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In December 2016, when Kane Brown released his eponymous debut, he made his Billboard debut. But to hear it, its real turning point was almost a year later. In October 2017, after the reissue of the album in luxury edition, Brown was completely caught off guard to learn that the disc was not only returned to number one on the country map, but also went to the number five of the Billboard 200.
"It totally upset my spirit," the singer of "Heaven" says, reflecting on this momentous moment in her career. "I mean, it's been almost a year since it came out! So yes, you could say that I was shocked that it was a comeback in the charts. "
When Brown calls Rolling stone a recent afternoon, it's a week before its scheduled release Experience, his second album. And he feels resolutely optimistic. "For this one," says Brown about the 13-song album that arrived a few days after his first-ever sold-out performance at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, "we'll try to stay at the top of cards for a while. "
It's safe to say that he made a good start: Experience not only top of the Billboard charts in its first week of release, but even more impressive, the album debuted at Number One of the Billboard 200, a genre of all kinds. It's a feat that Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood have accomplished this year. Brown also became the first male country artist to beat the Billboard 200 with his second album since Tim McGraw's album in 1994. Not a moment too soon.
Yet all this raises the question: how did a relatively cool artist like Brown achieve such a feat? And more, for a talent that Nashville has not yet fully embraced? (See his membership in last week's CMA Awards, where he was neither nominated nor awarded a spot at the show.)
As Brown will explain, it's his understanding of the new age and his audience that allowed his ticket to take off so early.
After exploding via social media after publishing country covers on Facebook and YouTube and then signing an agreement with Sony Music Nashville, Brown talks about his audience not as a distant entity, nor even in laudable and complimentary terms, but rather varied group with great musical interests. Brown, who is biracial and sees himself as a Nashville underdog, says he recognizes that his fan base, like him, is young, diverse and, in many cases, relatively new in country music.
"That's what I say to everyone," he says. "Many people who only enjoy country music, are not my fans. My fans love everything. You can find my fans at a Drake show; you will find my fans at Post Malone until Pink. They love music in general. "
That's why Brown, who appeared earlier this year on a remix of Camila Cabello's "Never Be the Same" and helped make this song one of the top 10 Experience he was very conscious of finding a balance between the traditional country music of the 90s in which he was raised and the R & B, hip-hop and pop music that many of his closest friends gravitate to.
"My friends are real with me," he says, using them as a sounding board. He remembers playing the more classic "Short Skirt Weather" song, which sounds like a country, a song he "tried to do for traditional country fans," but they did not feel it. "Most of them were like" Hey, I do not know if I really like this song. "But then, I show them" One Night Only, "he says, referring to one of the most poppy pieces Experience"And even though most of them do not listen to country music, they like this song. Does it make sense? "
That's done. Today 's listeners – especially the youngest ones – are much more fluid in their tastes, and an artist like Brown, who says he is "much more confident" on this album and is for this delighted the side of the traditional and progressive fans. within a single album, is ready for cross success.
"This album was really different," he says. "For me, I love music, that's what I really tried to do with this album. Nothing sounds the same. Everything is in a sonic direction completely different from each other. "
But Brown acknowledges that there remain listeners more stubborn in their tastes and resistant to the fluidity of the genre. As an example, he remembers the reaction of some pop fans after his appearance on the Cabello remix. "Some pop fans will say" Who is this guy? " supposedly do not listen to country music, "he says. "But I feel that all artists just want everyone to love every type of music. Because artists love music. They do not just sit in a room when there are six to choose from.
Even choices long considered safe – such as the traditional instrumentation of countries on Experience, as Brown does with violin, steel guitar and harmonica on songs like "Baby Come Back to Me" and "Short Skirt Weather" – can be risky, according to Brown. "It's getting a bit suspicious," he says. He admits that he feared that some of his younger fans, who understood that his pop-prone material might be put off by the old school country from some of the new tracks. "It's just something you have to risk," he says. "You may lose some fans, but I hope you will win others along the way."
Brown is questioning his audience's listening habits carefully and claims that this has a direct impact not only on what he creates, but also on the location and mode of broadcast of his music. The singer quickly discusses the impact of streaming on his career and more particularly how he approaches a project like Experience anticipate that some of his most daring songs may never have a chance on country radio, but will always find a focus on streaming services.
As the saying "One Night Only". Brown describes the R & B's flagship program as "almost a Khalid song when it comes in. It's like playing an acoustic guitar with a bit of techno. It's not at all a country radio song, "he suggests. "It's a song I'd like to see explode on Spotify or Apple Music. I think it will be one of my biggest streaming songs. "
Now armed with a Number One album, Brown is on the road in January during her Live Forever Tour, the singer's first release. The live show, he notes, is just one more way to satisfy his audience. Especially when it comes to what's going on behind Brown on stage.
"Production is your baby," he says. "If you do not have a good production, then it will not be as good a show as going to a Drake show that costs $ 700,000 a week."
Honestly, he adds, he gives his fans a big dose of excitement every night. It does not matter if you have the best voice in music. "
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