What the hell is a HiXTAPE? The party was too much fun for it not to continue and the guest list to keep expanding, so – besides being a “superstar-packed album” (iHeartRadio) titled HiXTAPE, VOL. 1 that heavy-hitter HARDY dropped chock-full of head-turning collaborations last fall, HiXTAPE is now a countrified lifestyle brand introduced today (7/10) by Big Loud Records.

“I had the idea of doing an EP with features on it – over the course of a year, I had worked with so many artists and we’d had so much fun, that people jumped onboard,” HARDY explains. “That was kinda the plan all along – to build a ‘HiXTAPE’ mafia and invite everyone along for the joyride. In the future, I won’t be the only person to make a HiXTAPE. It feels like there’s room enough for a whole bunch of us to play here.”

Launching a HiXTAPE website and HiXSHOP webstore stocked with official HiXTAPE apparel, the lifestyle brand is dedicated to keeping the country crowd partying with an animated music video of HARDY’s “He Went to Jared” featuring Morgan Wallen – as featured on The New York Times’ The Playlist for the duo being “rapscallion-like, and shaggy at the edges” – on-tap for viewing. Penned by Michael Hardy, Chase McGill, and Morgan Wallen, the “white-collar/blue-collar romantic square-off” (The New York Times) has become a fan-favorite from HiXTAPE, VOL. 1 – which currently has surpassed 2.2 MILLION monthly listeners and over 8.9 MILLION monthly streams on Spotify.

 

 

HiXTAPE is a big, loud state of mind, straight outta Nashville, but wide open to everybody anywhere, who loves some real Country and just a real good time. HiXTAPE is not just a cool brand bringing you some very cool music – it’s a way of life for those who really like to live.

Mississippi-native and “HiXTAPE OG,” HARDY, will be boots-on-the-ground with the lifestyle brand as it expands to new music and beyond. Creating a HiXTAPE-themed digital world – aka HiXVILLE – centered around backroad bangers from good ol’ country boys and girls, fans can subscribe at hixtape.com for exclusive content and merch discounts. The down-home platform cracks open specialty pages too like HiXNEWS (serving up the latest HiXTAPE news) and HiX-TORY (prepare to get schooled), while the HiXTAPE social media accounts let users brush-up on #HiXOLOGY and #HiXTIONARY lessons.

ABOUT HARDY:
With every new release, Big Loud Records' HARDY puts his signature loud-and-rowdy stamp on modern Country music as both an artist and a CMA and ACM-nominated songwriter. His unprecedented compilation album HiXTAPE, VOL. 1 — 17 all-star collaborations on 10 tracks, including current Top 25 single "One Beer" feat. Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson — has been praised as "one of the most ambitious projects of the year" (Billboard). The countrified mixtape follows career-launching EPs THIS OLE BOY and WHERE TO FIND ME, and earned HARDY critical acclaim as a 2020 double ACM nominee (Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year), a Vevo DSCVR artist, a MusicRow 2020 Next Big Thing artist, and “One To Watch” by CMT, Rolling Stone, Amazon, Pandora and more. The pride of Philadelphia, MS is “one of Music Row’s most consistent hit-makers on the rise” (CMT), tallying writing credits on four PLATINUM-certified #1 singles over 18 months – Morgan Wallen’s 2X PLATINUM “Up Down," FGL’s 2X PLATINUM “Simple,” Chris Lane’s PLATINUM “I Don’t Know About You” and Blake Shelton’s 2X PLATINUM “God’s Country."

ABOUT BIG LOUD RECORDS:
Big Loud Records’ head-turning success story continues to unfold since first launching in 2015, as an expansion of innovative music company Big Loud. With multiple GOLD and PLATINUM certifications and six #1 hits, the Big Loud Records artist family includes Morgan Wallen, Jake Owen, Chris Lane, HARDY, Mason Ramsey, MacKenzie Porter, ERNEST, Ben Burgess, Ashland Craft, Larry Fleet, and Sean Stemaly. Further establishing its cutting-edge reputation, Big Loud Records partnered with ACM award-winning songwriter Nicolle Galyon to create female-focused label Songs & Daughters with artists Madison Kozak and Hailey Whitters, plus songwriter Tiera under its Publishing arm; and expanded the HiXTAPE lifestyle brand. Big Loud’s growing roster has accounted for more than 5 BILLION global streams to date. As of July 2019, the label was the #1 streaming market shareholder among true independent Country labels and #6 overall (country currents YTD, Nielsen Music). Garnering industry recognition, VP of Promotion, Stacy Blythe, was awarded the top honor for SVP/VP at the 2019 CRS/Country Aircheck Awards.