With a playful sound, an easygoing lyrical persona and a fun-loving mix of country and hip-hop, Walker Hayes broke big in the 2010s. Born in Alabama in 1979, Hayes relocated to Nashville in his twenties and started out as a songwriter for hire before landing a record deal with Capitol. On his 2013 debut album, Reason To Rhyme, his quirky songwriting style was fully formed but the arrangements downplayed his hip-hop inclinations. It didn’t gain much commercial traction, and Hayes moved to Monument Records, which released his follow-up, boom. All the elements of his style came through there, and the result was his first big hit, “You Broke Up with Me”. In 2021, “Fancy Like” became not only a blockbuster country single but also a crossover pop hit, putting Hayes definitively on the mainstream radar.