Jimmie Allen brought his A-game to Today on Thursday (Dec. 27) when he delivered a performance of his single “Make Me Want To,” from his album Mercury Lane. The singer started things off right with a glowing introduction from host Hoda Kotb, who declared him "one of the hottest acts in country music."

Allen responded to this by explaining the song's premise, saying "I'm a sensitive guy. I wanted to write a song about seeing a girl at a bar that you like — but also I'm the one who catches feelings first, so it's like 'You're amazing, I like you, I'm the cool guy, but for being honest it may be too soon to say I love you, but you're going to make me want to!'"

And following that, he lived up to the hype by giving the audience a full-fledged performance of the song, which showed off just why he's got so much acclaim following him.

Allen made history with the first single from Mercury Lane, “Best Shot,” which holds the distinction of being the longest-leading debut by a solo male country artist since Blake Shelton's “Austin” in 2001. It also is the first song from any artist to return to No. 1 on the chart, after descending, in over a decade, according to Billboard.

The song's success also makes Allen the first black artist to launch a country career with a No. 1 song. He joins Darius Rucker as the only two black country singers to have debut country tracks hit No. 1 on the charts.

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