Robert Counts

Robert Counts bragged of his redneck roots on "What Do I Know," but the sound of this 2020 single was slicker than its boast, demonstrating how the country singer cleverly incorporated elements of R&B-infused country-pop in his own sound. When he covered a song called "Crazy" on his eponymous 2019 debut EP, it wasn't the Patsy Cline classic, it was the 2006 pan-genre hit by Gnarls Barkley, a sure sign that Counts is a modern country singer. Born and raised in Franklin, a Tennessee town not far south of Nashville, Robert Counts began playing and singing music at church, leading worship services through his teens. He went off to college, earning a degree in biochemistry, but instead of heading to medical school, he decided to pursue music. Counts' first big break arrived when he won a songwriting competition at Franklin's Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant, which helped him land his first publishing deal. Armed with this prize, he headed to Nashville and he continued to work as a writer until Jimmy Ritchey -- a producer best-known for his association with Jake Owen -- pushed him toward performing. Counts signed with Sony Music Nashville, and its Arista branch released his eponymous debut EP in October 2019. In June 2020, he issued the swaggering "What Do I Know," a Southern rallying cry co-written by HARDY and Jake Mitchell.
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