Scotty McCreery's New Song 'Why You Gotta Be Like That' Was Inspired by His Wife

Scotty McCreery surprised fans with new music on Friday, releasing his latest song, "Why You Gotta Be Like That." McCreery wrote the romantic track with James McNair and Jordan Schmidt, and like his current single, "You Time," it was inspired by his wife, Gabi.

"My wife Gabi and I had a date night the evening before I wrote 'Why You Gotta Be Like That' with James and Jordan. She came downstairs looking gorgeous as usual, and well … the song tells the rest of the story," McCreery shared, via Sounds Like Nashville. "Writing with James and Jordan is always so much fun, and I think that genuine feeling comes through in the song as well."

The sound of "Why You Gotta Be Like That" fits right in with the rest of McCreery's material and starts out with the 27-year-old realizing he's going to be late to a party for a good reason. "Baby why you gotta wear them jeans / Hair down and a white tank top / Baby why you gotta be so mean? / Looking so good, I can't stop," he sings in the chorus. "My hands from touching your body / You know I love it but I got to ask / Baby why, baby why / Baby why you gotta be like that."

The song will appear on the American Idol winner's as-yet-unannounced upcoming fifth studio album, and in June, he told Katie Neal on Audacy's Katie & Company that he had just finished recording the project. "This album for me, I've been looking over it and it's kind of like going back to my roots a little bit," McCreery revealed. "It's kind of who I am, talking about where I came from, my life, my beliefs, all that good stuff. So to me, it's kind of a going back to my roots-type album."

He also opened up about what fans can expect from the project, though he couldn't pick just one favorite song. "All of them are kind of like your kids," he said when asked to share which track he's most excited for fans to hear, "but we have a song called 'How You Doin' Up There' I'm excited about, [and] a song called 'Carolina Sweet Tea' that I'm excited about. There's a few that I'm pretty pumped about."

McCreery kicked off the album with the release of "You Time" in September and told Neal that choosing the song as the first single "just felt right." He added, "Number one, I love talking about Gabi, I love singing about her, but this was one of those songs we wrote a couple years ago but it just kept coming back in my head."