Lauren Alaina and Lainey Wilson are coming together for a song that celebrates one, er, big thing they've got in common.
"Thicc as Thieves" is the final track off Alaina's new Unlocked EP, which dropped on Friday (June 9) — and it's a tribute to Southern women who've got booties as thick and generous as the bonds they form with their friends.
"Lainey and I have been talking about doing a song together forever. I love her so much. I love her style, her brand, everything. And we're sisters, honestly," Alaina tells Taste of Country.
"So we're trying to figure out what song we should do, because the one thing people notice about us...we have multiple things in common, but one people notice a lot," she continues, cracking up. Of course, Alaina's referring to the fact that she and Wilson both often get compliments on their ample derrières.
"I don't think there's ever been a female version of 'Honky Tonk Badonkadonk.' So I called her and was like, 'What do you think of this idea?' And she was like, 'I love it, let's do it,'" Alaina continues. So she wrote the song with Rocky Block, Parker Welling and Jacob Durrett and sent it over to Wilson.
The booty is undeniably having a moment in country music, thanks in large part to Wilson and a viral TikTok video that showed off her generous, ahem, assets. Since that video skyrocketed to fame, Wilson has gotten in on the fun, posting some social media videos of her own that applaud fans with similarly ample backsides and even covering Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" as a hat-tip to all the buzz over her butt.
"Thicc as Thieves" also gave Wilson and Alaina a chance to have some serious fun in the studio. They recorded it together, and after each vocalist had gone in to sing her verse and chorus, they hopped on one mic for the outro -- a Sir Mix-a-Lot-esque string of banter betwen the two women, each complimenting the other's "juicy peach."
"I had never done that with anyone else ever. It was awesome," Alaina says. "We were literally on the same mic, thriving and living our best lives...the laughs at the end of the song are very real."
In another spontaneous studio moment, Alaina's producer, Joey Moi, suggested they sample a little bit of a butt-centric hit from the original Georgia-bred booty-shaker: "Country Girl Shake It for Me," by Luke Bryan. They went through the appropriate channels to get permission to use the song, listing Bryan and Dallas Davidson — the original pens behind "Country Girl" — as co-writers. Then, Alaina got a phone call from Bryan himself.
"I was like, 'What in the world. Why is Luke Bryan calling me. He's such a hoot, there is literally no telling [what he's gonna say],'" Alaina remembers. "He said, 'I heard your song, you have my blessing, it's awesome. I love both of you girls.' It was so sweet for him to specifically tell me he loves it... The first tour I ever went on was with him, so it was very special to me."
Even more so because of the personal connection she's formed with Bryan, who helped her through a difficult moment in her life.
"When my stepdad was sick, he flew him in his jet to California to get treatment. I mean, I'm very close with [Bryan]," she recounts. "...He's my brother, he's always been in my corner."
"Thicc as Thieves" is one of six songs on Alaina's just-released Unlocked EP, which marks her Big Loud Records debut. The project also includes the strut-your-stuff breakup anthem "A Walk in the Bar," the introspective "Like Her" and more new material.
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