Blanco Brown has left Wheelhouse Records/BMG to start his own label, Trailer Trap.
Brown is best known for 2019’s massive viral hit and dance “The Git Up,” which spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and has been certified five-times platinum by the RIAA. In 2021, he and former labelmates Parmalee reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with “Just the Way.” As a producer and songwriter, he has also worked with Monica, Pitbull, Fergie and 2 Chainz, among others.
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His last project released on Wheelhouse was a trio of EPs released in 2024: Heartache & Lemonade, Cedar Walls & Whiskey and Back 2 Basics.
“I felt like I was being shelved. When I looked around and I saw everything that was going on,” Brown tells Billboard. “There’s no hard feelings over at BMG, but for me to have creative control, be able to put out stuff whenever I want to, that’s what I would rather do.” Brown also praised Jon Loba, BMG’s president of Frontline Recordings for The Americas, for his support, but says, “he still couldn’t get people outside of the label to believe in me as much as he did.”
BMG representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
Brown says his BMG partnership was a licensing deal, so he retains ownership of his masters, as well as his name, likeness and website.
Trailer Trap takes its name from the term Brown coined years ago to describe his blend of country and rap music. He plans to sign artists, but for now, he’s working on a new project that he will release on the label. “Sometime next year, I’ll be dropping a very great project,” he says. I wish I could tell you the title, but I can’t right now, because I’m in between two or three different titles.” Following the release of that project, he will turn his focus to signing artists.
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Brown has been in the news lately following the success of Breaking Rust, an AI-assisted artist that reached No. 1 in November on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart for a thumping track called “Walk My Walk.” People noticed the stylistic similarities to Brown’s music, and that Abraham Abushmais, one of the creators possibly associated with “Walk My Walk,” had worked with Brown on his label debut, 2019’s Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs.
Brown made and released his own version of “Walk My Walk” nearly two weeks ago, and then on Friday (Dec. 5) released what he called a “derivative” version that had some changed lyrics. He also released an AI-created video for the song.
“When I first heard [‘Walk My Walk’], I said, ‘Man, this right here has a lot of grit, and it reminds me of my tone, but he doesn’t sound like me. I can just tell that I inspired him,” Brown says. “But it’s like putting the two pieces together, knowing that somebody I mentored actually created [Breaking Rust]. Then it all started making sense, because people were actually hitting me in my inbox and saying, ‘Hey, man, this song that’s going up the charts, and it seems like it could be No. 1 soon, it has a little reminiscent feel of how you approach songs.’ And you know, that’s how it all started.”
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Brown says he had never used AI to create any music or videos before, and aside from the “Walk My Walk” video, still doesn’t plan to, but knows he may be in the minority as AI’s usage grows. “I could care less how people create music. When I create music, it’s because I got to get it out of my soul, off of my chest,” he says. “For other people, it’s about money. It’s about making a dime. Just like the industry, the industry is all about money, all about making a dime.”
The singer adds that he will not be signing AI-assisted artists to Trailer Trap’s roster. It will be “real creatives in the flesh,” he says. “That’s the way God intended for it to be because music can heal, break or destroy you.”
