Bailey Zimmerman already has plenty of country hits under his belt, but he owes his first major crossover, “All the Way,” to his collaboration with rapper BigXthaPlug.
The way it came together, it’s almost like he manifested it.
“I had heard that X was gonna release a country EP or a country project,” Bailey recalls. “And I thought, ‘Man, how cool would that be to do that? I would love to get a song with him.’ I love his music. I’ve been listening to him for years.”
“And then about four months later I get a text on my phone. BigXthaPlug: ‘Hey, do you like this song?’ And I’m like, OK … that’s crazy. Listen to the song, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh. This song is insane, dude!'”
Bailey happened to be in his studio at the time, so he immediately laid down a vocal and sent it to his potential collaborator.
“He was like, ‘Dude. There’s a lot of people that tried this song, but man, you crush it. I want you on it,'” Bailey remembers. “I feel like it was the perfect blend of our music. Even though I didn’t write the chorus and the hook, it feels like I could have written it myself, which is usually what I’m looking for when I’m collabing with somebody.”
BigXthaPlug joined Bailey to play their hit at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium during CMA Fest. You can check out their performance when the annual three-hour special airs Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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