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Almost two weeks and two apologies later, Morgan Wallen, the country singer who was quickly condemned by the music industry for using a racial slur, is still No.1 on the charts – and his sales have increased.
Earlier this month, in a clip released by TMZ, Wallen was seen casually yelling on camera the anti-Black insult after a night out drinking with friends. The next day, his top-tier music was taken off radio stations and streaming service playlists, and his label said, albeit vaguely, that it was suspending Wallen’s contract.
In a five-minute video released last week, the singer, one of country music’s biggest new stars, said he was wrong and sorry for his tongue. “It’s up to me to make this my own and I fully accept the penalties I face,” Wallen said.
But those criticisms didn’t affect his commercial reputation much, with Wallen’s latest album, “Dangerous: The Double Album,” now spending its fifth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Albums chart with the equivalent of 150,000. sales in the United States. Wallen’s songs were played 146 million times, down slightly from 154 million the week before, but his traditional album sales rose 49% to 37,000, more than enough to maintain his reign at number one.
Wallen’s previous album, “If I Know Me,” of 2018, also peaked last week, rising to No. 10 on the charts, his highest position on record, after No. 17 the week before, said Billboard.
Even as Wallen’s behavior sparked introspection in Nashville, where issues of racial inequity in country music have long been covered up or dismissed, some of the singer’s supporters have portrayed him as a victim of so-called ‘culture. cancellation ”. “
In her apology video, which followed an earlier written statement of regret, Wallen described the incident as part of a “72 hour bender”; he said he’s been sober ever since.
“One thing that I have already learned and that I am particularly sorry about is that my words matter, that words can really hurt a person and in my heart that is not what I agree with”, Wallen said. “This week I heard firsthand personal stories of blacks that really rocked me.”
In response to the surge in sales, singer and songwriter Jason Isbell, whose “Cover Me Up” song was covered by Wallen on “Dangerous,” said last week that he would donate one of the profits from the album to the Nashville chapter of the NAACP. “Thank you for contributing to a good cause, my friends,” Isbell wrote on Twitter, speaking to Wallen listeners.
Also on this week’s chart, “The Highlights,” a collection of The Weeknd’s hits, released ahead of his Super Bowl performance, is # 2, thanks in large part to streaming. Foo Fighters’ new album ‘Medicine at Midnight’ is No. 3, Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty’s’ Shiesty Season ‘debuts at No. 4 and Lil Durk’s’ The Voice’ is dropped to No. 5 on n ° 2.
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