2. “There’s a lot of things we go through and we don’t even know why—at the end of the day, God has a purpose and a plan for you, and that’s kind of how I take that.”

3. “I got a rebel side in me, but I’m not mean!”

4. “I just want to be able to do it all just because that’s what life is.”

5. “I’m by no means the person that I strive to be. I don’t think anyone is the person that we strive to be. But I try.”

6. “You’re all about the chase.”

7. “But you won’t ever let me catch you.”

8. “I know it takes more than one album to stay around.”

9. “I think that the best music and the music that people relate to the most is the honest music that people feel themselves in it.”

10. “And it’s always good to get back home and see the people you love, and get to spend time with your family on top of playing your music.”

11. “I feel like that’s my foundation and my roots, what I believe in—no matter where life takes me, I’ll always be the same guy and same person at heart.”

12. “I’ve established this kind of wild persona and these redneck party songs and a live show that’s kind of rowdy, but I don’t want people to think that’s what I’m all about.”

13. “I’m always saying normal things, and people usually understand me, but they’re like, Where are you from?”

14. “I think it takes a little bit of time for people to take you seriously.”

15. “If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, if you don’t feel comfortable, or you’re not meaning what you’re saying, no matter if you love it or not—you can still connect with a song, but if you don’t, I feel like people can easily sniff that out.”

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16. “I just want to make music people like.”

17. “I let so many people down who mean a lot to me, who have given so much to me, it’s just not fair. I let my parents down and they’re the furthest thing from the person in that video. I let my son down and I’m not okay with that.”

18. “Cutoff flannel and a mullet. That’s what I’m rolling with. If you see me on stage, that’s what it’s gonna be!”

19. “To get the best idea of who I am, I would probably say listen to my first single, ‘The Way I Talk.’”

20. “I know that I come from a place of small-town roots and of humble beginnings and I try to keep those things in my songs—just stuff that I know people like me can relate to.”

21. “There’s no reason to downplay what I did. It matters and please know I’m carefully choosing my next steps in repair.”

22. “I didn’t do anything but write for six months after I got my publishing deal. That was just trying to get better and figure out my sound and the way I like to do it.”

23. “If I’ma be single. I’ma need double shot of that heartbreak proof. And see the world through whiskey glasses.”

24. “I’m all for a good slow song and I love all different kinds of music.”

25. “Whenever my parents got married, my dad had a mullet. Me and my dad are very similar type people with the way we look and the way we act, and I figured if he could get away with it when he was around 25, then I could try to do the same thing.”

26. “I can speak for everybody in saying we’ve all been through a breakup to where you didn’t want it to be over.”

27. “I still dabble in different types of music, but I’m sticking to my country roots.”

28. “I have my hopes high. I don’t know how I’ll top the Luke Combs tour, but I guess we’ll see.”

29. “I still have my buddies from back home, I still have my family. They really help to keep me grounded. I try to call them and talk to them about their everyday life.”

30. “My parents are avid supporters of me, and just hearing my name and the word ‘Grammy’ in the same sentence would be a dream come true. I mean, that’s something you put on your tombstone.”

31. “It’s cool to be able to relate to people who aren’t necessarily from the same way of life as me or don’t even maybe know what I’m talking about in some of my songs. It’s just cool that music has that ability to do that.”

32. “I would play around bonfires with my friends, and people were telling me that I was good.”

33. “I think Diplo is a true global artist. I feel that he is exposing country artists to his global reach and that’s something that is rarely done in our genre.”

34. “Women in country music could make the same claim, to some degree, that Black artists could. That they haven’t been made to feel welcome.”

35. “I got a call from my manager who told me Diplo was working on a country project. I put my vocal on the songwriting demo and my team sent the song to his team. Evidently, they fell in love with it—and the rest is history.”

36. “I listened to Country music a little bit, but it didn’t enter my life until I started listening to Eric Church.”

37. “I wanted to put a song out there to let people know who I was and, at the same time, help me set apart from a lot of different people in country radio.”

38. “I didn’t even know what ‘The Voice’ was, but my mom said, ‘I signed you up for this singing show,’ and I was like, ‘All right, I guess.’”

39. “I took a few months off after my senior year was over, and I prayed and tried to figure out what was my plan and my purpose. That’s how I started writing songs and playing guitar just to get my feelings out.”

40. “I didn’t want to act like I’m too cool for school or anything like that.”

41. “I definitely don’t wanna be known as the ‘Up Down’ guy. I love singing that song, I love that song, but yeah, there’s definitely more to me than just a party for sure.”

42. “I really got into Three Doors Down—that’s the sound that was out when I was 12 or 13. I really loved Breaking Benjamin and bands like that.”

43. “I liked Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, and the Eagles. Those were some of my favorites.”

44. “I didn’t necessarily grow up with country being my first priority as a music listener. I grew up listening to classic rock and Christian music.”

45. “I didn’t grow up being a performer, really. I played baseball.”

46. “My dad had a guitar that he gave me. I went to Walmart and bought a chord chart and hung it up in my room, and I was just trying to figure out how to play the guitar and put words with what I was learning.”

47. “My voice is obviously real southern—I automatically lean country.”

48. “As soon as I was old enough to move and walk, I went straight to sports. My mom said I never even played with toys.”

49. “Right after high school—the first time I ever recorded music was with a rapper, a friend of mine, and I would just be like, ‘I’ll sing your choruses.’ So I would sing his hooks and he would go in there and rap.”

50. “I don’t want to be New Vocalist of the Year; that’s not a goal of mine. If those things come along, that would be awesome, but that’s not something I strive for.”

51. “A lot of people say I talk like ‘country gangster’ almost. I don’t know how that’s possible or how that happens, but some people say that.”

52. “I had a bowl cut. That was pretty bad. Definitely a bowl cut. And I used to have blond, like really, really, blond hair when I was a kid. So blond bowl cut—that’s what I was rocking when I was a little kid.”

53. “I’m not a huge award-type person, that’s not really what lights my fire.”

54. “I try to focus on what I love doing and if those things, those awards, those accolades, those tickets keep selling and coming like they are doing, I’m going to relish in it and live my life the best way I know how and be grateful.”

55. “My whole life, was my first love. I was gonna go play college, but during my senior year, I tore my ACL, and college kind of faded away with their offer, which I understand, obviously. That was a dark time in my life.”

56. “From a young age, I took an interest in the music and my noticed it.”

57. “I didn’t know if I could write. I was writing all these songs at home and was like, ‘Maybe I can write?’”

58. “I believe in God. I believe that He’s real and I believe He has control over a lot of things and I think throughout history there have been a lot of countries that have turned their back on Him and the result is not great.”

59. “We don’t put the Ten Commandments in school anymore. We just neglect everything and people act like the Ten Commandments is something so terrible. I mean, it’s a way to live. I think we all could agree on what they say.”

60. “I’ve been singing in church and wherever else I got the chance since I was three.”

61. “My dad is a preacher. Growing up, I went to church every time the doors were open.”

62. “I don’t have any answers, but in my personal opinion, I’m a person that has faith and I believe that a lot of people have neglected God.”

63. “I can’t wait to get over to the U.K. for my first time ever. I’ve always heard how amazing the fans are over there—looking forward to experiencing it for myself.”

64. “I think sometime during the peak of ‘Whiskey Glasses’ is when I realized, ‘Man, this is really starting to happen. People are not not just singing these singles, they’re singing every song on my album and really invested in what I’m doing.’”

65. “I want to make more fans, sell records.”

66. “I feel like I have gotten to know Chicago pretty well, and every time I come here I have a really good response.”

67. “I was getting ready for ‘Saturday Night Live’ this Saturday and I got a call from the show that I will no longer be able to play, and Saturday Night Live’s because of Covid protocols, which I understand.”

68. “I’m embarrassed and sorry, I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better.”

69. “SNL, lastly, I know that I’m taking some heat, a lot of heat, but I just wanted to let you guys know that your messages of encouragement haven’t gone unnoticed either.”

70. “I was around some of my friends, and we just—we say dumb stuff together, and it was—in our minds, it’s playful—that sounds ignorant, but it—that’s really where it came from—and it’s wrong.”

71. “And they have obviously affected my long-term goals and my dreams. I respect the show’s decision because I know that I put them in jeopardy and I take ownership for this. I’d like to apologize to ‘SNL,’ to my fans, to my team for bringing me these opportunities and I let them down.”

72. “I—accepted some invitations from some amazing Black organizations, some executives and some leaders, to engage in some very real and honest conversations.”

73. “My words matter. A word can truly a person, and in my core, it’s not what I’m okay with.”

74. “My 91-year-old great-grandma would get out of her chair and whip me if I start acting like I’m some star or something like that.”

75. “I always had a musical bone, I guess if you will.”

76. “I like whiskey and I like vodka, too. And beer.”

77. “Yeah, I’m laying every night holding someone new. Still chasing you, still chasing you.”

78. “We live it up down here.”

79. “There I go, letting my South sideshow.”

80. “We can’t stop this real-world from spinnin’ us.”

81. “I just live the way I talk.”

82. “If I see the sunrise, it’s ’cause I stayed up all night.”

83. “Does it ever make you sad to know? That was seven summers ago?”

84. “I love you more than a California sunset.”

85. “Can turn this parking lot into a party.”

86. “Couple of kids in a Chevrolet.”

87. “Chasin’ that freedom, chasin’ that feeling.”

88. “I found myself in this bar.”

89. “Yeah, you used to talk about, gettin’ even further south.”

90. “Somethin’ bout the way she kissed me tells me she’d love Eastern Tennessee.”

91. “If I ever get you back I’ma treat you like a queen.”

92. “The whole town’s rootin’ for us like the home team.”

93. “I guess I’ve always been wonderin’ ‘bout the wind.”

94. “Love to drown in them heartbreaker blue eyes.”

95. “We can sleep when we’re dead, the night is still young.”

96. “Tequila made me crazy, cold beer wouldn’t do, so I whiskey’d my way over you.”

97. “Those nights, what I would give for one more. Bud lights and kissin’ on the front porch.”

98. “Rednecks, red letter, red dirt, one life, one bar, one church.”

99. “I know we made a downtown reservation. Let’s get there early, get drunk, and break it.”