Morgan Wallen Placement on Spotify's Wrapped Lists Causes Backlash 

Spotify released on Wednesday its 2022 Wrapped campaign, which included an announcement of the platform's most-streamed artists, albums and songs of the year.

The list of top artists had familiar names like Bad Bunny—who was the most-streamed artist globally for the third year in a row—and Taylor Swift. But Spotify Wrapped has caused some controversy because of the inclusion of Morgan Wallen in one top list, as well as the country singer's appearance on personalized Wrapped lists that users shared online.

In early 2021, a video leaked of Wallen using a racial slur, which resulted in a huge backlash that included his music being removed from radio stations and the Academy of Country Music deciding his recent album would be ineligible for its awards. Wallen released an apology soon after the incident, in which he acknowledged using what he called an "unacceptable and inappropriate" epithet.

Many users on Twitter are making it known that they are not comfortable with Wallen's continued popularity on Spotify. "Just know that if Morgan Wallen is in your Spotify Wrapped I will assume you're racist," read one of many tweets expressing such a stance.

Wallen's Dangerous: The Double Album, which was released in 2021, landed on the No. 3 spot on Spotify Wrapped's list of the most streamed albums in the U.S. for 2022.

On their social media accounts, many Spotify users posted personalized Wrapped 2022 lists that included Wallen. Conservative commentator Nick Adams was among those who proudly showed that Wallen was one of his favorite artists.

Other fans said that Wallen was their No. 1 streamed artist on Spotify, which also showed how many minutes they spent listening to the singer. But many Twitter users made it known they were not comfortable with the Wallen fans' preference, given the singer's racist slur incident.

"Soooo based on everyone's Spotify Wrapped we're just ignoring that Morgan Wallen is racist???" asked one person.

"I love everyone posting their Spotify Wrapped bc as soon as I see Morgan Wallen I know who to block," wrote another Twitter user.

There were also messages that indicated people felt some Wallen listeners were hypocrites.

"Yesterday I did see a liberal, oversharer, Instagram activist type lady share her Spotify top artists and Morgan Wallen was her top artist," read one such tweet. "Maybe sit that one out. Made me laugh though."

Another such message read: "Spotify Wrapped day used to be one of my least favorite days of the year but now I love it because you get to see all the people who 'don't support racists' with Morgan Wallen in their top 5 artists."

Newsweek has reached out to Wallen for comment.

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