\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\u201cIf you need me, don\u2019t ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThere may be more graceful ways to put someone off, but few things will bring freedom to a life like learning to say \u201cno.\u201d It\u2019s something Mitchell Tenpenny has dealt with in therapy, learning to form boundaries \u2014 and his new single \u201cAin\u2019t My Problem,\u201d released by Riser House to country radio via PlayMPE on Sept. 9, embodies that life lesson in the form of a fist-pumping anthem.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThis industry easily makes you try to please everybody, and it\u2019s just impossible,\u201d the singer says. \u201cSo this song for me is kind of healing. It\u2019s like, \u2018Look, that\u2019s not my problem no more, man. I got so many other things to focus on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tMitchell Tenpenny\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tWhen Tenpenny and his co-writers first tried to write the song, they really did have other things grabbing their attention. It was Aug. 14, 2025, the first day of a writing retreat hosted by Winsongs Music at a house on Florida\u2019s Navarre Beach, owned by the publishing company\u2019s founder, songwriter-producer Chris DeStefano (\u201cFrom the Ground Up,\u201d \u201cSomething in the Water\u201d). DeStefano had hooked up a new piece of gear to his digital audio workstation, and the program downloaded a driver that clashed with Ableton, a ProTools-like music creation platform. The program froze repeatedly after recording a small amount of audio.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat whole morning was soul-crushing for probably two or three hours,\u201d DeStefano recalls.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe issue did, however, create the right emotional atmosphere to write a song like \u201cAin\u2019t My Problem.\u201d They pointedly made it energetic, which worked like a metaphoric release valve to exorcise their tech-related angst. DeStefano kicked into a quasi-rock groove on acoustic guitar, and the guys launched into a chorus about shaking off uncontrollable hassles and restoring positivity.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn a related move, Tenpenny and co-writer Andy Albert (\u201cSomewhere Over Laredo,\u201d \u201cBigger Houses\u201d) announced that they wanted to use whatever lyrics presented themselves instead of obsessing over every word.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe both were just like, \u2018This time, we\u2019re going with the first answer that comes to our head,\u201d Tenpenny recalls.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs a result, the work went fast. Tenpenny thought the musical foundation would benefit from amping up the sound, so DeStefano doubled the acoustic guitar with an electric model. He also threw in a Mexican-made Fender Precision bass with an ascendant, four-note pattern in the chorus that emphasized the tension in the unresolved passages of that section.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe strings are literally decades old,\u201d DeStefano says. \u201cI tried replacing them once, and the bass just didn\u2019t sound the same, so I put the old strings back on. But because the strings are so old, it just has \u2026 this thuddy kind of tone to it. It just oozes inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThey found, within that chorus, a number of ways to essentially say \u201cleave me alone,\u201d refusing to buy into the dramas that others consider a priority: \u201cIf you need me, don\u2019t ask,\u201d they summarized in the fourth chorus line. Tenpenny changed the phrasing in the next line, and the room stumbled on a new phrase that sounds like it should already be a bumper sticker: \u201cI\u2019m giving up on giving a damn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAll the lines in the chorus are something you\u2019ve probably thought or said,\u201d notes co-writer Thomas Archer (\u201cGet to Drinkin\u2019,\u201d \u201cHurricane\u201d). \u201cI think that\u2019s what makes it relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tTo set up the chorus\u2019 boundary-making, they developed a handful of annoyances for the opening frame: a pissed-off girlfriend, a hangover and a couple of car problems \u2014 including a lit-up check-engine light and a pierced tire.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI had just bought new tires like six months prior, and already had three nails in \u2018em, and all three in different tires,\u201d Tenpenny recounts. \u201cI\u2019m just repairing tires, patching them up. We were talking about things, and I was like, \u2018Tires, man. They\u2019re driving me crazy right now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe second verse addressed specific steps to mitigate the stress, including a margarita, a little romance or fishing. Even though they were working near the water, they were determined not to make it a beach song, but that verse walked right up to the edge of the surf.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI just love the line right before the chorus: \u2018I\u2019m drawing a line in the sand,\u2019\u201d Tenpenny says. \u201cThat was my beach line, but also a good metaphor. \u2018Look, hey, I\u2019m putting up some boundaries.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tFor the bridge, they wrote as if there was no future or past \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m livin\u2019 right here right now\u201d \u2014 focusing instead on the moment at hand.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou\u2019ll stress yourself to death trying to control things that are out of your control,\u201d Archer says.<\/p>\n
\n\tA few months later, they made a few revisions. There wasn\u2019t much leftover material to work with from the day they wrote it, but Tenpenny wanted to change the first verse, in particular. He wanted to avoid making romantic relationships a stressor, so they changed the pissed-off girlfriend to a boss. They also decided that covering the check-engine light and tires was more automotive turmoil than they needed. So the dashboard problem became a phone \u201clighting up like a Christmas tree.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think everyone would be happier,\u201d Archer notes, \u201cif they kept [their cell] on Do Not Disturb more often.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDeStefano played the bulk of the instruments, though they had Nir Z replace a programmed drum part with real drums. Tenpenny powered through a range of vocals \u2014 the lead, harmonies and some answer lines that provided counter melodies. He also let out a whistle in the second verse.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhistles are so weird,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve tried them on a few songs, and they never work, but that one just felt kind of cool in the background.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMeanwhile, Tenpenny asked off the roster at Sony Music Nashville, leaving him solely at River House, which he co-owns. In May, the company hired executive VP of promotion and artist brand strategy Shane Allen, who\u2019d worked with Tenpenny at Sony. The team agreed on \u201cProblem\u201d as Tenpenny\u2019s first single since he transitioned out of Sony, and it\u2019s the first new single released since Allen came on board.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s quintessential Mitchell,\u201d Allen says. \u201cHe has those anthemic sing-alongs with a monster hook, wrapped in vivid imagery. It is completely Mitchell up and down, just a great way to kick off the new chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tTenpenny sang it live with a full band for the first time on Sept. 18 at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines, Iowa. And it\u2019s already aired at WWKA Orlando, Fla.; WXBM Pensacola, Fla.; KSOP Salt Lake City, Utah; and KXIA Marshalltown, Iowa; among others.<\/p>\n
\n\tThanks in part to his new focus on boundaries, Tenpenny\u2019s less stressed, more focused and more energized. That commitment is embedded in \u201cAin\u2019t My Problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m feeling motivated more than I have in a long time,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to share what got me to that point.\u201d<\/p>\n