Dangerous: The Double Album

Doubling down on the Joey Moi-produced pop-country sound that catapulted Morgan Wallen and other male country stars to popularity in the 2010s, Dangerous: The Double Album is Morgan’s blockbuster sophomore album that topped 2021’s music charts and cemented Morgan’s place as a country music superstar.

Lyrically, the double album showcases two distinct sides to Morgan’s persona: the sensitive Southern songwriter and the loud bro-country torchbearer. The first disc mostly encapsulates the former persona and details Morgan navigating the dangers of romance, often abusing alcohol and ignoring red flags in the process. The second half of the album is dominated by light-hearted tunes on countryside pride and the Holy Trinity of bro-country: parties, girls, and booze.

The promotional cycle for Dangerous began unconventionally while Morgan’s previous album If I Know Me and its singles were still climbing the charts. The record’s first promotional single, “Cover Me Up”, was released in April 2019, and Morgan would eventually preview ten more of the album’s songs before the album release. While “More Than My Hometown” was previewed as an official radio single, many of these songs were previewed on social media as acoustic worktapes. Fans had a small hand in curating the album when Morgan asked for their feedback on these rough recordings. “7 Summers" was notably upgraded from a potential album reject to a record-breaking single based on its overwhelmingly positive fan response.

The album became embroiled in controversy at multiple points in its lifespan. The album’s promotion hit a minor road-bump when Morgan was caught partying maskless during the COVID-19 pandemic, a decision which resulted in his scheduled Saturday Night Live performance being canceled. The most famous controversy however, occurred in February 2021 when Morgan was filmed using a racial slur. In response to this incident, the music industry withdrew all support for Morgan Wallen and Dangerous: The Double Album. Radio stations immediately banned his music, streaming services removed all traces of him from playlists and home pages, and his recording contract was suspended. Morgan’s presence on the industry blacklist proved to be only temporary when Morgan was controversially phased back onto radio in June 2021. Furthermore, “Sand in My Boots” was successfully released as the album’s comeback single in August 2021.

Fueled by its surrounding controversies and widespread publicity, Dangerous: The Double Album was a massive commercial success, and achieved a rare feat in spending its first ten weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album notably experienced a sales and streaming increase after the racism scandal, and its commercial performance inspired numerous media articles about society and culture.