Drake White ‘Dropped Down the Ego’ to Release ‘Livin’ the Dream’ as a Single

Drake White co-wrote all four of the songs on his 2015 EP, It Feels Good, so his current single, "Livin' the Dream," is a bit of anomaly. The tune was written by Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston and Luke Laird -- no writing credit for White in sight -- and while the Alabama native is all about releasing his own material, he's happy to take the right song and make it his own.

"I was once told by somebody that Nashville is where all the greatest songwriters are; it’s where everybody is at. So why would you say, ‘I’m not going to take any outside songs?’" White tells The Boot. "Because, let’s be honest: I’m a man, and I want my babies, one of my songs, to be the single. I love writing; that’s what I do first. I consider myself a writer, and so I wanted one of my songs to be the single.

"But at the same time, when "Livin’ the Dream" hit my ears, it made me feel a certain way. I wanted to make other people feel that way," he continues. "So I dropped down the ego and said, ‘Screw it. I’m going to do it.’ I love the song, and it’s paid off."

While some of his favorite artists are singer-songwriters, White also has a lot of respect for those who search for outside songs instead of writing everything themselves.

"There’s no right or wrong way to do it ... The bottom line is, there’s a lot of phenomenal writers out there, and there’s a lot of phenomenal songs out there. If the song speaks to me, I’ll do it," he explains. "That’s what it’s got to do: It’s got to evoke a feeling in me, that I can put my stamp on it and make it mine, and be comfortable singing it and performing it, and be comfortable with what it says."

White is currently in the studio, finishing up his first full-length record, which he hopes to have ready to go sometime this summer. In the meantime, It Feels Good is available for download on iTunes.

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