Alabama-born country crooner Kashus Culpepper continues to demonstrate his rightfully earned place in country music.
Earlier this summer, Culpepper made his Big Loud debut with his career-first release, “After Me?”. Within the first week after its release, the emotionally raw track surpassed 246K digital streams on Spotify and now is just shy of 1M streams, with it currently sitting at 914K streams on the platform (at the time of writing). Now Culpepper is back with his vulnerable sophomore single, “Who Hurt You”. Sharing in a press release,
“This song means so much to me,” Culpepper shared on socials. “It was one of the first original songs I put up on socials. And I wasn’t expecting it to do what it did. Me and Mark the day we wrote it just wanted to get some things off of our chest, and we just put a melody behind. At first, I was kinda scared to post it, because of how vulnerable I was in the song. So, thank y’all for helping me realize we all go thru things, and there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. From the comments, messages, and singing it with me at my shows has really made this ole ‘Bama boy happy. Love y’all and can’t wait for y’all to hear the full version.” (Culpepper, PR team).
Out of the gates, “Who Hurt You” has already been spun more than 81K times on Spotify alone– indicating early promise for the track and Culpepper’s success.
In November of last year, Culpepper performed the then-unreleased track in a video published on RadioWV‘s YouTube channel– one of many efforts that helped his music career gain traction.
Teaming up once again with Brian Elmquist (The Lone Bellow) for the track’s production and Mark Addison Chandler (Grindhouse Nashville) as his trusted co-writer, “Who Hurt You” provides listeners with the permission to forgive themselves for the painful consequences caused by the actions & choices others have made in the past.
Within the open-letter track, Culpepper sings of a child who blames himself for his parents’ divorce, a man who’s heartbroken over a woman who broke her vow and a friend who hasn’t forgiven himself for their friend who went off to war– all instances in which they take the blame for what happened. Lyrically, it’s those specific examples and the fine details that really strengthen the track and weave a memorable narrative.
As we’ve seen in “After Me?,” “Who Hurt You” also blends country, soul, blues & rock and puts Culpepper’s signature gritty vocals on full display. However, this time around the track is slower and features a beautiful piano opener. There’s also the consistent presence of the acoustic guitar throughout the song.
Adding another layer of depth to the track, Culpepper recently teamed up with Jay Curtis Miller to put together the official music video.
Emotionally weighted, the black & white video paints a portrait of churchgoers who all seem to be united by one thing– the pain & turmoil portrayed on their face and their search for forgiveness. Towards the end of the video, there’s what appears to be a younger Culpepper holding balloons facing the now, older Culpepper–a symbolic move that illustrates how when we blame ourselves, we are also blaming our inner child (and in this case, Culpepper may also be referencing himself– the child mentioned earlier in the song who blamed himself for his father leaving).
Fans are encouraged to watch the full video on YouTube.
THE VERDICT
Overall, “Who Hurt You” is evidence that this trio works well together– from the production to the lyrics, this track is very well done. It’s worth a listen and also leaves fans wondering what they will have in store next.
Listen to "Who Hurt You" Now:
Stay up to Date with Kashus Culpepper:
Calfee, Cole. “Featured: Alabama-born singer/songwriter, Kashus Culpepper”. Courtesy of PR team. Accessed Jul 19 2024.
Culpepper, Kashus. “After Me?”. Spotify, Big Loud Records, under exclusive license to Mercury Records/Republic Records, A division of UMG Recordings, Inc.. Jul 19 2024. <https://open.spotify.com/track/310C0MGzgqHlNpgAV82zWo?si=fc230e7e12b540e7>.
Culpepper, Kashus. “Kashus Culpepper – Who Hurt You (Official Music Video)” YouTube, uploaded by Kashus Culpepper, Jul 19 2024, <https://youtu.be/cosU8NWm9xw?si=zvqSFsajU0hgQ0fH>. Accessed Jul 27 2024.
PR team. “Listen Now: Kashus Culpepper Sees “Who Hurt You”″. Jul 19 2024. Press Release.
radiowv. “Kashus Culpepper – Who Hurt You” YouTube, uploaded by radiowv, Nov 15 2023, <https://youtu.be/UrlLS0j9QmU?si=HTxdPpmmYASgEHdV>. Accessed Jul 27 2024.
Unknown, “Official cover art for Kashus Culpepper’s latest single, “Who Hurt You”. Courtesy of Big Loud Records.”. Graphic courtesy of Big Loud Records. Accessed July 19 2024.
