"I Hate Alabama" is a 2021 song by American country music singer Conner Smith. Released on October 8, 2021 as a promotional single, the song is about the heartbreak of a broken romantic relationship that was ended in the city of

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

that Smith had experienced, comparing it to the

Third Saturday in October The Third Saturday in October is an American college football college rivalry, rivalry game played annually by the Alabama Crimson Tide football, Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama and the Tennessee Volunteers football, Volunteers of the ...

college football rivalry. The song would later go viral within the college football fanbase, gaining millions of streams on social media platforms and resulting in Smith signing a record deal with Big Machine. It was later included on Smith's debut studio album, ''

Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, ...

'' (2024).

Background and production

According to Smith, the song was written as a song written towards his ex-girlfriend who he had broken up with. Although the song had numerous references to college football, Smith wrote that the song was not about college football, but rather as a "heartbreak song" centered around college football. In later interviews, he would praise the state of Alabama, saying You know how you love a song, but it reminds you of your ex? That’s what this song is about. And that’s what I love about it. It’s a compliment to Alabama." Production for the song started when friend of Smith, Hunter Philips sent over a demo of the song to Smith. Smith, along with his producer immediately wanted to release the song with the help of a music label, saying that "this song is pretty special." Smith had trouble finding a label to sign for the song, so he released a music video for the song, shot by Smith's brother on Instagram. The video received one million views within the first day of release. Once the music video released, owner of

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...

Scott Borchetta Scott Borchetta (born July 3, 1962) is an American record executive and founder of the Big Machine Records#Imprints, Big Machine Label Group. He started the label in 2005 with Taylor Swift as its first signed artist and 13 employees, he served ...

called Smith and said that he was interested in releasing the song on October 8, 2021 under the

Valory Music Co. Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...

name.

Composition

The song makes heavy references to the

college football rivalry between the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

and the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

. At the time of the song's release, Alabama had beaten Tennessee for 15 straight years since 2006. Smith, who is a Tennessee Volunteers fan, wanted to tie the rivalry together with the pain of breaking up with his girlfriend within the city of

, where the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

is located.

Critical reception

Paul Finebaum Paul Finebaum (born July 26, 1955) is an American sports author, former columnist, and television-radio personality. His primary focus is sports in the Southeast United States. After Finebaum spent many years as a reporter, columnist, and spor ...

, sportscaster for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

SEC Network SEC Network (SECN) is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which hold ...

, wrote that he thought the song was "cute", but would not garner attention or hatred from Alabama Crimson Tide fans, saying that "Alabama fans don't really care about anybody else anymore... Alabama doesn't concern itself with others." He wrote that due to Alabama's consistency of winning most of their football games, it has led to an increase for hatred for the team by opposing fans and an increase of an overall lack of care from Alabama fans.

Within college football

Within the Alabama Crimson Tide fanbase, the song has seen divided responses according to Smith. Smith has said that he has seen some criticize and not like the song, saying that Smith is jealous of their football team. Smith has also said that some Alabama fans had also seen the compliments made towards Alabama as a whole. The song has seen increased usage when the Alabama Crimson Tide loses, which is seen as a rare occasion by college football fans due to the reputation of Alabama usually winning most, if not all of their football games in a given season. After the

2022 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game played on January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The eighth College Football Playoff National Championship, the game determined t ...

, where the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

beat the

to win the national championship, Smith reported that streams for the song had doubled after the victory.

Personnel

According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. * Kyle Briskin - bass guitar * Zach Crowell - piano, organ,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

, background vocals, producer, recording, mixing * Avery Evans - electric guitar * Scott Johnson - production coordination * Devin Malone - electric guitar * Andrew Mendelson - mastering engineer * Luke Summer - drums

References

{{Reflist 2021 songs Conner Smith songs Big Machine Records singles Song recordings produced by Zach Crowell Songs about Alabama American football music