Back in October, controversial country star Morgan Wallen shared a snippet of a hip-hop-flavored track called “Broadway Girls.” It quickly blew up on TikTok, leading fans to wonder whether Wallen would release a full version of the song. In a recent podcast interview, Wallen hinted that he had several “options” for the track, and now we know what he was planning: a surprise collaboration with Chicago rapper Lil Durk that arrives on streaming services today.
“Broadway Girls” refers to Nashville’s famed stretch of honky tonk bars. Wallen’s buddy and fellow country singer Jason Aldean owns one such establishment, and as we discover in Wallen’s opening lines, that’s where the song takes place.
I met her down at Aldean’s
She said she that saw me walkin’ in about a mile away
Bean just had to take her phone
And that just took her smile away
Bean, in case anyone is wondering, is Wallen’s cousin, also known as Andrew Greene. Wallen explained as much on the Just Being ERNEST podcast. Bean may have confiscated the girl’s phone, but he couldn’t save Wallen from a world of trouble. In the first verse, Wallen says he’s “been kind of crazy ever since it went down.” Then he explains why.
I get kind of lost, and baby this what I found
Girls like you just want to take me around, around and around
That’s the gist of the song: Girls who hang out on Broadway are no good. In the chorus, Wallen puts it plainly.
Now there’s two things that you’re gonna find out
They don’t love you and they only love you right now
Durk—who’s given top billing on the song—runs with the theme in his verse. He opens with his own complaints about what happens in Music City.
The town just told me “Don’t trust ’em”
Broadway girl’s a trap
They on me, they tryna finesse me
They see me with Morgan and know that I rap
“Broadway Girls” caps an eventful 2021 for Wallen. His LP Dangerous: The Double Album ranked No. 1 on the year-end Billboard 200 chart, making it the top album across all genres. This despite the fact that Wallen was caught using the N-word in a video posted on TMZ in February. Following the incident, Wallen enjoyed a 1,220 percent increase in digital album sales and a 327 percent bump in song sales. Wallen later said he didn’t understand the pain associated with the slur, and he issued a full apology after meeting with leaders of Black organizations.
You can check out all the lyrics to “Broadway Girls” on Genius now.
