I'm The Problem (Morgan Wallen Album)

''I'm the Problem'' is the fourth studio album by American country music singer Morgan Wallen. It was released through Big Loud, Republic, and Mercury Records on May 16, 2025. The album features guest appearances from Tate McRae, Eric Church, Hardy, Ernest, and Post Malone. Production was handled by Joey Moi, Charlie Handsome, and Jacob Durrett. Unlike Wallen's previous album that was recorded in the Abbey Road Studios, ''I'm the Problem'' was recorded and written in his farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

''I'm the Problem'' consists of 37 tracks and has a running time that is nearly 117 minutes long. This became Wallen's longest running album and his album to feature the most tracks, surpassing ''One Thing at a Time''. Additionally, ''I'm the Problem'' spawned nine single/ promotional singles: " Lies Lies Lies", " Love Somebody", "Smile", the title track, " I'm a Little Crazy", " Just in Case", " I Ain't Comin' Back", "Superman", and " What I Want". Six of the tracks listed above debuted or reached the top-ten of the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 prior to the album's release, eclipsing the conjoint record held by '' Red'' and '' Hollywood's Bleeding'' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone respectively. "Love Somebody" and "What I Want" each debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Wallen's third and fourth chart-toppers on the respective chart, alongside his second and third number-one debuts.

Similarly to Wallen's previous album, ''I'm the Problem'' garnered mixed reviews from music critics. Nonetheless, the album debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200 and has yet to depart from the top spot after four weeks, thus marking Wallen's third consecutive number-one album on the respective chart. The album moved over 493,000 album-equivalent units in its opening week, with 133,000 pure sales, overtaking the Weeknd's '' Hurry Up Tomorrow'' as the largest debut week of the year.

Background and singles

On March 3, 2023, Wallen released his third studio album '' One Thing at a Time''. The album received mixed reviews from music critics, many considering the album as too monotonous. Despite the mixed critical reception, the album debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, remaining there for nineteen non-consecutive weeks throughout 2023 and 2024, eventually becoming the year-end number one album of 2023. The album also holds the record for the second-most weeks spent atop the US Top Country Albums chart with 86 weeks.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of ''One Thing at a Time'', Wallen released the ''Abbey Road Sessions''. The ''Abbey Road Sessions'' included an acoustic rendition of " Lies Lies Lies", the lead single from ''I'm the Problem''—which was released on July 5, 2024. The ''Abbey Road Sessions'' additionally included a cover version of Nothing but Thieves' "Graveyard Whistling", and featured digital collections and live recordings of all 36 tracks from ''One Thing at a Time'', namely from studio number-two. Predating the release of the album's second single, " Love Somebody" was teased by Wallen on his various social media accounts. Wallen additionally performed the song before release during his One Night at a Time Tour, which garnered positive reception. "Love Somebody" released on October 18, 2024, serving as the album's second single. Additionally, "Love Somebody" debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 dated November 2, 2024, becoming Wallen's third number one on the respective chart, and the 81st song to debut atop the chart in history.

On December 31, 2024, coinciding with New Year's Eve, Wallen surprise-released the promotional single "Smile". The promotional single was released alongside an official music video, becoming Wallen's eighth song to feature a music video. Exactly one month later on January 31, 2025, Wallen released the third single from the album, being the title track. The title track was first teased on Wallen's Instagram as "I Guess", and received positive reception from fans. Then on March 21, 2025, Wallen released two promotional singles: " Just in Case" and " I'm a Little Crazy". The former song caused Wallen to break the record for the most top-ten hits from an album before the album's release, with "Just in Case" debuting at number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 dated April 5, 2025. Wallen released "Just in Case" as the album's fourth single on March 31, 2025, due to high-demand from fans.

Following the rave critical reception from Wallen's duet with Post Malone on " I Had Some Help", Wallen and Malone began to tease another collaboration. The collaboration with Post Malone, being the third promotional single from the album " I Ain't Comin' Back", released on April 18, 2025. On the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 dated May 3, 2025, "I Ain't Comin' Back" debuted at number eight on the chart, further extending the record for the most top-ten hits from an album before release. On May 9, 2025, a week prior to the album's release, Wallen released the fourth promotional single from the album, being "Superman". Wallen revealed that he wanted the respective song to "have its own moment" since he wrote the song for his at-the-time three-year-old son, Indigo "Wilder" Wallen.

"I'm the Problem" debuted at number one in the United States with 493,000 units sold in its first week. The album's debut marked the largest of the year, and it broke various streaming and sales record upon its arrival. The project also reached number one in various countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Scotland, with some marking Wallen's first number one debut in the region. 36 of the 37 tracks charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and all tracks debuted on the Hot Country Songs chart.

To coincide with the album release on May 16, 2025, " What I Want" the duet with Tate McRae was released to pop radio as the album's fifth single.

Release and promotion

On January 26, 2024, he revealed that he would start recording his next album towards the end of February 2024. In a statement on January 24, 2025, nearly a year later, Wallen expressed his gratitude for his fans and announced that he was still working on new music. He revealed his next album to be titled ''I'm the Problem''. The news also included the announcement of the release of the title track on January 31, previously teased on January 13, 2024, with the caption "I guess". Wallen previewed two other tracks titled "Superman" and "I'm a Little Crazy" in February and March 2025, both set to appear on the album.

Wallen will tour stadiums throughout North America to promote the album later in 2025. The 19-date tour includes stops in ten cities and will run from June 20 to September 13, 2025. Guests include Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett, Koe Wetzel, Gavin Adcock, Corey Kent, Ella Langley and Anne Wilson. On March 14, 2025, Wallen revealed through an Instagram post that the album was finished, and teased a track titled " Just in Case".

Critical reception

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, ''I'm the Problem'' received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 64 out of 100 from six critic scores.

Commercial performance

United States

In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. It moved 493,000 album-equivalent units in its opening week, including 133,000 pure album sales, overtaking the Weeknd's '' Hurry Up Tomorrow'' as the largest debut week of the year. This extended Wallen's record as the country artist with the most debuts atop the ''Billboard'' 200. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart (dated May 31), 36 of the 37 tracks from the album charted, alongside his hit collaboration " I Had Some Help". This gave the country star the record for the most tracks charted simultaneously, breaking the previous record held by himself (36). Wallen also became the only artist history to hold all tracks inside the top 10 of the Hot Country Songs chart. The project generated 462.63 million on-demand official streams in its first week, marking the largest streaming debut for a country album in 2025. It sold 286,000 units in its second week 246,000 units in its third week, and 201,000 on its fourth week.

Worldwide

In the United Kingdom, ''I'm the Problem'' debuted atop the UK Albums Chart by the Official Charts Company. This marked Wallen's first number-one album in the UK, making him just the fifth artist to debut atop the chart with a country album—after Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, Beyoncé, and Post Malone.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.

Musicians

* Morgan Wallen – vocals (all tracks), background vocals (track 22)
* Tom Bukovac – electric guitar (tracks 1–5, 7–37)
* Bryan Sutton – electric guitar (tracks 1, 30), acoustic guitar (2–5, 8–29, 32–34, 36, 37), Dobro guitar (12, 26), mandolin (21, 31, 33); banjo, guitar (31)
* Wes Hightower – background vocals (tracks 1–3, 5, 7–9, 12–15, 17–21, 23–25, 27, 31, 34, 35)
* Dave Cohen – keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7–11, 13–29, 31–37); accordion, organ (31)
* Jerry Roe – drums (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8–15, 17–29, 31–34, 36, 37), tambourine (10, 11, 28, 31), shaker (22, 31, 33), tambourine (24, 28, 33, 34)
* Craig Young – bass (tracks 1, 19, 24, 31)
* Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7–17, 20–23, 25–30, 32–34, 36, 37)
* Charlie Handsome – electric guitar (tracks 2, 7), programming (3, 5, 6, 13, 14, 20, 22, 34, 35), piano (30)
* Jacob Durrett – programming (tracks 3, 12, 16, 28)
* Tate McRae – vocals (track 4)
* Joey Moi – electric guitar (tracks 16, 21), background vocals (23)
* David Garcia – programming (track 19)
* Hardy – vocals (track 21), background vocals (37)
* Chris Tompkins – background vocals (track 23)
* Jimmy Robbins – background vocals (track 23)
* Ernest – vocals (track 24)
* Post Malone – vocals (track 27)
* Luis "Wizzle" Witkiewitz – background vocals (track 30)

Technical

* Ted Jensen – mastering (tracks 1–35, 37)
* Justin Shturtz – mastering (tracks 22, 36)
* Joey Moi – mixing (tracks 1–5, 7–37)
* Charlie Handsome – mixing, engineering (track 6)
* Kevin Reeves – mixing (track 36)
* Josh Ditty – engineering, digital editing (tracks 1, 19, 21–24, 26, 31, 32, 34, 36)
* Ryan Yount – engineering (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7–18, 20, 25–30, 33, 35, 37); recording, engineering assistance (1, 19, 21–23, 31, 32, 34, 36); digital editing (1, 2, 4–37)
* Austin Brown – recording, engineering assistance (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 8–19, 21, 24–33)
* Katelyn Prieboy – recording, engineering assistance (tracks 2, 5, 8–18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27–30, 33, 34, 36, 37)
* Steve Cordray – recording, engineering assistance (tracks 4, 26)
* Joey Stanca – recording, engineering assistance (tracks 20, 35, 37)
* Eivind Nordland – digital editing (tracks 1, 2, 4–37)
* Matthew McCartney – digital editing (tracks 1, 2, 4–37)
* Scott Cooke – digital editing (tracks 1, 2, 4–37)
* Ally Gecewicz – production coordination

Charts

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{Morgan Wallen

2025 albums
Albums produced by Joey Moi
Big Loud albums
Mercury Records albums
Morgan Wallen albums
Republic Records albums
Country pop albums
Albums produced by Charlie Handsome