Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line - "Meant to Be"

So I can honestly say, that while I knew of both of these artists before I hadn’t really delved into them as performers. While I knew Florida Georgia Line to be great country artists and I’d heard a few of Bebe Rexha’s bops I hadn’t given either of them much more thought than that.

Well, wasn’t I wrong.

Rexha's musical style has switched with each album, but she has been labeled as a pop artist. Her songs span a wide range of genres, including hip hop, alternative rock, EDM, R&B and country. She was mainly influenced by Lauryn Hill whom she calls the "Queen of R&B". She was also influenced by other artists such as Bob Marley, Madonna, Blondie, Alanis Morissette and Coldplay.

Florida Georgia Line was formed in 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee and began as a cover band. In December 2011, they signed to the Big Loud Mountain label. Their second EP, It'z Just What We Do, was released in 2012 and charted on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Several months later they signed with Republic Nashville, part of the Big Machine Label Group. They released their second album, Anything Goes on October 14, 2014. Their third album, Dig Your Roots, was released on August 26, 2016.

They were discovered by Nickelback producer Joey Moi at a county fair, and the three began entering the studio together. Unlike typical country music sessions, the group spent days polishing songs, which were collected on the duo's second EP, It'z Just What We Do (2012). In terms of production, the band modeled their sound on bands such as Nickelback, Shinedown, and Three Days Grace, while Moi aimed for each song to resemble hair metal group Def Leppard in structure.Major labels became interested when the song "Cruise" first aired on satellite radio on The Highway channel and began selling well in the iTunes Store, leading to a deal with Republic Nashville and Big Machine Label Group.

This song hit me like a ton of bricks this morning. Simple, honest, rousing and toe-tapping, it slips into your feels when you least expect it.

So today, with a smile and some tears, I choose Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line’s "Meant to Be" as my, go on and get it, hope for the hopeless, look for the silver lining, song for a, hope never hurts, hold your own hand, dream a little dream for me, Wednesday.