Key Takeaways:

• I Hope You’re Happy explores heartbreak and private development, impressed by the artist’s real-life breakup.
• Visuals for “Box Me Up” and an album trailer add cinematic depth to the genre-bending rollout.
• I Hope You’re Happy follows the well-received releases Amar and TAKE CARE.

On Friday (Aug. 22), BigXthaPlug launched his third studio album, I Hope You’re Happy. The 11-track mission marks a shift in fashion by mixing nation influences with hip hop and that includes assists from Darius Rucker, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, Shaboozey, Bailey Zimmerman, and extra.

The album builds on the momentum of “All the Way,” which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Much of the brand new mission facilities round themes of heartbreak, together with the emotionally charged title observe, which serves as a letter on wax to his former accomplice.

“It just so happened I went through every step of a breakup,” he revealed throughout a sit-down on The New York Times’ “Popcast.” “When you break up, you don’t just break up… especially when you really love that person. You break up. You don’t talk to them for a little bit. Then you see ‘em, ‘How you doing?’ You link up for a little bit. I went through every step of that, all while I was making this project.”

When requested about his experimentation with genres, he defined, “I really wanted to go a different lane with it at first. I wanted to just show I was an artist… the name of the project at first was Not Just Country.”

In addition to the discharge, the Dallas star shared visuals for “Box Me Up,” his collaboration with Jelly Roll. An album trailer, directed by Jerry Morka, featured cinematic imagery of a lady holding a Texas bluebonnet as a burning home loomed within the background.

BigXthaPlug initially pursued a football career earlier than off-the-field challenges derailed these plans. He started writing music whereas serving time in jail, the place he composed lyrics on music/bigx-tha-plug-interview-popcast.html”>medical varieties. His debut LP, Amar, arrived in 2023, adopted by TAKE CARE in 2024.