Ben Chapman has risked ruffling some feathers in Nashville. The "Don't You Dare" singer recently called out country artists who are putting out "phone-in" albums. His comments came during a recent appearance on the Whiskey Riff podcast.
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"I'm not knocking any of these artists, because they are all bigger than me and they have more fans than me, and they always will," Chapman said. "But I feel like in Nashville, there's a lot of phone-in records. A lot of people make the same record over and over again. Which if I'm making millions a year, and people are expecting that of me, how could you not fall into that trap?"
Chapman avoided naming anyone by name. However, his message was clear: too many country artists are putting out the same music, over and over again, without embracing too much of the creative process. Now, whether that's a sentiment you agree with is certainly open for debate.
Nevertheless, it's clear Chapman's comments are coming from a place of love for country music and wanting to see the industry continue to grow. After all, country is experiencing a new boom, with multiple global stars emerging in recent years. The best way to keep that boom going is by having a diverse pool of artists, all producing music that will reach different sections of the audience.
Still, it's fair to assume that not every country artist will feel the same way.
Ben Chapman Believes Country Artists Should Embrace the Genre's History
During the episode, he also called on country artists to learn more of the history surrounding the genre.
"I feel like more people should be nerds about country music," Chapman said. "... there's a lot of people that don't know the history of country music, in this town doing music. I don't know how you do it if you don't know the history behind it."
Chapman noted that by learning more about the genre, artists could learn from the legends who came before them.
"I'm not saying you have to go and read the country music encyclopedia, and I'm not saying you have to know every person who ever did country music. But it is good to hear some of those legendary songwriters, and legend songs."
In truth, Chapman isn't wrong. There's always something you can take from other people's work, and then spin it to make it your own. The exciting part is that we're witnessing new legends emerge at this very moment in time.
All that truly matters is that country music is in a great place right now, and that the current generation of stars continues to work toward making the genre even bigger for the future generation of musicians to come after them.
