My mama always said, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all… but the internet doesn’t play by those rules.
On Friday, Koe Wetzel released the fourth song from his forthcoming 9 Lives album called “High Road,” which includes guest vocals on a feature from his Columbia labelmate Jessie Murph, which received mixed reviews at best on social media, mostly from Koe fans saying they wanted it to be a solo song.
Jessie is an Alabama native who went viral on TikTok a few years ago, and eventually signed a record deal in 2021. She has a blend of country, pop and rock in terms of her sound, but definitely leans more towards the rock category and has already built up a strong and dedicated fan base.
Additionally, Jessie has worked with Jelly Roll in the past, and released a song with him called “Wild Ones” last year that has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
And obviously, Jelly’s wife Bunnie Xo is never one to hold back when it comes to defending people and speaking her mind, so when she was the many negative comments about Jessie’s aforementioned feature with Koe, she wasn’t having it.
Bunnie shared a reel on her Instagram page last night calling out the “grown ADULTS being mean to a beautiful 19 year old girl,” who have left tons of comments on Koe’s Instagram page, and pretty much anywhere the song is mentioned, basically saying they wish Jessie wasn’t on the song and they didn’t like her voice:
“Can we get just a Koe version too? Please and thank you.”
“We just wanted Koe.”
“Drop Jessie off and then post about it dropping. She’s alright but it’s almost like you want the song to tank.”
“NOOOOOO. Jessie makes it sound like some kidsbop shi!”
“Drop the solo version instead.”
“Was excited, now disappointed.”
“Get her off that shit.”
“Ruined it.”
And it goes on like that…
Now of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and as an artist, you unfortunately have to expect that kind of stuff no matter what kind of music you make… I mean, even Dolly Parton herself gets plenty of hate comments, and it just comes with the territory.
But I, for one, can’t imagine going out of my way to comment something bad on someone’s page when it’s a person I’ve never even met before, but like I said, this is the internet, though I do agree with Bunnie that some of the comments were a little much:
“All you grown ADULTS being mean to a beautiful 19 year old girl, who’s pursuing her dreams & has already accomplished so much in her career- more than some of y’all keyboard warriors need to chill tf out. Don’t play with me or baby girl. XO”
Personally, when I don’t like a song, I just don’t listen to it…
Koe commented on the post echoing Bunnie’s sentiments:
“One more time for the folks in back!!”
And Jessie seemed to appreciate the gesture, commenting:
“I LOVE U SO MUCH.”
Here’s the full post:
Written by Koe along with Amy Allen, Carrie Karpinen and producer Gabe Simon, the song finds Koe taking the “high road” both literally and metaphorically, as he finds a different approach to a conflict in a rocky relationship, deciding not to fight back but rather take some time to cool off (which also includes getting stoned, if that wasn’t obvious).
Koe says the song shows off a different side of him, and is intended as another evolution in his music and sound:
“‘High Road’ is a good example of how this album shows a different side of me than people might expect. Every record’s almost turning a new leaf, always a left turn because of how honest I am.
But this? It’s what the people have been expecting from me, but we hadn’t gotten there yet. It’s a grown-up version of me.”
The production is definitely in line with what we heard on the previous release “Sweet Dreams,” with a lot of R&B flavor that I do think he pulls off with his rock-infused unique brand of Texas country.
In terms of the lyrics, I liked hearing the woman’s side of what went down with this fight through Jessie Murph’s feature. I do see some maturity and growth in the fact that when he wrote the song, Wetzel basically called himself out when penning her verse and that part is really intriguing.
And if it wasn’t your personal favorite, I have good news: there’s 11 other songs on the tracklist you can pick from.
Listen to “High Road” for yourself here:
Koe has released three other song from the record including “9 Lives (Black Cat),” “Damn Near Normal” and “Sweet Dreams.” 9 Lives was produced predominantly by Gabe Simon (Noah Kahan’s Stick Season) alongside a lineup of trusted collaborators like Josh Serrato, Carrie K and Sam Harris (X Ambassadors).
A couple weeks ago, “Sweet Dreams” became his first song to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (which encompasses all musical genres), charting at #47. It also debuted pretty high on the Hot Country Songs chart at #11, becoming Koe’s seventh entry and first top 20 hit. “Wasted,” “Creeps,” “Damn Near Normal,” “Cabo,” “April Showers” and “Money Spent” all also charted on the Hot Country Songs chart.
The album is due out everywhere on July 19th.
9 Lives tracklist:
“Continued” Skit
“9 Lives (Black Cat)” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon)
“Casamigos” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Sam Harris, Ben Burgess, Gabe Simon)
“Damn Near Normal” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon, Carrie Karpinen, Sam Harris)
“Leigh” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon)
“Twister” (Ropyr Wetzel, Steve Rusch, Ben Burgess, Josh Serrato)
“High Road” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Gabe Simon, Carrie Karpinen)
“Reconsider” (Charles John Brocco, Keith Quenton Gattis)
“Hatchet” (Gabe Simon, Mike Coogan)
“Sweet Dreams” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Josh Serrato, Gabe Simon, Sam Harris)
“Runnin’ Low” (Ropyr Wetzel, Amy Allen, Sam Harris, Gabe Simon, Ben Burgess)
“Bar Song” (Blake “Shy” Carter, Breyan Isaac, Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Dave Gibson)
“Last Outlaw Alive” (Josh Serrato, Ben Burgess, Sam Harris)
