Jesse Keith Whitley, the son of late country music legend Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan, is sharing his reaction to Morgan Wallen‘s new song, “Miami,” a track that samples the classic Whitley hit, “Miami, My Amy.”
Morgan Wallen first released “Miami” as the 35th track on his fourth studio album, I’m The Problem, in May 2025. Two months later (in July), he dropped a remix of the track, featuring rappers Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. The track’s chorus features an interpolation of “Miami, My Amy” released by Keith Whitley as the second single on his January 1986 project, L.A. to Miami. Wallen’s version of “Miami” was written by Morgan Wallen alongside Blake Pendergrass, Chase McGill, ERNEST, Ryan Vojtesak, HARDY as well as the original writers of Whitley’s iconic hit: Royce Porter, Hank Cochran and Dean Dillon. The remix features the same songwriters, with additional lyrics by Dwayne Carter (Lil Wayne) and William Leonard Roberts II (Rick Ross).
After both the original and remix of “Miami” were released, the song drew criticism from some classic country fans, who felt it was “disrespectful” to Keith Whitley’s legacy, with a few internet trolls even claiming that “Keith Whitley would be rolling over in his grave.” However, Keith Whitley’s own family doesn’t share that opinion. In fact, they believe Wallen’s version is introducing a new generation to Whitley’s original song.
“I don’t think this is a bad deal at all, whatsoever. Do I think it’s bare-bones country, Keith Whitley country? Of course not. That’s why he said, ‘we did a flip on it.’ And I wouldn’t even consider it a flip, I would just say they grabbed this piece out of the chorus because it works… I think it’s great,” Jesse Keith Whitley told Whiskey Riff in a recent statement. “It’s cool as sh*t to me that he’s got Lil Wayne and Rick Ross… He had to tell them, ‘Hey, look, this is a song, I got this idea from Keith Whitley’ and they probably have discovered Keith Whitley at this point, right? I don’t have a problem with it at all. I actually really like the song.”
When it comes to the criticism that Wallen’s track received, Jesse Keith Whitley admitted, “I don’t understand what the deal is.” Jesse Keith Whitley also confirmed to the outlet that he is currently working on a tribute album in honor of his late father, Keith Whitley.
Ahead of the release of “Miami,” Morgan Wallen sat down with Theo Von on This Past Weekend with Theo Von podcast and opened up about the song.
“I got a song on my record called ‘Miami’ and it’s a Keith Whitley flip [on ‘Miami, My Amy’]. That’s one of his bigger type songs, I guess, but we flipped it and turned it into more of a rap style. But it’s cool, I like it,” Wallen explained at the time. “It seemed like it could use a rapper on there, but I didn’t end up using a feature, we ended up just making a second verse. But it’s one of those songs that it wouldn’t be surprising if we got a remix and did that once it’s out.”
HARDY also discussed writing the track in an interview with Music Mayhem, where he detailed how the song came to fruition. “I just went on a retreat with Morgan and his producer Charlie [Handsome] played that beat, and it was like a ‘Miami’ sample, and they were like, ‘let’s write a song called Miami.’” HARDY explained.
The genre-bending hitmaker and 34-year-old Mississippi native continued, “So what you hear on the record is the exact beat that they were playing. I was just like, ‘this is wild.’ And yeah, I mean, Morgan is Morgan, so I felt like we talked about how could you possibly sing about Miami? And we were like, well, I guess the only solution is this redneck kid who doesn’t belong in Miami, and that’s just sort of where we landed. But yeah, the beat was already done. I thought it was super cool. Super, just different and yeah, I love that song. I think it’s really cool.”
“Miami” appears on Morgan Wallen’s latest project, I’m The Problem, which features 37 tracks, including his current single “I Got Better.” The project also features “Smile,” “Lies Lies Lies,” “Love Somebody,” “Just In Case,” “I’m A Little Crazy,” “Superman,” “Interlude,” “20 Cigarettes,” “TN,” “Don’t We,” “Falling Apart,” “Kick Myself,” “Genesis,” “Kiss Her In Front Of You” and more as well as collaborations with his musical hero Eric Church, along with Post Malone, Tate McRae, and longtime friends and collaborators HARDY and ERNEST.
The East Tennessee native is currently on the road in support of the project on his headlining I’m The Problem Tour, a 20-date run produced by Live Nation. The tour features rotating direct support from Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett, and Koe Wetzel, with additional appearances by Gavin Adcock, Corey Kent, Ella Langley, and Anne Wilson on select dates.
Tickets for Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem Tour can be purchased via his official website at MorganWallen.com.
