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30 Under 30 Alum Kelsea Ballerini Grows Up On Sophomore Album, 'Unapologetically'

This article is more than 6 years old.

On Friday, 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 alum Kelsea Ballerini will release her sophomore album, Unapologetically. The album is a collection of a dozen tracks, all co-written by Ballerini, arranged chronologically to tell the story of the past two years of the singer’s life. That eventful block of time has seen Ballerini rise from a relatively-unknown songwriter in Nashville to one of country music’s shiniest success stories in recent history.

Last year, Ballerini became the first female artist in country-music history to debut her first three singles at number one. Perhaps even more impressively, Ballerini was a co-writer on each of the tracks. Unapologetically’s lead single, the anthemic “Legends,” is climbing radio charts and boasts nearly 15 million Spotify plays and 5 million YouTube streams since its release earlier this year.

The prolific Ballerini wrote about 200 songs while prepping her sophomore album. “I was thinking, ‘What is this going to be…what is it going to be about…what is the heartbeat?’ she says. “I realized that it’s just my life. And as a songwriter, I write about my life.”

The result is a standout album that Ballerini arranged chronologically. “I realized that the album fell into three categories. It starts with loss, and it goes into life, and then it goes into love; it’s the story of my life over the last few years,” she says. The album will be released on independent Nashville-based label Black River Entertainment.

Ballerini’s growth as a songwriter is evident on Unapologetically. It’s stacked with strong tracks from start to finish, each showcasing the Tennessee native’s natural ear for radio-friendly, pop-country hooks and original, memorable lyrics.

Ballerini will hit the road in early 2018; she announced ‘The Unapologetically Tour’ earlier this week. The 15-city trek will kick off in Birmingham on February 8 and run through late April with support from country newcomers Walker Hayes and Bailey Bryan. Notably, the tour will make stops at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Valentine’s Day and New York City’s PlayStation Theater on April 5.

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