Country music is having an awfully big summer

Transcript

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

We often think of pop music as being in a state of constant upheaval, with new stuff out all the time. Well, not this week. There are zero new songs and zero new albums in the top 10, but country music is having an awfully big summer. Here's Stephen Thompson with NPR Music.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A BAR SONG (TIPSY)")

SHABOOZEY: (Singing) Good Lord. Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey.

STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: For the third week in a row, and fourth overall, Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" sits atop the Billboard Hot 100. Just behind him is yet another country song, Post Malone's "I Had Some Help." This one features Morgan Wallen.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I HAD SOME HELP")

POST MALONE: (Singing) It ain't like I can make this kind of mess all by myself. Don't act like you ain't helped me pull that bottle off the shelf.

THOMPSON: As a matter of fact, in a slow week for new music, the only songs to debut in the top 50 come in the form of country duets. There's the MGK and Jelly Roll song "Lonely Road," which evokes classic John Denver.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LONELY ROAD")

MACHINE GUN KELLY: (Singing) Lonely road, take me home to the place that we went wrong.

THOMPSON: And then there's another Post Malone song. This new one's called "Guy For That." He's joined by Luke Combs.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GUY FOR THAT")

MALONE: (Singing) She's searching for someone who's going to build it back, but I ain't got a guy for that, ain't got a guy for that.

THOMPSON: Post Malone's new star-packed album, "F-1 Trillion," comes out next week. He's been pivoting toward country this year, and it's virtually certain to be one of the year's biggest albums. Meanwhile, other like-minded acts are rising. One of the top debuts on this week's albums chart comes from the Red Clay Strays. Their first record for a major label is called "Made By These Moments."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WANNA BE LOVED")

THE RED CLAY STRAYS: (Singing) I just want to be loved. I just want to be loved.

THOMPSON: Near the pinnacle of the Billboard albums chart, the latest records by Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan just climbed back into the top three, and even their older records keep charting. Combined, Wallen and Bryan have eight albums on the list this week. That's almost as many as, well, Taylor Swift, who has 11 of the 200 albums on the chart all by herself.

Stephen Thompson, NPR Music. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.