something then that what’s most important, and it did so I’m glad it’s out.”
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