Maren Morris says female country artists need to embrace their sexuality.
“The stereotype is you've either got to be this religious, virginal conservative, or the wronged woman burning the house down,” she told BBC News. “People in pop and R&B are confident and sexy and sexual, and they're celebrating it – so why don't we, in country, write these songs?”
Morris said she named her sophomore album GIRL specifically to “push some buttons.” The album includes the track “Make Out With Me,” which she described as “a really fun, sexy song about wanting to jump someone’s bones.”
The 29-year-old singer, who goes topless in the new issue of Playboy, is refreshingly outspoken and makes no apologies for bucking country music stereotypes. “If that puts off the country hardcore, then that’s their loss,” she said.
“Anytime I've even voiced an opinion, whether it's political or social, I've been told to 'shut up and sing.’ But it's an oxymoron. You can't shut up and sing, you idiot.”