While it may not necessarily be popular among Black audiences, country music is wildly popular and well, when it comes to award nominations, particularly the Grammy’s, it is also wildly successful. In fact, it is so popular that in the last 25 years, there have been 10 albums that have won the highly coveted Grammy for Album of the Year, which were either by a (once) country music artist or featured heavy country music influences—four, of course, were won by Taylor Swift.
While it may not make up the lion’s share of the buying market, it is popular enough to not only have cities with dedicated music scenes but clearly, the Grammy voters like it too. On Super Bowl Sunday, Beyoncé, who wore a Texas oil tycoon-inspired Louis Vuitton short set at the Grammy’s the week prior, dropped two new country songs like a calf out of an exhausted cow’s belly, initiating acting ii of her three-act Renaissance project.
Boy, I know that lady is tired, and while most of her fans were over the blue corn moon about it, there were groans from diehard country music fans that sounded like a hard r, if you ask me.
Some people are mad that Beyonce is singing country music. ???? I wonder why? ???? ???? #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/lXqpj8oUtr
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 16, 2024
John Schneider, who was famous for starring in the popular late 70s/early 80s show Dukes of Hazzard, which featured a sports car affectionately named “The General Lee,” was asked by OAN (Fox News’ impotent little brother) host Alison Steinberg, about the involvement of lefties in every aspect of the entertainment industry. Schneider, a bit of a country music crooner himself, responded, “They’ve got to…they’ve got to make their mark just like a dog in a… in a dog walk park, you know every dog has to mark every tree.”
Wait, did you just refer to Beyoncé as a dog?
Oh, I did forget to mention that Schneider starred in all eight seasons of Tyler Perry’s Have and Have Nots, which was on a network similarly named, OWN, the one owned by a Black lady. Somehow, two Black people leftists in the entertainment industry kept you employed on a BLACK television show, but somehow
Black people reentering country music is canine behavior, boy, I tell you!
Though not as popular with Black audiences, that does not mean that country does not have a Black audience (my grandmother R.I.P.) and Black ass roots. The move to be so protective of country music is because it is one of the final frontiers for white music and melodic racism, but there never seems to be an issue with white integration into Black genres. Amy Winehouse (a personal fave), Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke, Justin Bieber and Eminem are all white musicians whose music has been enjoyed by both Black and white audiences, so much so that Eminem is the highest-selling rapper. However, the pushback against Black artists, especially ones that were popular, has been extremely blatant. Lil Nas X’s debut song, Old Town Road, was an extremely huge success, which catapulted the artist into superstardom.
However, Billboard removed it from the country music charts, stating that it did not have enough country music elements to be considered a country song. Of course, there are Black country music stars with a measure of success, like Darius Rucker, formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish and Kane Brown (who didn’t know he was biracial until he was older, so I’m not even sure that counts), as a whole, the genre has been closed off to Black musicians, as it has also served as a safe haven for far-right politics and racism.
Hell, Garth Brooks, the “king of country,” has a song called, We Shall Be Free, which featured lyrics so controversial that at one point, NBC refused to play the video on the day Garth was scheduled to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 1993, but eventually caved after Garth showed them who’s boss. “When the last thing we notice is the color of skin, and the first thing we look for is the beauty within,” or other extreme hot takes like “when we’re free to love anyone we choose,” and “when the last child cries for a crust of bread,” were some of the aurally violent lyrics of the song.
Hey, I mean Jason Aldean’s song, Try That in a Small Town, a song that is basically a call to action for killing people who defy the government, even if the government is tyrannical, was a hit, though. However, I do not think this applies to anything Jan. 6 related, because that’s just doing what’s right.
Daddy Lessons, a song from Beyoncé’s Lemonade album which had moderate success on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B/Hip-Hop charts was also excluded from country charts, but she and The Chicks, FKA the Dixie Chicks, performed it at the 50th Country Music Association awards. While most artists were welcoming, there was backlash from other artists as well as fans. It’s not news that artists tend to be protective of their genres, but Beyoncé’s inclusion would actually benefit country music as a whole. Rising country music star Tanner Adell, who describes herself in her song, Buckle Bunny, as “Beyonce with a lasso,” has found an increase in exposure since Beyoncé’s music dropped just days ago.
While Taylor Swift is clearly a huge star, she does not have the crossover appeal that Beyoncé does and will not be bringing new listeners with her.
New listeners mean more exposure, fan bases, and, therefore, the success of other artists in that genre, but sometimes people would rather have white country than greenbacks; anyway, here’s to hoping that Act II gets the Grammy voters to get their act right.
Happy Black History Month, y’all.
