Ernest Keith Smith, known mononymously as Ernest (stylized in ERNEST), is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer. After writing songs for

Morgan Wallen Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of ''The Voice'', originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated ...

Jake Owen Joshua Ryan Owen (born August 28, 1981), known professionally as Jake Owen, is an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2006, he released his debut studio album, '' Startin' with Me'', that year. This ...

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was ...

Thomas Rhett Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

and Chris Lane, he signed a recording contract with

Big Loud Big Loud is an American independent multi-sector entertainment company located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It consists of a record label also known as Big Loud, along with music publishing and talent management divisions. Big Loud wa ...

in 2019.

Biography

Ernest Keith Smith was born and raised in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. He took an interest in hip hop music at an early age, citing the ''Space Jam'' soundtrack and a

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

songs given to him by a friend as his main influences. At age 19, he suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

brought on by a viral infection, and developed a drug addiction while in college playing JUCO baseball. After recovering, he moved back to Nashville and began writing and recording songs, in the

Bro Country Bro-country is a form of country pop originating in the 2010s, and is influenced by 21st-century hip hop, hard rock and electronica. Bro-country songs are often musically upbeat with lyrics about attractive young girls, the consumption of alc ...

style with Matt Royer, the brother of his now wife, who owned a recording studio. This association led to him co-writing the title track of

's 2016 album ''

Dig Your Roots ''Dig Your Roots'' is the third studio album by American country music duo Florida Georgia Line. The album was released on August 26, 2016, by Big Machine and Big Loud Mountain. As with their first two albums, it is produced by Joey Moi. The tw ...

''. The following year, recording under the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

Ernest, he began to cut

country rap Country rap (or country hip hop and sometimes hick hop) is a fusion genre of popular music, blending country music with hip hop–style singing or rapping. History Prototypes Early influences on the emergence of country rap as a distinct genre ...

singles: "Dopeman" and "Bad Boy". In addition, Ernest began writing songs for Chris Lane and

. This led to him signing a recording contract with

, the label to which both Owen and Lane are signed, in 2019. Concurrently, he began touring with Lane and

Mason Ramsey Mason Ramsey (born November 16, 2006) is an American singer. In March 2018, after gaining Internet fame from a viral video of him yodeling " Lovesick Blues" by Hank Williams at a Walmart, Ramsey was signed to Big Loud. He is known for his singl ...

later in the year. Ernest had further success as a songwriter in 2020 with Lane's " Big, Big Plans",

's "

More Than My Hometown "More Than My Hometown" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Morgan Wallen. It was released on May 27, 2020 as the lead-off single from his second studio album '' Dangerous: The Double Album''. Content Wallen co-wrote ...

", and

Sam Hunt Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA ...

's "

Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s "Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s" is a song by American country music singer Sam Hunt. It was released on October 12, 2020 as the fifth single from his second studio album ''Southside''. Hunt wrote the song with Zach Crowell, Chris LaCorte, Ernes ...

". He also released his first single for Big Loud, titled "Cheers". This was followed in 2021 by two more singles; the first was "American Rust", issued in June. It was followed in December by "

Flower Shops "Flower Shops" is a song by American country music artist Ernest featuring country music singer Morgan Wallen. It was released on December 31, 2021 as the lead single from Ernest's second studio album '' Flower Shops (The Album)''. The song was ...

", a duet with Wallen. Ernest also host his own podcast titled ''Just Being Ernest'', in which he talks to other musicians about the music industry. The podcast first started April 19, 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

{{reflist American country singer-songwriters Big Loud artists Country musicians from Tennessee Country rap musicians Living people People from Nashville, Tennessee Year of birth missing (living people)