Jason Aldean drops the second half of his double album, Macon, Georgia, on Friday. The 10th studio album of his career, it's a landmark project -- part greatest hits, part live album, part brand-new record dedicated to his hometown -- and the milestone is causing the singer to reflect on his legacy.
Jason tells the Tennesseean that of country music's newer crop, he thinks that Sam Hunt and Morgan Wallen are the two artists most closely carrying forward his musical legacy.
Sam's lyrical delivery is "so cool," Jason elaborates, while also expressing enthusiasm for Morgan's ascent to mega-stardom and his powerhouse fan base. Morgan recently tipped his hat to Jason with a lyrical nod to the singer's downtown Broadway bar in his hit "Broadway Girls."
"I know Morgan frequents my bar quite a bit, and when his manager sent ['Broadway Girls'] to me, I backed it up when I heard him say, 'I met her down at Aldean's,'" Jason says. "Getting name-checked in a song that people are hearing everywhere these days is pretty cool."
Though Jason's been one of country's A-Listers for years, he says it's only recently that he's felt comfortable with his top-tier place in the genre.
"In the past five years, I've finally been able to take the time to accept that I've accomplished far more in my career than I ever thought I would," the singer admits. "Never in a trillion years did I expect this."
Georgia arrives on April 22.