“Like I Love Country Music”
Kane Brown
Written by Kane Brown, Matt McGinn, Taylor Phillips, and Jordan Schmidt
I love everything about this record.
The influence of nineties country on Kane Brown’s sound has always been explicitly identifiable, and the fact that he was so young during that era brings a wide-eyed innocence to his nostalgia for that time.
You can feel the absolute joy Brown felt as a young child when he discovered Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn. I thought every way to say “I love you” had already been said, until he compared his partner to Brand New Man: “Top to bottom, you’re perfect like Brooks & Dunn’s debut album.” Ronnie Dunn’s guest vocal on that verse makes it even more potent.
Also all over this record is the influence of Shania Twain. Brown has mentioned before how he grew up surrounded by women, and that one of his earliest favorite songs to sing along with was “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” The guitar riff here is a cool homage to the classic hook of that nineties staple.
See, the coolest thing to me about Kane Brown’s music is that he blends the sounds of early nineties traditionalists like Jackson and Dunn with the sophisticated pop-country of Twain, while also bringing in elements of contemporary pop, R&B, and hip-hop. He’s a country artist that honors the genre while also transcending it, and he does it with authenticity and sincerity.
Give this man Entertainer of the Year already.
Grade: A
…you can’t argue with kane brown, that the brooks & dunn debut album is indeed perfect from top to bottom. regarding that entertainer of the year suggestion – someone might point out that jesus would see it quite differently. bless him.
Kane Brown, for me, is the antidote to so much of the toxicity surrounding some of the genre. It reminds me of the days back in the nineties when the genre felt truly inclusive.
I probably think much less of Kane Brown as you do Kevin, but between this song and Whiskey Sour I have enjoyed his output lately. Wish the production was scaled back a little here (the guitars are too loud in my opinion) but nonetheless not a bad song.
“Whiskey Sour” is still his best record, IMO. I’m hoping that they send it to radio officially after this one finishes its run.
Welcome to Country Universe!
You probably shouldn’t click the Kane Brown tag. :)
Count me as another one who hasn’t hopped on the Kane train, though this is one of his better efforts and I’d give it a B. Probably a B+/A- if they had used double-time drums in the chorus – it plods along as recorded.
I like this new Kane Brown song but as of now i prefer Last Time I Say Sorry (w John Legend), Worldwide Beautiful and Whiskey Sour. I like KB’s voice.