Renowned for breaking boundaries, HARDY, a powerhouse writer & artist with Big Loud Records, has consistently defied categorisation. The unveiling of his last album ‘the mockingbird & THE CROW’ marked a soaring triumph, establishing HARDY as a force to be reckoned with. This critically acclaimed sophomore album seamlessly blends country and rock influences across its two distinct sides but the release of new song, ‘Quit’ has got tongues wagging across Country music.
Recognised with the prestigious CMA Triple Play award three times, HARDY is the reigning ACM Songwriter of the Year, the 2022 BMI Country Songwriter of the Year, and a two-time AIMP Songwriter of the Year. As it stands right now, HARDY is one of the hottest and most sought-after writers and producers in Nashville and that success has been hard earned.
New song ‘Quit’ was released on Friday and is way more of a ‘CROW’ song than a ‘mockingbird’ one. Inspired by a real life event from HARDY’s past when somebody wrote ‘quit’ on a napkin and put it in a tip jar at one of his early shows, the opening of the song is pure Eminem with its early 00s rapping and aggressive cadence. HARDY details his entrance into the industry and shouts out Florida Georgia Line as being early advocates too. ‘I ain’t the goat, I’m the black sheep,’ he declares as the song builds to a powerful finale on a wave of ‘F’ words and chest-thumping self aggrandisement. When the guitars come in and the screaming starts in the final third Eminem is left behind in favour of a Gwar meets Slipknot ending.
The elephant in the room is that for many Country fans they last saw HARDY performing covers of Joe Diffie’s ‘John Deere Green’ and ‘Pick Up Man’ at last year’s CMA awards with Post Malone and Morgan Wallen. He also announced a tour on Friday with the likes of Kip Moore, Travis Denning and Ella Langley in the support slots – all of which are Country artists much more suited to HARDY’s ‘mockingbird’ persona than his ‘CROW’ one even if each one is more suited to a harder-edged crowd than Music Row often likes to be seen as. HARDY clearly isn’t walking away from the Country demographic or dollar but ‘Quit’ is going to be a hard-listen for many fans of that tour undercard.
For some, the duality of HARDY’s persona will simply be too much. IS he a Country artist or a purveyor of extreme Metal? Is he an outlaw who walks the line or a rapper in a white T walking the 8 mile? ‘Quit’ is a tough listen for fans of Country music but is the notion of being a fan of one particular style or genre of music an outdated concept in 2024 now? The lines between genres are coming down as the Gen Z flips between all styles and sounds on the streaming platforms, a behavioural characteristic that is a new concept to the music industry and one that HARDY, cleverly, finds himself at the forefront of. Like all pioneers, it can be a tough world out there, flying in the face of accepted and perceived wisdom.
The other elephant in the room is that HARDY doesn’t need his solo career to be a commercial success. So if songs like ‘Quit’ don’t work out he can rely on the money from his writing career to carry him forward. Freed of that pressure, HARDY can continue to be Country music’s Jekyll and Hyde without fear of rejection or failure. We’ll pass on ‘Quit’ because it’s just not a style of music we like but that doesn’t mean to say we’ll walk away from HARDY. We’ll wait till the mockingbird decides it’s time for another flight. The binary world of yesteryear where an artist has to be one thing or another is being left behind. Artists like HARDY and maybe even Post Malone, if rumours of a Country album turn out to be true, are forging a path into the future with a zeal and a kind of fearless freedom. That creativity can be unsettling to gatekeepers and traditionalists but to us it is something to be celebrated, even if some of the songs or styles don’t always land personally for you.
