Boyfriend Country Is The New Bro Country 

Don't make me wish for the days of "Hotdamalama."

2010’s Bro Country - Chasing her 2020’s Boyfriend Country - I got her 2030’s Divorce Country - it didn’t work out and I lost her

It doesn’t even sound like country, it sounds like pop but the guy singing has an accent.

This is like therapy. You're teaching me how to channel my hatred for modern country music into level-headed criticism. Thanks!

I think of it as “wedding first dance country”

And here I am, hoping that the women that they sing about drive them crazy to the point where they run away, start bar fights and break hearts and then suddenly outlaw country comes back in style.

I feel like ‘boyfriend country’ is the record execs direct reaction to “Girl in a Country Song”. “I promise, we don’t hate women. Not enough to let them sing on the radio, but we don’t hate them.”

really all these trends always make me think of Bo Burnham’s song when he made fun of country and how it panders

Ok, so the next logical step would be "Divorce Country"

“Forever and Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis is the kind of boyfriend country I can get behind. Not this new crap.

“Nice Guy” country in the post-Chad country era

Like Sturgill says “I’m tired of y’all playing dress up, and tryna sing them old country songs”

Once again, I think we need to just make "southern pop" a genre, move all of these half-wits (bro and boyfriend) over there so that we can have our country back. George Straight and Randy Travis showed us that we can have country love songs without taking the heart and soul out of the music.

"I don't want to feel like I am looking through a wedding album, or at a Hallmark card, or, God forbid, watching the bachelor when I am listening to country music." PREACH.

“Bro country” CHASE ALL THE GIRLS!!! “Boyfriend country” I chased all the girls, found one I liked and now I worship the ground she walks on.

They missed a trick not having a tv show "bro island" where all the bros get together to make sweet bro country together.

Tyler Childers, colter wall. Some new artists that are actually good.

"God Bless the Broken Road" is one of the best boyfriend country songs of all time.

My ears literally can’t tell a difference between these songs and pop music

Just about every single one of these songs have been recommended to my fiancee and I for our wedding. Every time we give a polite and respectful "hell fucking no"

That Ed Sheeran album “mistake” you did SENT ME 😂😂😂

“Simp country”😂😂😂 not exactly a false statement

Literally "boyfriend country" makes me think of Russell Dickerson. And I like some of his stuff but the hairstyle...is...all. the. Same.

While as a woman it is nice to go from being called a “beer holder” to being at least appreciated, I still feel like men in country, or probably the industry as a whole, doesn’t like marketing women as people. Women are either saints or a hot booty in shorts. Neither of those stereotypes present women as real people and very few songs ever have. Considering how little radio play time women get, the songs are just an extension of that. I’d love to hear a song that talks about a woman as just a person, not an idea. It’s all so frustrating for me as a woman, considering I love country music

when's emo country? brb actually

All this boyfriend country and I still can't get a date.

I like to describe boyfriend country as bro country growing up. It’s more mature than the tailgate parties and all that, but it still lacks substance 😂

Can't relate. Need more "Forever Alone" country.

Just look at Alan Jackson’s «Remember When», one of my all time favorite songs. He even left Lloyd Green with 8 bars (full verse) of steel solo. Wish we could hear more of that.

I see you Grady. Sneaking in that Ed Sheeran joke 😂😂

I love that Grady is one of the few people that's calling out the country music industry on this "snap track" bull shit.........i'm sick of it

If you close your eyes when you’re listening to most of these artists, they seem like pop songs.

"It feels like pandering" Thats all modern popular country ever is, its pandering, regardless of the trends. It music designed to sell a culture and validate an ideal way more than anything else. I work lights for major country major country tours and every aspect and detail about these musicians are about branding, image and keeping up with aesthetics to validate a culture, to a point that the music and performance is so incredibly sterile and by the numbers. Ive worked hundreds of country shows with many of these artists (who are all genuinely nice people) and I couldnt tell you the difference between any of them, theyre all interchangeable and bland. The act I can even say have a sense of self identity that are unique to the point that seperates them from their peerz are Sugarland (who were fantastic live!) Everything from concert songlist structure, the set and lighting design, the outfits, and the blantant in show advertising (country music is the only genre to not only have the artists face plastered on all the tour trucks, but features a blantant advertisement for a product as well. Hell a few years ago Brad Paisley had his tour sponsored by Kraft and there were LITERAL KRAFT MAC AND CHEESE ADS IN BETWEEN SONGS). And yes, all genres if music are like this (hip hop, hard rock pop can all be guilty of this), but in my experience popular country is the only genre that not only doesnt try to hide this fact, but blantantly tells you this while smiling. This isnt a criticism of country music fans either, everyone is entitled to enjoy the music they connect to without shaming or criticism, but its an incredibly vain, shallow and sterile genre of music thsts put genuine creativity and identity aside as the least important thing. Its not about what the artist wants to personally express, but about what the crowd wants to hear. Theres nothing challenging. You can make the same case for modern pop music, but you tend to have more artists that at least have distinct sounds, styles and aesthetics that set each other apart. If you played me three different bro/boyfriend country songs and gold me to guess the artist theres no way I coukd guess this. Im not a country music fan at all (i listen to a lot of random stuff from prog metal to acid house to punk to industrial) but I have enough exposure and experience to know that the trends may change but the genre of pop country is a faceless bland, sterile one with zero semblance of identity the artist. I do want to say you have a fantastic channel and articulate very well issues within the genre of music you follow. Keep up the great work!

What I wouldn’t give for another era of 90s country.

“it is not necessarily a ‘simp’ move to show respect and speak respectfully of women” you dropped this king 👑

The “snap track” has got to go. You’re 100% right on this!

This is real cringy, really miss funny-romantic songs like "Little Moments" from Brad Paisley or "Woman Like You" from Lee Brice,

Watch, In about a year or two, we’re gonna see a bunch of nostalgia pieces about how “good” bro country was and most of them will be written by the same people that bashed it

This music is about as country as Liberace is straight

Watching him straddle that microphone made me so annoyed. Imagine him opening for Johnny Cash, David Allen Coe, or Hank. Eugh.

Thank god for Jon Pardi, Midland, Cody Johnson and Combs to offer something other than country vanilla.

The only new boyfriend country I will accept is “lady May” by Tyler Childers

I agree with you about how country radio has really no originality anymore,. I stopped listening to it on a regular basis several years ago because, like you said, it’s the same sounding music and the same few artists played over and over again. So frustrating! There are so many amazing country artists and songwriters that have so many great songs that barely get heard, if ever, because of country radio being stuck in an endless rut of crap.

I’ll take boyfriend country over bro country, but there definitely needs to be more variety. And honestly, I’d love to see the flip side of this and get more girls singing about how great the men in their lives are.

A good example of a fun love song that isn’t “boyfriend country” is She Likes The Beatles by William Clark Green

“Beautiful Mess” by Diamond Rio is boyfriend country in a way I guess... just actually paints a picture that isn’t so by the numbers.

None of these people write their songs. So it's the record companies and the industry in general pushing this. That's why it's every song because that's what the record company is saying is selling

This is kinda what happened in the metalcore scene when that whole Attack! Attack! flavor was everywhere

Nobody: Grady: “That’s My Kind of Night” by Luke Bryan “Ughh ughh”

I miss when country music talked about people killing themselves because they miss their ex lmfao

Wow I listen mostly to a lot of what ppl call “alt country,” Americana, etc and kinda forgot how miserable mainstream country is. Thanks for the Prine and Dolly at the end.

I wish Johnny, Waylon, Conway, and George Jones were still here today to show these wanna be pop stars what real country sounds like.

I hear a snaptrack, i switch off, doesn’t matter who the artist is!

The second half of the 90s was full of this kind of music. John Michael Montgomery was the avatar of this trend a generation ago and it largely defined early Kenny Chesney as well. From Ty Herndon to Clay Walker to Bryan White, the sensitive guys dominated in the second half of the 90s.

His ears must be suicidal to have listened to so much 2010s country

Country music: trending to the saturated extremes since the 2000s

I resonate more to bro-country because of its rock influence, Like Take it Outside by Brantley Gilbert and Round Here by FGL. Songs that are more rock than country. But the evolution towards a more bubble gum pop, has made me miss those days of bro-country.

If these were released ten years ago people would say it’s pop

Dan + Shay's latest album is a straight up pop album. I feel like still calling them country would be like calling Taylor Swift's "Red" a country album

Probably part of the reason why "Boyfriend country" is gaining a lot of traction (beyond the crowd appeal) is because it seems like 90% of country music artist got married or engaged last year 😂

You should review “Cold Beer Calling My Name” by Jameson Rodgers featuring Luke Combs. Also Luke Comb’s “Six Feet Apart”

Nobody wants to watch someone else’s wedding video.

2010’s Bro Country - Trying to get her into my truck after telling her to get me a cold one 2020’s Boyfriend Country - Buying her a cold one and driving her in my truck to wherever she wants 2030’s Marriage Country - Sitting on top of a truck both drinking cold ones 2040's Divorce Country - Her catching me drinking a cold one again and me escaping in my truck 2050's Custody Country - Fighting her while drunk from a cold one about who gets the truck

what in tarnation

Ya know who doesn't sing any of this crap....Eric Church!

I’m so turned off by “country” music atm I’ve basically stopped listening to it. There are some gems that pop up now and again but for the most part it’s been bleh for years.

I clicked on this because I thought guys were singing about their boyfriends. Disappointed.

Guys, I met a girl prior to quarantine and I absolutely fell head over heels in love with her. Unfortunately, we had to distance ourselves due to this outbreak. It sucks because things were progressing great, she was asking me to come over and hang and then Bam! Covid-19 happened. Every time I hear one of these songs, it reminds me of her. She's an amazing guitarist who sings songs about heartbreak and love. She had gotten out of a bad relationship right before we met, so she was most likely on the rebound and feeling lonely that night. I tried to be there for her, but I think her ex has made it hard for her to open up and trust people. I was thinking about doing some covers of these songs and posting them for her to see. One that I think really fits my situation is Get to You by Michael Ray. I feel like this may help her open up since we both share a love for music. I really wanna see her again, especially before I get deployed to the Army. So do you guys think I should do some covers of these country songs to let her know how I'm feeling?

Just to point out, Remember You Young isn't even a love song, it's a nostalgic look at the passing of time. Love the video, not a Thomas Rhett fan, but that song isn't an example of a reverent love song.

Goerge strait, hank, alan Jackson and brooks and dunn. All radio stations are set for eternity.

It's because all the bro country fans are now getting married and need wedding songs.

Jason Aldean has a few of these songs but he still has ones like "Fly Over States" that are classics.

Turn off this bro pop country and give me some Hank or Strait

When you were saying how the sound is getting boring all I could think of was villanelle yelling “this is so BOOOORIIIING” in killing eve at the art museum

That clip of Luke Bryan cracks me up every single time lmao

Little over a year later and now we have a commercial with a hybrid bro/boyfriend country song about taking your girl to a fancy dinner at Applebee's.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Thomas Rhett” Thomas Rhett: When your legs don’t work like they used to before *clears throat* Sorry sorry

Do you guy think when all of them break up with they’re girlfriends it just gonna be like a bunch of Taylor Swift break ups songs with dude singing them

I am not a country music fan, but I really enjoy your thoughtful critiques of the form. I always learn something.

The country genres roll on by, Hank Sr sits in the corner smoking and biding his time

When it rains it pours is big for a reason. Just saying.

I love when you include that luke bryan meme lol

I feel like a lot of these songs are made to perform a function that is to be played at a wedding. I’ve been to several country-ish weddings and let me tell you they’re all there lol.

‘That ain’t country’ by Aaron lewis is the only way to describe most of this new music...

Is Dan and Shay this generation of rascal flatts? They sound just like them, even the corny extra sensitive love songs.

Country music radio can kept their boyfriend country and I will keep listening to Luke Combs, Eric Church, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson, Cody Jinks, Jamey Johnson, John Moreland, Sturgill Simpson, Colter Wall and Tyler Childers etc

Good point about the worship of women. I've always felt uneasy about it. Here's a point to compliment that: at any given moment on the top 25 chart (across most genres) you will find virtually ZERO male positive songs - the songs by men put women on a pedestal most often, and songs by women are about a terrible ex.

Thanks for the video Grady! I thought I was going crazy wondering why every song I was hearing on the radio driving t work and back was a sloooow song.

I cannot take Dan +Shay. Just barf. Whenever I hear Rascal Flats come on the radio I think to myself "oh, it's the original Dan +Shay"

lmao "Whether they're disabled, have vitiligo, or have a bunch of nose rings"

I wanna hear songs like Collin Raye's "Love Me" on the radio again

Orville Peck is the only boyfriend country I know.

In all honesty, I much prefer "bro-country" over "boyfriend country". I'm not going to dare say I am thrilled for either, and "bro-country" lyricism does indeed hit jarring nadirs much more often than "boyfriend country". But here's the thing: in spite of the Auto-Tune, overcompressed mixing, rap cadences and early flirtation with clap tracks, much of bro-country actually still embraced the presence of actual instrumentation that translates well to a live setting: preserving the amped-up roadhouse guitars and drums that were prominent before this sub-genre's rise with at least faint whiffs of peddle steel and banjo. And perhaps some may disagree with me on the following, but I'm of the opinion that a laughably awful song is better than an unbearably banal, forgettable one................and with the exception of the most misogynistic "bro-country" tracks, I can still laugh off and enjoy "bro-country" stompers unironically here and there due to their usually energetic tempo and charisma. With "boyfriend country", I can't even do that. And what makes "boyfriend country" even worse than "bro-country", to me...................is that when misogyny or condescension is there in the lyrics, the aggressively "sincere and "romantic" tone of the track makes the track smack as aggressively manipulating from an emotional standpoint. "Female" gave off that vibe to me, for example. Not to mention the production and instrumentation is a monochromatic sleep-inducing blur bereft of actual instrumentation most of the time.

Alrighty Grady, I know you’ve been getting heckled on Twitter about this, but I want to hear your take on “Everlasting Country” from Upchurch. I’d say you’ve got a fair bit of experience and know a good sound when you hear one.

I totally agree. Its not the lameness of the song - country radio has played a lot of lame stuff through the years. It's the monotonous nature of it.

I’m calling it now your going to do a video on the hot country knights talking about how Dierks is bringing back 90s country!

I thought Maddie and Tae's reaction to Bro Country was amazing in the mid 2010s. I thought they were underated and probably even smothered by Nashville and the gatekeepers of country music. I like their sound and still hope they make it bigger someday. "Bro Country" and "Boyfriend Country" still have the same component; a louder male perspective. I love country music. But you're right I want more variety in every aspect of radio country, perhaps especially in the artists themselves too. More females would be refreshing. Not just the same ones. I miss the 90s as a kid! Faith, Shania, Tricia Yearwood, Jodi Messina, Reba's second wave, etc

I'm gonna get so much hate for this but "Heaven" by Kane Brown is one of the most boring songs I've ever heard

My sister was listening to some of these songs, I had no idea it was country till this video.

Update for 2023 - Stalker Country is the new Boyfriend Country. Seriously, there are sooo many songs where the dude is waxing nostalgic about an ended relationship, except the creepy thing is that they're written in the second person. Like she's gonna care about your feelings after breaking up with you. Examples: Sam Hunt - Hard to Forget Sam Hunt - Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s Morgan Wallen - One Thing at a Time Luke Combs - Love You Anyway Mitchell Tenpenny - Truth About You Mitchell Tenpenny - We Got History