The drama continues.
Morgan Wallen has had a monster debut week with his fourth studio album, as expected, and I’m The Problem debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 all-genre chart, making it the year’s biggest week for any album so far in terms of unit sales, as he earned 493,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending May 22, according to Luminate. It also easily lands the largest streaming week for any album in 2025, and he secured that stat in the very first day it was out.
And yesterday, the numbers for the Billboard Hot 100 chart came out (which consists of singles, rather than the album as a whole), and Morgan has six songs from the record within the top 10, with his duet with Canadian pop star Tate McRae “What I Want” landing a the top spot. It’s Morgan’s fourth Hot 100 chart topper and McRae’s first, though some of her fans don’t seem too thrilled about it.
Of course, scoring a hit like that is a dream for pretty much any artist, and it’s a huge accomplishment when it finally happens… one of those “you made it” moments that they’ll remember forever. I mean, what kind of person who makes music for a living doesn’t want to have the top song in all of music? It’s huge, especially if you’re a mainstream, very commercial artist like McRae.
But when the collab between Tate and Morgan was first announced, some online were not happy to learn that she was working with Morgan, calling her all kinds of names because of some of Morgan’s past controversies.
Keep in mind, this is all coming from people online (I guess they’re her fans?), though the sentiment of their anger seems to remain, because some of her fans are once again upset that her first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart is with Morgan. The song itself was written by Morgan and Tate along with Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Ryan Vojtesak, John Byron and Joe Reeves, and honestly, I thought was pretty forgettable in terms of it getting lost among the rest of the 37 songs.
I didn’t really like it that much, but clearly I’m in the minority and plenty of others are loving it… but people on X are letting her have it, with many questioning if it was “worth it” for her to get her first one this way, on a feature with someone they clearly do not like at all:
was it worth it @tatemcrae https://t.co/rVv1DU5x0i
— Kendall (@KuntyPink) May 27, 2025
haven’t even listened to this song a single time https://t.co/vcKXLOaxAJ
— sara 🦋 (@caIumquat) May 28, 2025
getting your first #1 from a maga racist with a song nobody knows… yeah she’s a sellout pic.twitter.com/cOQZlbZfbn https://t.co/FWE36KDGZs
— perfume genius charts (@daytonatyrants) May 28, 2025
imagine if instead of pandering to orange spray-tanned idiots she actually stuck to the tracks that were getting attention and had a cultural moment people actually cared about for her first #1 hit https://t.co/jVmUxe1njU
— s (@ilovearca100000) May 28, 2025
I’m sorry but this being her first #1 is so embarrassing, every main pop girl’s first #1 were pop culture moments and were actual hits that everyone knew (wrecking ball, thank u, next, drivers license etc) https://t.co/zse2FMyyc1
— 𝐃¿𝐎𝐍 ✯ 𝐅𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 (@MILEYVOODOO) May 27, 2025
Honestly if I’m new and this mother fucker was the reason for my number 1 id be so humiliated like do I even have fans? Did I had to collab with a racist to get a number1? So much humiliation https://t.co/KyY0ZQYKA6
— Tourture B*tch (@ComemeEste) May 27, 2025
really hope that #1 was worth it because this career decision will follow her for a very long time one way or another https://t.co/KLkKrvfOc6
— 🪷joeycon🪷 (@seasalt_bae) May 28, 2025
Its always crazy to me how successful this man is but he has zero impact in terms of pop culture or mainstream conversation. https://t.co/8yQySG7M5t pic.twitter.com/eXCeuTzlsW
— Ste (@Artste93) May 27, 2025
Her first number one being with a r*cist.. https://t.co/rEOgSze7FI pic.twitter.com/7NBsy7zCyf
— jose🛸 (@satvrnojose) May 27, 2025
tate you’re such a loser for this https://t.co/2yEnV6ph46
— n (@virgodreamgir1) May 28, 2025
this being her first #1 is sad… like that’s how you got it… ok https://t.co/4c7VzwaLkG
— chy (@angelsswift) May 27, 2025
her fans were begging her not to collab with him btw
— Bryent (@bryentmicheal) May 27, 2025
It’s not even good? 😭
— Sueee (@SueeeStormm) May 27, 2025
I love you Tate, but I cannot support this racist garbage!
— steven ☀️ (@arianaunext) May 27, 2025
Proof of payola and botted streams
— Choke P⃤ (@lChokel) May 27, 2025
There’s plenty more reaction like that if you look for it, but obviously those people are in the minority because it’s putting up crazy streaming numbers and will likely remain on the Billboard charts for months to come, and probably even longer than that.
Morgan has had a ton of success with crossover hits, and his song with Post Malone “I Had Some Help” that was released last year also comes to mind, and this single seems to be following suit in terms of the popularity and success. McRae has yet to really speak publicly about the song, though Morgan previously talked about how great she was to work with, adding that she’s an artist he had been wanting to collab with for a while.
Like I said, I personally just don’t like this song for the sheer fact that I don’t think it’s good, but you can listen for yourself if you haven’t heard it yet:
“What I Want”
My favorite from I’m The Problem is still “The Dealer” with Ernest:
