Thomas Rhett has done it old school this year. Taste of Country's Hottest Artist of 2021 released an album filled with songs rooted in traditional country values and sat back to let fans absorb it.
The efficiency of Country Again Side A is welcome relief after other artists (including some on this list of the 10 hottest artists of the year) fed us supersized projects that took hours to digest. Had Rhett, the 2020 ACM Entertainer of the Year, chosen to release Side A and Side B simultaneously, he could have set streaming marks, the new golden calf for a commercial artist.