Nearly two weeks and two apologies later, Morgan Wallen, the country singer who was immediately condemned by the music industry for using a racial outburst, is still number 1 on the list – and his sales have increased.
Earlier this month, in a clip published by TMZ, Wallen was seen on camera screaming the anti-black trunk after a night out with friends. The next day, his leading music was removed from radio stations and playlists for streaming services, and his label, however vague, said it was suspending Wallen’s contract.
In a five-minute video posted last week, the singer, one of the biggest new stars of country music, said he was wrong and that he regretted his language. “It’s up to me to take ownership of this and I accept the fines I face,” Wallen said.
But these reprimands did not affect his commercial position much, with Wallen’s latest album, “Dangerous: The Double Album”, now spending its fifth consecutive week at number 1 on the Billboard album chart, equivalent to 150,000 sales in the United States. Wallen’s songs were streamed 146 million times, slightly below 154 million the previous week, but his traditional album sales rose 49 percent to 37,000, more than enough to keep his government at number one.
Wallboard’s previous album, “If I Know Me”, from 2018, also saw a rise last week and jumped to number 10 last week, the highest ranking ever, against number 17, Billboard said.
Although Wallen’s behavior led to a psychological investigation in Nashville, where questions about racial inequality in country music had long been papered or set aside, some fans of the singer portrayed him as a victim of the so-called “cancel culture.”
In his apology video, which follows an earlier written statement of regret, Wallen described the incident as part of a “72-hour bend”; he said he had been sober ever since.
“One thing I’ve learned that I’m particularly sorry about is that my words matter, that words can really hurt one and that’s not at my core what I’m good at,” Wallen said. “This week I heard some personal stories from black people that shook me honestly.”
In response to the increase in sales, singer and songwriter Jason Isbell, whose composition “Cover Me Up” was covered by Wallen on “Dangerous”, said last week that he had some of his album proceeds to the Nashville chapter of the NAACP. “Thank you for helping a good cause, people,” Isbell wrote on Twitter, addressing Wallen’s listeners.
Also on this week, ‘The Highlights’, a collection of the Weeknd’s biggest hits, released before its Super Bowl performance, is number 2, mainly thanks to streaming. “Medicine at Midnight”, the new album from Foo Fighters, is number 3, Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty’s “Shiesty Season” debuts at no. 4 and Lil Durk’s “The Voice” dropped to number 5 from number 2.