Maren Morris Announces 'a Step Back' From Country Music After 'Drama'
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For a while, it seemed as though Maren Morris thrived on the so-called drama between herself and Jason and Brittany Aldean, but now she's reconsidering her role in it.
The "Rich" songstress has decided to take a step back not only from the viral feud but the country music industry that seems to fuel it and others like it. In a new interview with The Los Angeles Times, she opened up about searching for what comes next as she denounces the ongoing racism and misogyny that has plagued parts of the country scene.
The news follows a new mini EP called The Bridge, which features two tracks—"The Tree" and "Get the Hell Out of Here"—both of which reflect on her previous fight against conservative narratives in the country industry and, as Morris explains it, as a transition between her time in Nashville and the unknown that comes next.
“I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over,” she mused. “But it’s burning itself down without my help.” She explained that she feels "very distanced" from the "stories going on within country music right now." Part of that is due to her own attempt to "avoid a lot of it at all costs."
"I had to take a step back," she explained. Especially after the outcome of the Trump presidency, where "people’s biases were on full display." Per her perspective, she saw misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia and the like "being celebrated."
She continued, "It was weirdly dovetailing with this hyper-masculine branch of country music. I call it butt rock."
In regard to her new song, "Get the Hell Out of Here," she notes, "It’s about disarming that trauma and saying, 'I can’t bail water out of this sinking ship anymore. It’s so futile. I choose happiness.'
Reflecting on her most recent news-worthy callout, when she criticized Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town," which seemed to take a racist, pro-lynching stance in the lyrics and the music video, Morris added, "Music is supposed to be the voice of the oppressed — the actual oppressed. And now it’s being used as this really toxic weapon in culture wars."
As she leaves all of that behind her, she has a "thread of hope" for the future.
Next: Maren Morris Seemingly Hits Back at Jason Aldean's 'Small Town' Song in New Music Video Tease
