Washington [US], May 15 : Singer-songwriter Blake Shelton admitted he actually recorded and almost released 'I Wanna Talk About Me', Toby Keith's 2001 country rap hit, before the other artist.
"So listen to this, my producer at the time was a guy named Bobby Braddock, and he wrote me this song because I used to have these stupid raps," shared Shelton, adding, "I would come into the studio singing every day about, you know....and things like that. You know. Fun things," reported People.
So Braddock wrote the song eventually known as 'I Wanna Talk About Me', and they recorded it only for Shelton's label during that time, only to promptly shoot it down.
"We don't want any part of that song," Shelton recalled the label saying.
Not wanting his hard work to go to waste, Braddock then pitched the song to other artists, bringing the tune first to Keith, who gladly accepted it. The song became one of Keith's biggest No. 1 hits, Shelton reflected. There were no hard feelings, of course -- Shelton is happy the song "found its right home," he told Jimmy Fallon, reported People.
During the conversation, Shelton shared that Post Malone inspired him to release this latest album. After four years without releasing new music, Shelton said Malone had "a fire lit under me." (The duo released "Somebody Pour Me a Drink" together in the summer of 2024.)
"You've been around him," Shelton said. "I mean, you can't be around that guy without having a good time, and he's just so excited about everything."
"I was like, "Man, what am I doing? I need to make a record,'" he continued. "Like, he had me fired up again from that song," reported People.