<\/p>\n
\n\tBigXthaPlug<\/a> is one of the leaders of hip-hop\u2019s new school, and he\u2019s looking to prove he\u2019s more than a rapper with his country-trap pivot. <\/p>\n \n\tEver since the arrival of his slide guitar-tinged breakout hit \u201cTexas\u201d in 2022, country\u2019s biggest stars began to tap in and show love to BigX, ranging from Morgan Wallen<\/a> to Luke Combs<\/a> and Post Malone.<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cPost Malone, Luke Combs, all those guys,\u201d BigX told Billboard<\/a><\/em> at the top of 2025. \u201cThey claim I\u2019m their favorite rapper.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFittingly enough, BigX credits a Billboard<\/em> interview<\/a> earlier this year with pushing him to actually put a country-themed project together, after speaking about having plans for the project, even though it didn\u2019t exist at the time.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI go and do a Billboard<\/em> interview and I straight up say, \u2018I got a country project on the way,’\u201d he told the New York Times\u2019 Popcast<\/em>. <\/a>\u201cAnd I never had a country project on the way\u2026 I wasn\u2019t thinking properly, they had just made me cry in the middle of the interview\u2026 We come back and I\u2019m kinda trying to change the narrative, \u2018I got a country project on the way.\u2019 After I was like, \u2018Damn.\u2019<\/p>\n \n\tHe continued: \u201cI said that and my team was like, \u2018You know you gotta do it now, right?\u2019 Days later, You got Jelly Roll saying [he wants in on the album] and we getting demo after demo from all these other artists.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFast-forward about eight months, and it\u2019s mission accomplished, as X returned with his I Hope You\u2019re Happy <\/em>album<\/a> on Friday (Aug. 22).<\/p>\n \n\tExploring all the emotions surrounding a relationship that crashed and burned, BigX invites Jelly Roll,<\/a> Luke Combs, Shaboozey,<\/a> Ink, Tucker Wetmore, Thomas Rhett, Ella Langley<\/a>, Bailey Zimmerman<\/a> and Darius Rucker <\/a>on the journey to complete the project, which took him longer to finish than any of his previous work.<\/p>\n \n\tThrow on your cowboy hat and matching boots while delving into Billboard<\/em>\u2018s ranking of all the tracks on I Hope You\u2019re Happy<\/em> (without the pair of interludes included). <\/p>\n