Country star and current Billboard cover boy Jason Aldean discussed his next album and a possible hip-hop collaboration when he sat down with Billboard for a Live Q&A yesterday (June 6).
The Q&A was broadcast from Nashville, where Aldean spoke Monday as a panelist at the Billboard Country Music Summit, held June 6-7.
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See Full Archived Video From Jason Aldean Live Q&A
Aldean explained that he listens to all types of music, not just country. “You listen to my iPod, there’s everything from Conway to Kanye. I mean it’s everything in between,” he said, referencing country singer Conway Twitty.
With his Kelly Clarkson “Don’t You Wanna Stay” duet, Aldean treaded on pop territory, and now he may be crossing into hip-hop. When asked the chances of ever combining his country style with a more urban flair, he hinted to a collaboration in the near future.
“Probably a pretty good chance [of collaborating with a hip-hop artist] — pretty good chance; probably quicker than you might think, as a matter of fact. So we’ll just kind of have to see,” said Aldean, being careful not to reveal any details. “I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag on that too much, but yeah, we’ve got a couple things in the works.”
While Aldean’s most recent album, “My Kinda Party,” was released in November 2010, he’s already working on his next, which he will start recording after his summer headlining tour ends in September.
“We actually just started the process of trying to find some songs, my producer and I,” Aldean said. “We’ve got a couple songs right now. And we’ll probably go in, probably in the fall I would imagine, and start cutting the album.”
The timeline for the new album is flexible, and Aldean is in no rush — wanting to make sure that his most recent album has the chance to run its course. Aldean said that there could be five or six more singles from “My Kinda Party,” if they want to go that far with it.
Aldean expects his new album it to be finished by the beginning of next year.