Beyoncé: “This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé album.”

And folks, that’s the ballgame.
Because just like many Division 1 college football teams, Beyoncé is way more cool-headed, informed, and mindful than her fanatical fan base, including those fans who’ve embedded themselves in the media to become the soundboards of false information.
Are we reading too much into this Beyoncé statement? I don’t think so. In an Instagram post on Tuesday (3-19), Beyoncé addressed her upcoming album act ii COWBOY CARTER for the first time in a meaningful, direct way. All we’ve really seen heretofore is opinion, prediction, conjecture, and sometimes outright unhinged obsequious lies perpetrated by people who believe they’re doing Beyoncé’s bidding.
And along with clarifying that Beyoncé herself believes her upcoming release “Ain’t a country album,” she also further reiterates that the project came about from, “taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
So yes, just to underscore, Beyoncé herself is stating that in her opinion, her new album is not a country album, but a “bending” and “blending” of genres together, which is what you hear when you listen to the first two singles of the album, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” This is also the conclusion that most actual, honest critics and music journalists came to when they first heard these new songs.
Sure, there are elements of country instrumentation in these tracks. That’s what makes them a blending of genres. But they were never slam dunk 100% country as many have attempted to assert. They’re meant to be a fusion of multiple influences, and declaring them as country—and demanding the world bend a knee and adhere to that characterization—is not only false, it’s also an insult to Beyoncé’s artistry and artistic intent. This is very likely why Beyoncé took the time to clarify these matters, and on the point of genre specifically.
Beyoncé did not intend to make country songs. She intended to make Beyoncé songs that were inspired by country influences, and what she characterizes as a the moment when she “first entered this genre [and it] forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me.”
Similar to people falsely and presumably declaring Beyoncé’s new project as more country than actual country, we’ve also seen a lot of false characterizations and assumptions about the moment Beyoncé first entered country. Beyoncé says about her new album, “It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed [in country] …and it was very clear that I wasn’t.”
Most everyone is equating this to the moment Beyoncé appeared on the 50th Annual CMA Awards in 2016 to sing her song “Daddy Lessons,” and also collaborated with the [Dixie] Chicks. But this was not the moment that Beyoncé first entered the genre. That would be when she first revealed “Daddy Lessons” as part of her 2016 album Lemonade that was released on April 23rd, 2016. The CMA Awards weren’t until November of 2016. So even though it’s certainly possible Beyoncé is referring to the CMA Awards, we don’t know this for sure.
But what happened at the 2016 CMA Awards with Beyoncé has been the victim of reams upon reams of false reporting, including false reporting that perhaps Beyoncé has fallen victim to herself.
First, what people need to appreciate is that the 2016 CMA Awards were the 50th Anniversary of the CMA presentation. It was an unprecedented event with an extended broadcast time, and extra effort to make sure all the stars of country music’s past and present were there. There had never been a CMA Awards presentation as big as the 50th Annual awards, and there has never been a CMA presentation as big since.
And who was given the longest performance slot out of all of the performers, and was placed as the centerpiece of the entire presentation? It wasn’t Alan Jackson. It wasn’t Dolly Parton. It wasn’t “King” George Strait, or Loretta Lynn, or Reba McEntire, or Willie Nelson. It wasn’t one of the top contemporary stars of the time like Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, or Chris Stapleton.
It was Beyoncé. Beyoncé was the performer who received the centerpiece, marquee performance at the 50th Annual CMA Awards in 2016 with the longest performance slot and in the best primetime block, along with the [Dixie] Chicks.
This underlying point really deserves to be emphasized as outlets rush to declare that the CMA Awards somehow disrespected Beyoncé in 2016. Beyoncé is not a country artist. At that time, she had only released one song that people were attempting to characterize as country, though Billboard and the Grammy Awards screening committee both declared “Daddy Lessons” did not have enough country elements in it to qualify for the genre.
Nonetheless, Beyoncé was given the best and longest performance on the presentation. Period. And it doesn’t matter how anyone wants to characterize that moment, it’s hard to say the CMA, or “country music” disrespected Beyoncé by extending this opportunity to her on such a prestigious occasion.
Was Beyoncé booed when she took the stage? No. Was her performance generally well-received by the audience, critics, and her fellow performers? Yes. In fact, there is a video of country performers reacting to Beyoncé’s presence and performance at the awards that night.
But of course, not everyone had a positive take on the Beyoncé performance. Alan Jackson reportedly walked out during Beyoncé‘s performance. Though Jackson has never explained why he walked out—perhaps he had to use the restroom, or perhaps his beef was with the [Dixie] Chicks and not Beyoncé. But it has been verified that Jackson did leave.
Travis Tritt left no room for speculation about his disdain for Beyoncé performing at the CMA Awards. But the actual quotes from Tritt made sure not to single out Beyoncé, or her performance specifically. Instead, Tritt said,
“It wasn’t so much about just Beyoncé. This is a complaint that I’ve heard for a long time, actually for decades. Every year the CMA television producers feel a need to bring in acts from other genres, and it’s always done to boost ratings. I understand the concept behind that but at the same time I’ve always found it a little bit insulting … we’ve certainly become strong enough to stand on our own two feet without the help from outside sources.”
Tritt is correct. Every year the CMAs tend to invite a pop or hip-hop star onto the awards show to collaborate with a country star. The previous year to Beyoncé’s performance, it was Justin Timberlake who performed “Tennessee Whiskey” with Chris Stapleton, sending Stapleton into the stratosphere of popularity that Stapleton and “Tennessee Whiskey” still enjoy today.
But the biggest concern about the feedback Beyoncé received after the 2016 CMA Awards was not from Alan Jackson or Travis Tritt.
After the 2016 CMA Awards, the CMA posted videos of the Beyoncé performance to social media platforms such as Twitter (now X) and Facebook. Though many of the comments below the videos were positive, others were quite the opposite.
The comments section of these posts became a forum for shitposters and outright racists to say very racist things about Beyoncé. This went beyond criticism of Beyoncé simply being there as a pop/hip-hop star, or criticizing the performance.
And so to stop the flow of negative comments, The CMAs chose to take down the posts. They did this in part due to public pressure from proponents of Beyoncé asking the CMAs to police the comments. The only way to truly ensure those comments would not continue to be posted was to take the posts down.
But instead of being applauded for stamping down on the negative comments, the situation got falsely twisted into the CMAs either giving into the demands of the racists by talking down the posts, or in some of the most unhinged takes, saying that the CMAs themselves were actively working to erase the fact that Beyoncé had even performed on the CMAs at all.
If the CMAs had not taken the posts down, they would have faced even further criticism. It was a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. It’s the racist posters that are to blame. Not the CMA. If the CMAs were trying to hide the fact that Beyoncé performed at all, why did they post videos of her performance to social media in the first place?
This canard has persisted since 2016, and is completely false and an unfair characterization of how the CMA’s handled Beyoncé and “Daddy Lessons.”
Perhaps something else happened backstage at the CMA Awards that made Beyoncé feel slighted or unwelcome. Perhaps the CMA was a party to that unwelcome feeling in some capacity. If that’s the case, then we should hear about it, and figure out how to rectify it so it does not happen in the future. But to characterize the CMA or “country music” as disrespecting Beyoncé when they extended her the biggest invitation they could to their 50th Annual Awards show seems like a gross aberration of the truth.
– – – – – – – –
Beyoncé’s new album Cowboy Carter will be released on March 29th. Until then, we do not know just how “country” it will be, and it would be unfair to assume one way or the other what the album contains until we hear it. After Beyoncé’s Instagram statement, it also underscores just how unhinged some of the most egregious takes on this situation have been.
This includes Ayman Mohyeldin at MSNBC who said, “Go listen to ‘Texas Hold ‘Em.’ It’s good country music. And to anyone who says otherwise well, ‘Bless Your Heart.'”
This also includes the patently irresponsible characterizations of TIME reporter Taylor Crumpton, who used the forum of Beyoncé’s new songs to declare that “Beyoncé Has Always Been Country,” and that, “The truth is that country music has never been white. Country music is Black.” And by keeping “white” in lowercase, and putting “Black” in uppercase, it speaks to the racist tones in which this false information was shared.
It’s pretty clear now that Beyoncé disagrees with these characterizations, though of course, some will still try to twist the words of Beyoncé to make it seem like she is saying something she’s not. Because for some, this moment is not one to learn from, but to win arguments online from. This is how these distinctly online voices continue to win every battle, but lose the war. Meanwhile, it’s Beyoncé herself who is trying to diffuse and offer a cool-headed perspective moving forward. As she says,
“I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”
This is the opportunity that Cowboy Carter could have for the Black legacy in country music—to stoke important discussions about the role Black people have played, both in the formation of the country genre, and throughout its history. But unfortunately, so many are using this moment as a forum to spread verifiable falsehoods, as an attack vector upon the country genre in its entirety.
As Saving Country Music laid out in detail recently, the Black legacy in country music was never erased from history, despite the continued characterization by many. What is true is there has been a prevailing public perception that country music is predominantly, or exclusively White that deserves to be scrutinized and given proper context.
But of course White people also have agency in both the formation and popularization of country, just as popular Black performers have always been a part of the genre, despite the erasure they have suffered inadvertently (and sometimes purposely) by people trying to fete the accomplishments of Beyoncé and others as novel or unprecedented.
As Beyoncé says, “It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world.”
And that’s what the release of Cowboy Carter could be. The people using this moment to co-opt the conversation for ulterior political and culture war purposes are disrespecting Beyoncé’s efforts, just like they are when they demand Beyoncé’s songs and album be considered 100% country.
So let’s all do each other a favor. Let’s listen to what Beyoncé has to say as opposed to the pundits, and heed her words. And when Cowboy Carter is released, let’s all listen to it and judge it upon its own merits, not as country music, but as Beyoncé says herself, “Beyoncé music.”
Beyoncé Full Statement:
Today marks the 10-day countdown until the release of act ii. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the supporters of TEXAS HOLD ‘EM and 16 CARRIAGES. I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.
This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.
The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.
I have a few surprises on the album, and have collaborated with some brilliant artists who I deeply respect. I hope that you can hear my heart and soul, and all the love and passion that I poured into every detail and every sound.
I focused on this album as a continuation of RENAISSANCE…I hope this music is an experience, creating another journey where you can close your eyes, start from the beginning and never stop.
This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album. This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!
March 20, 2024 @ 11:56 am
well, that’s more honest than Jelly Roll’s reaction claiming that saying he isn’t country is similar to those people who supposedly said that Strait wasn’t country.
March 20, 2024 @ 2:24 pm
Donut Hole is not country regardless of how he feels or what those whispering in his ear tell him. It’s all good, he can believe and play what he wants, but he’s as country as Beyonce (I can’t believe there is yet another article here on her).
March 20, 2024 @ 12:03 pm
Taylor Crumpton sounds like one of those useful idiots.
March 20, 2024 @ 12:20 pm
I don’t care all that much about this other than finding some small amusement that whatever this record is it’s incalculably better than all the bad, boring, and unoriginal mainstream hick-hip garbage calling itself country. I feel some sympathy for your desire to set them both off in some other genre and generally share your tastes.
But, your spin on them taking the video down from CMT is absurd. If it was that bad the answer is to turn off comments. There is no way in which they did not acquiesce to the racists out of some fear. You can argue that it’s was a misguided fear but claiming that it was not there is just absurd.
March 20, 2024 @ 12:37 pm
First, CMT has nothing to do with this, though I have seen CMT cited multiple times in social media comments, speaking to the exceedingly high amount of false information surrounding this story. CMT has it’s own awards. It’s a cable channel. It is a competitor to the CMAs. CMT would never broadcast something from the CMA Awards.
Second, I did not personally see the offensive comments left on the Beyonce posts on social media by the CMAs, because they had removed them by the time I was clued into the issue. What I did see were demands from others to take the posts down, and later, assertions that the CMAs took the posts down to “erase Beyonce’s appearance.” Those same erasure claims have also been made multiple times in the last 24 hours.
Beyonce performed on the CMA Awards. 12.5 MILLION people witnessed it. There were hundreds of reporters there. Saving Country Music reported on it. The idea that the CMA would in any way erase from people’s minds that Beyonce had performed by taking posts down on social media—and by the way, at the demand of people complaining about racist comments—is so far beyond absurd, I feel embarrassed for having to address it. THe amount of mind virus absurdity surrounding this issue is next level, which the truth dies in darkness.
March 20, 2024 @ 2:26 pm
For ffs. Not liking Beyonce’s faux country music is not racist.
March 20, 2024 @ 1:25 pm
After the 10 seconds or so of one of Beyonce’s new songs was played this morning on morning national TV, the significant other and I agreed that it sounded very similar to the sound of the songs from the set we saw live of Maddie and Tae a couple of years ago. “Maddie and Bey and Tae” just rolls off the tongue!
March 20, 2024 @ 1:31 pm
Looks like one Wet Assed Pony to me.
Probably generated by a more thoughtful AI than Gemini – the flash of inner thigh rings true enough.
March 21, 2024 @ 12:07 am
2/10
March 20, 2024 @ 2:20 pm
Woke sjw content has no place in country music. They need to get the hell out of our music. They are racist revisionists lying about our genre. Beyoncé can do as trigger said, and make her music and album. But it is our duty to not swallow whole the woke bullshit these people peddle on us. We know the history of our music. Trigger and others have written it out or shown us in film
Form. I won’t be lectured to or talked down to just because I vote for republicans and am a red stater. I won’t be shamed for it neither. I’m a proud country fan who won’t apologize for my history, nor the genres history. Beyoncé is welcome in, but stop with the asinine and pedantic explanations about our history and my music. It’s gross.
March 20, 2024 @ 2:40 pm
Who’s forcing you to listen to it? I’ve never heard an entire Beyonce song, or a Taylor Swift song, or a Florida Georgia Line song. So what? It’s very easily ignored. If you dislike this blog, ditto. Just ignore it, and it’s like it doesn’t even exist. Getting upset and hysterical about things you dislike is a waste of time that you could be spending on things you do enjoy.
March 20, 2024 @ 2:54 pm
What exactly about these songs is “Woke sjw content”? The fact that they’re sung by a black woman? And who is “they”?
March 20, 2024 @ 4:22 pm
I agree there is nothing inherently “woke” or political about any of the songs Beyonce has released up to this point, and I found her statement to be refreshingly cool-minded, thought-out, non-divisive, and purposeful.
But that is the exact opposite from what we are seeing from large swaths of the media, and this is what the above commenter is reacting to. The coverage of this issue on MSNBC, and the article by Taylor Crumpton in TIME are beyond irresponsible, and after the statement from Beyonce, categorically false.
Beyonce doesn’t seem to want to make this a political moment, but many are on her behalf. I think this is what inspired her to come out and make her statement.
And yes, hearing folks who have absolutely no ties to country music, and didn’t even think about country music until Beyonce’s Super Bowl ad preaching to country fans that the music has “never” had any ties to White culture is super rich. These people have their eyes set on co-opting country music for their purposes. And if it doesn’t comply, they will work to destroy it. They will fail, and their hubristic notions are laughable. But make no mistake, that is their motivation.
March 20, 2024 @ 2:39 pm
Remember when Sammy Davis met Archie bunker? Remember that sketch he did with Carol Burnett? You know the one.
That’s how somebody handles racial issues with class. Sad that so many people don’t handle these things with a similar level of dignity and taste.
Sammy Davis took every blow on the jaw when it came to race issues and not only smiled through it, he walked above it. He never embarrassed himself
As for that performance on CMT, I remember that. I also remember that they made a big deal that Roy Clark was going to be there and then he played 30 seconds of somebody else’s song at the start of the show. Insulting.
Regarding the issue of somebody, not native to country music, being a part of it. Or a pop performers interacting with the country institution, this is a reason that I have advised people not to drink the Kool-Aid in the first place.
Some people might say that conceding that country artists of dubious credibility or outright won awards or performed Was a recognition of reality
But in actuality, it was drinking the Kool-Aid
Every time we allowed to Taylor Swift to make country music, every time we allowed every single non-country song
We allowed the boiling water to get a little hotter. And now we are 20 years deep into an erosion of what the genre is, to the point that there are people who have no idea that it’s not supposed to sound like that. The frog doesn’t know that the water was ever cold.
And the only way that any of this could’ve been avoided, was to not drink the Kool-Aid. It does not matter how many babies got thrown out with the bathwater there should have been no concession,
The only way to handle these things was to deny that any of it was authentic country music, right from the start. But that wasn’t the course that was taken. And now the lines are so indiscernible, that, like da Vinci’s last supper, nobody knows enough of what it was supposed to look like to possibly restore it to what it used to be.
Just one sip of the Kool-Aid is all it takes
I wonder if anybody who is concerned about the current state of country music will realize that the people making slippery slope arguments 10 years ago predicted all of this
I will reiterate some thing I said, in one of my comments about the Ray Charles country albums. Ray Charles didn’t come to country music like the first episode of legend of Korra “I’m a country singer and you have to deal with it!”
He delivered what he knew country fans would already accept
Elvis did that too
March 20, 2024 @ 4:26 pm
“We allowed the boiling water to get a little hotter. And now we are 20 years deep into an erosion of what the genre is, to the point that there are people who have no idea that it’s not supposed to sound like that. The frog doesn’t know that the water was ever cold.”
I disagree. All of this is happening in a moment when country music has never sounded more country in the last 20 years, and the music has never been more open. That is the irony in this whole thing. I keep seeing the same refrain from country fans. “Well, if Florida Georgia Line is country, I guess this is too.” But Florida Georgia Line isn’t even around any more.
Oh, and also, Beyonce just came out and said, Quote, “This ain’t a country album.” Unquote. So what are we even having this conversation for?
March 20, 2024 @ 5:28 pm
We can agree that country sounds more country today than ten years ago
We can not agree that just because a tomato and a pumpkin are both not laserdisc players that they must both belong on a BLT
Country music sounds more country today. Cool. We’ve got a long way to go. More importantly: a lot of people seem to still think that the slippery slope arguers are somehow wrong despite correctly calling all of it
And I know I know ‘Alabama isn’t country’
Is Alabama really such a good band, that, insisting, we welcome them into the country fold worth *gestures broadly* all of this?
Is Taylor Swift really so good that, including her in the country music genre when she came out worth risking all of this?
This is why we needed to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is why we needed to allow for collateral
I would gladly sacrificed Alabama, the gatlin brothers, hell, and mainstream country act of the last thirty years
If tightening the defenition of country music so much that even Travis Tritt choked out, but top forty country bands sounded like the Louvin brothers, I would take that trade without hesitation
And I bet if top forty country sounded like Louvin brothers harmonies and Kenny baker fiddle solos the whole question of Beyoncé and fgl and Taylor swift wouldn’t be happening
What has been allowed to happen in country Music is the audio equivalent of planting blackberries in your strawberry patch because they are both fruits
Do you know what blackberries do? They grow, they grow, and they take over everything and they choke everything else out.
We let blackberries into country music, because fruit is fruit, but the strawberries all got choked out.
We have a fruit smoothie now, instead of a bowl of strawberries, and we call it a victory that we can finally taste the strawberries in the smoothie
But it was a strawberry patch. We weren’t supposed to taste blackberries at all.
This is why I don’t understand your whole seat at the table analogy. We shouldn’t be asking for a seat at our own table. We should be throwing anyone out who doesn’t live here.
March 20, 2024 @ 10:45 pm
What you don’t understand is that it’s not your table to begin with. You found a seat at the Country table like everyone else does. The only difference is that it seems that you want everybody else to eat what you do. And if they dont, they are thrown out.
What i find stranger than people having a hard time with Beyonce on country radio are people who think that country music should never evolve and move forward. It has always been evolving from the time people started playing music. And will continue to do so.
If people enjoy a certain era of music then listen to those artists you enjoy. But stop bitching when people make music that doesn’t fit within your narrow perimeters. The same kind of things were said when drums were introduced to country music. Or when Flatt and Skruugs introduced electric guitars to Bluegrass. I am sure people felt as though “their” music had been changed forever, never to be the same again. But most of those people are probably dead
March 21, 2024 @ 7:59 am
“What i find stranger than people having a hard time with Beyonce on country radio are people who think that country music should never evolve and move forward.”
I agree that country needs to evolve, just like the past eras of country need to be preserved.
But the idea that radio country listeners are the same listeners that never want country to evolve is a conflation of two different things. Fuzzy TwoShirts is never going to listen to country radio. No traditionalist, or really anyone with any kind of taste is ever going to listen to the kind of mainstream country radio that is playing Beyonce, nor have they for probably 20-25 years.
The amount of country listeners who think that “country music should never evolve and move forward” is probably less than 5%. Yet that characterization is constantly push as if it represents the majority of country listeners. It’s a strawman. Fuzzy TwoShirts is one of them, and I respect his opinion and perspective. But let’s not act like it’s a prevailing one.
The people who don’t think Beyonce doesn’t belong on country radio are Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson fans.
March 21, 2024 @ 8:05 am
Flatt and Scruggs didn’t introduce electric guitars to bluegrass
They split up over that exact issue, dude
Flatt wanted to stay traditional and do acoustic old-time music
Earl wanted to experiment
But the earl scruggs revue was never taken as a straight bluegrass band or the natural expectation of the modernization of the music
Nor was flatt called old and in the way for staying in his lane
March 21, 2024 @ 8:30 am
To trigger: to say that I do not want country music to ever move forward is a bit harsh.
This might come as a surprise but I have bought tickets and seen Stapleton, sturgill, Charley Crockett, and this year I have tickets to see Charles Wesley Godwin and Jason isbell. I also have tickets to see Slash this summer
I don’t ‘hate all new music’
Charley Crockett Is one of my favorite artists, bar none.
My opinion on country music is not that change is bad, but that change isn’t necessary or necessarily good
You can’t improve on perfection.
And I’ve never heard anyone insisting on change being necessary for country music who also has a good understanding of country music history.
That opinion is usually taken by people who either don’t understand country music or deliberately dislike it.
March 21, 2024 @ 9:10 am
I apologize, I didn’t mean to mischaracterize you Fuzzy. If anything, the fact that you will listen to newer artists underscores my deeper point that the notion of country fans that only want to listen to Hank Williams over and over is a myth perpetrated by people who can use it to win arguments, when it reality it represents such a small swath of listeners, it’s not relevant to any conversation.
March 21, 2024 @ 9:00 am
Trigger said
“The amount of country listeners who think that “country music should never evolve and move forward” is probably less than 5%. Yet that characterization is constantly push as if it represents the majority of country listeners. It’s a strawman. Fuzzy TwoShirts is one of them, and I respect his opinion and perspective. But let’s not act like it’s a prevailing one.”
You did a great article awhile ago regarding all the different Country genres. That alone shows that Country music continues to evolve. If it wasn’t evolving then the only section at the record store would still be Hillbilly. Beyonce being on the Pop Country chart has no impact on you, Fuzzy or me. We dont listen to main stream country.
I also think that just because I don’t listen to mainstream Country music Beyonce shouldn’t be allowed. Pop Country music is what sells and for the music/radio industry that’s whats important. Its not the back catalog of the Louvins.
March 21, 2024 @ 9:07 am
Fuzzy said
“They split up over that exact issue, dude
Flatt wanted to stay traditional and do acoustic old-time music
Earl wanted to experiment ”
That is the perfect example of Country music “Evolving”. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but it will never go back to the way it was once it happens.
March 21, 2024 @ 7:45 pm
“My opinion on country music is not that change is bad, but that change isn’t necessary or necessarily good”
Well said, Fuzzy. Personally I would replace [country music] with the word EVERYTHING.
March 21, 2024 @ 2:24 am
You been using the same stupid “I didn’t come to a steakhouse to eat Taco Bell” bullshit for years and it’s no more clever now than it ever was no matter how you spin it. “I wanted strawberries not blackberries from the strawberry patch blah blah blah” just shut the hell up about it you’re getting nowhere. You some people just like to complain and will never be satisfied. Guess what guy country will never ever sound like the Louvin Brothers. There’s folks out there making that music sure but it’s not authentic they’re imitators and it’s embarrassing. Never thought I’d be this guy but what and who defines a genre? Were the Louvin Brothers country? Sure. Was Hank Williams? Yep and they didn’t sound too similar to each other but still both country. One sang of the love of Jesus and one sang songs of heartbreak and drunkenness. Completely opposite. But I dare say that Ira’s lifestyle brought a real world relatable feel to the music that made them decent. What folks liked about them was the authenticity they each brought not just the sound. Get over it and if you don’t like the blackberries then get your ass over to a different berry patch
March 21, 2024 @ 8:09 am
Except that the blackberries are non native to the strawberry patch. Someone else brought them here and planted them, and they choked out the strawberries that I had been cultivating
Just like I never went to Taco Bell until people from Taco Bell came and demanded my steak house make tacos
It wasn’t me who said country music needed to modernize. It wasn’t me who said country music needed more drums. It wasn’t me who said country music needed to borrow influences from arena rock.
I would have been content, listening to what I liked and letting other people listen to what they like, except other people came over and tried to change what I liked, and tell me that I was the problem for not rejoicing that they had come in and changed what I liked
This genre blending is the sort of militant colonialism that people do cry and take umbrage over when religion does it, but when Music does it, it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread
If you don’t like it when religious people come into your spaces and demand that you convert, but you don’t mind when pop musicians go into other genres, and make them convert, you may be a hypocrite. Or a moron
March 21, 2024 @ 9:24 am
Fuzzy said
“I would have been content, listening to what I liked and letting other people listen to what they like, except other people came over and tried to change what I liked, and tell me that I was the problem for not rejoicing that they had come in and changed what I liked”
Real question. What radio station do you listen to and enjoy? I would love to listen to it. Because I can go all day without hearing music I don’t like. I cam also go all day without religious people coming into my space and feeling like i am needing to convert.
Conflating religious freedoms and musical choices is a stretch…
March 21, 2024 @ 9:55 am
Blair:
Im afraid to do what I do requires a deliberate dedication to a simpler way of life.
To wit:
I drive a 14 year old car with a cd player, and have a cd/cassette player on my Dresser and a record player beside.
I dedicate shelf space to lots of CDs
To me, this is an essential part of my way of life as someone who is very invested in Music. If I hear a song or two by an artist, I like, I am able to buy the album the song came from, and hear other songs on the same project, as well as the liner notes, which hopefully tell me the people who played on the tracks, and the names of the songwriters, so that if a song catches my ear, I can look into the career of the person who wrote it
The CD player may seem like antiquated technology, but it is the ultimate way to consume media. With it, I not only get access to the sound of the music, but also the written word in the form of the liner note that tells me at the very least who wrote it, and who played on it, and often times the story behind it, as well as its history or the history and worldview of the artist
I may seem antiquated With my case of CDs in the car. But it’s a peaceful life
As far as the religion thing goes
How is going into another genre of music and trying to change it, then, gaslighting the people who were originally there into accepting it, or be ostracized any different than literally everything that colonizers have done throughout the entire day of human history
“ how dare those conservative indigenous Americans not welcome us Catholics onto their shores? Their indigenous supremacy, and inherent prejudice against outsiders is rooted in xenophobia”
Versus
“ How dare those people native to the country music genre not allow people from the Pop world to have their music played on country radio? Their closed mindedness must be rooted in racism.”
Literally, all forms of colonization and appropriation hinge on the assumption that the colonizer is coming from a point of moral high ground bringing enlightenment to a backwards group of people who should be expected to rejoice at being delivered into modernity, While gaslighting anyone who sees through the façade as being some sort of undesirable basket case to be shunned or forcibly exiled or assimilated.
March 21, 2024 @ 9:55 am
“This genre blending is the sort of militant …”
We’re finally getting down to brass tacks.
Militant is the exact word, for this whole project.
Ms. Bey, has always enjoyed being hard core militant.
Think back to some of the Superbowl halftime garbage.
Sister has something she wants to say – Hey, more power to her.
Now, let’s talk about manipulation.
Dolly and Beyonce’ love to play the skin game.
Dolly’s store bought Dbl RR’s, and Miss Bey’s arrow pointing straight to her vagina.
These “ladies” are not selling class.
These two women are doing what they do best.
Selling themselves.
Dolly has glommed on to Beyonce’ because Dolly is so important to herself, she will chase whatever genre’ bending is out there, to keep the accolades coming in.
That being said, still think JOLENE could be interesting.
March 21, 2024 @ 1:54 pm
There is no evidence Dolly “glommed on” to Beyonce. If Beyonce wants to record “Jolene,” there is nothing Dolly Parton can do about that. If Beyonce wants to sample “Jolene,” she can do that too, as long as the proper rights are obtained. Dolly said herself she doesn’t even know what Beyonce has done, but “believes” that “Jolene” is part of it, probably because a copyright notice came across someone’s desk. It would be completely out of character for Dolly to tell someone to not record one of her songs.
March 21, 2024 @ 3:56 pm
You missed my entire point.
And, that’s Ok.
March 28, 2024 @ 12:27 am
This just isn’t true. There’s room for Charlie Louvin AND Taylor Swift.
“And I bet if top forty country sounded like Louvin brothers harmonies and Kenny baker fiddle solos the whole question of Beyoncé and fgl and Taylor swift wouldn’t be happening
March 20, 2024 @ 2:53 pm
Stand on the side of inclusivity, not exclusivity. It wins every time, and you don’t have to look far to see examples of this. The most successful albums, well attended concert tours, longest running careers, and widely loved stars are those that are forward thinking, open minded and inclusive.
Beyonce is one of the most talented and successful musicians and performers in the world, regardless of genre. Country music should be honored, appreciative, and excited that she is even interested in singing a country song, let alone releasing an entire album which has country flare to it.
March 20, 2024 @ 4:52 pm
Derp.
March 20, 2024 @ 2:55 pm
I don’t know why Jackson walked out on Beyonce’s CMA Awards performance,but Tritt’s a well-known anti-vaxx goober.Use your imagination.
Beyonce ISN’T a Country artist .She’s an ARTIST capable of melding genres to form her personal style BETTER THAN ANYONE. That’s why she’s today’s most popular artist as well as,along with Taylor Swift,a billionairess.The rest of this stuff is ten-miles-away BS.
March 21, 2024 @ 5:10 am
She and Swift are popular because the masses have no taste.
March 30, 2024 @ 5:16 pm
I’ve read comments by Travis Tritt I didn’t agree with (though I love a lot of his music) but what he said about the CMAs in the quote here seemed perfectly reasonable.
March 20, 2024 @ 3:10 pm
The BeyHive and X “journalists” look like total idiots now.
This is probably already memory holed by them.
March 20, 2024 @ 4:29 pm
It totally is. Read DebDee’s comment above. That is the reaction I have been seeing for the last 24 hours: total “Lalala, nothing to see here. Beyonce’s so great.” A few weeks ago, you HAD to recognize Beyonce’s songs as country, and recognize the revolution that was about to take over country.
March 20, 2024 @ 3:19 pm
If she’s saying it isn’t country then maybe she should pass the memo to her team to stop sending the songs to country Playlists and radio for spins then.
March 20, 2024 @ 4:04 pm
And when the country music awards start to roll in she should reiterate that she is not country.
March 20, 2024 @ 4:46 pm
I read it as her saying the album as a whole isn’t country. Personally, “Texas Hold ‘Em” is at least country enough to be played on country radio. I don’t think it’s a very good song, but enough country elements there. Just my opinion, i can understand those who feel differently.
March 20, 2024 @ 4:33 pm
So looking forward to the beyonce’, dolly parton, collab.
March 20, 2024 @ 4:49 pm
I have not been a big fan of Beyonce’s music so far, but I am looking forward to listening to this when it comes out, especially after the context she gives in her statement. I feel like there’s potential for a couple great songs country or not ????♂️
March 21, 2024 @ 5:11 am
Dolly will sell out and do it.
March 21, 2024 @ 8:01 am
Dolly has already said that she thinks “Jolene” is part of the album, either being covered or sampled.
March 21, 2024 @ 10:50 am
Oh…that’s horrid. Jolene was a great song at the time. The two acoustic guitars made for a highly catchy riff. Unfortunately it’s been hijacked many times over to the point it’s cliche. The fact that Beyonces planning on using it tells me all I need to know. Anytime anyone starts telling me Jolene is their favorite song by Dolly, I quickly realize I’m not talking to a real hard-core Country fan. This is likely the same person who also name checks Folsom Prison Blues and Cash and probably thinks Friends in Low Places is the greatest country song ever. This Beyonce album will be bad, mark my word. Now if only the media will accept that it’s not country and move on from this doomed exercise in banality. If only, but we are not that lucky….
March 20, 2024 @ 4:34 pm
I’ll just sum up my take on the whole affair.
1. Non-country artists have achieved #1’s in the last. Tom Jones pulled this feat off in 1976 with “Say You’ll
Stay Until Tomorrow”. Depending on who you ask, Carl Perkins, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis also scored #1’s when they were still considered rock and roll. Others would have top 40s like Eric Clapton(Lay Down Sally), Englebert Humperdinck(After the Lovin’), and even the Pointer Sisters(Fairytale, which to
date, remains the only top 40 Grammy winning country song by An African American Female Group).
2. What passes as country today is not country. Beyoncé is correct by saying she is creating music that blends genres. She is the only one honest enough to admit it when the other purported mainstream artists with a similar style have been hewing and hawing for close to three decades making chicken fried garbage music.
3. Real and TRUE country exists today known as Ameripolitan.
Just my options on the matter for what they’re worth.
March 20, 2024 @ 4:46 pm
Whatever music she puts out, it’s all throwaway manufactured trash. The fact that people here are praising that shit, is very sad. But not unexpected.
March 20, 2024 @ 5:34 pm
Look for a duet with Maren Morris for her next project. Just can’t wait.
March 20, 2024 @ 6:14 pm
It’s a bit of a shame Beyoncé isn’t promoting this album as genuine country music. Considering her large international audience, the likelihood of extensive foreign radio play of her singles and the proclivity of the music industry to quadruple down on the marketing of perceived popularity, this genre phase of Beyoncé could attract a new, wider, foreign (non-American) audience to the real deal.
It may be an unpalatable truth to many that in much of Europe and the Anglo-sphere (excluding the USA of course) country music has an unwarranted reputation as parochial, unsophisticated and saccharine. Regardless of what many of us here may think of Beyoncé’s musical output, someone of her global standing explicitly endorsing country music, by way of style adoption and social media advocacy, could really help the genre gain a broader audience.
March 21, 2024 @ 4:05 am
Yeah, country music really needs ignorant fans who think Beyonce is an expert on the genre…
Most real country artists will always have limited appeal. If you can’t deal with that, it’s time you move on to pop, rap or whatever.
March 21, 2024 @ 5:38 am
Huh? Is a bit of clarification needed for the hard of understanding?
Here’s an illustrative example of how it could go – a kind of inverse slippery slope if you will.
Emily, who lives in England, believe’s country music is hillbilly trash only listened to by bigots, then one day her favourite artist (Beyoncé) releases a country inflected song and promotes the genre on social media. Emily decides that, actually, she quite likes the country sound and the next thing you know she’s listening to the Zac Brown Band, Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallan.
Extending her exploration of the genre further, a few months down the line she’s whistling along to ‘Turtles all the way down’, ‘Pearl Snaps’ and ‘It must be the Whiskey’.
None of the above requires Beyoncé to to a be professed expert on anything, let alone country music.
If you don’t understand that, then your reading comprehension is severely limited and perhaps you should go back to ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ or the ‘Funnybones’ or you know whatever.
March 21, 2024 @ 5:00 pm
Cut me some slack, will you?
March 21, 2024 @ 5:13 am
The last thing Country Music needs is more carpetbaggers who have no idea about the genre.
Country Music’s desperate need for acceptance and popularity is what got the genre in trouble in the the first place.
March 21, 2024 @ 10:55 am
So agree with you CK. I don’t care a rip if the Europeans like my cultural music or not. Truthfully, I don’t see a need to ” grow country music.” It’s intended audience finds it. In fact I’d rather it be for the minority of music listeners.
March 21, 2024 @ 12:08 pm
Fair enough in regards to not caring if Europeans like “your music”, seems a healthy attitude not concerning yourself with other peoples tastes.
Do you think the artists and bands would agree that there’s no need to extend their listener base? After all it’s not the abstraction ‘country music’ that they’re growing, it’s their own careers, their livelihoods.
Also, why would you prefer country music to “be for the minority of music listeners”?
March 21, 2024 @ 1:56 pm
I want it to be, personally, because smaller groups are more connected, the material can be more precise to its audience, and you know when you find someone with the same interest that you will connect on a certain level. I’m not going on a “mainstream thing bad >:(“ rant, but there are liberties and certain qualities that must be sacrificed in order to appeal to a large group or the greatest common denominator, and those qualities are ones I don’t want to sacrifice because they make up a large swath of the reasoning behind my love for the music. Gatekeeping is a healthy and positive thing generally, no matter how much people decry it.
March 21, 2024 @ 7:43 pm
As is without universal worldwide attention, country music does just fine. It also serves as a cultural identifier for rural folks in heartland America. I’m all for different cultural identities and expressions for people based on geography and societal norms within said culture. Make country music universal, and the norm globally, and you strip a group of people of their cultural uniqueness. The music loses its special meaning. Do we REALLY want monogenres? Seriously?
March 22, 2024 @ 7:26 am
Thank you Lil DL and Kevin for your thoughtful replies, there’s much I agree with in both of your responses, especially the importance of love for both people and place and the natural desire for connection via shared stories, mores, traditions and artistic expressions.
Furthermore I agree that country music has appeal in big part due to it’s particularity; the way it deals with universal themes by way of the experience of a specific people makes it rich, interesting and – perhaps counter-intuitively – relatable.
Speaking as a Welshman I appreciate and enjoy being exposed to the outlook, history and morals of heartland America, learning about the massacre at Ludlow from Jason Boland or the scourge of drug addiction in Appalachia from Ian Noe for example. It makes for a refreshing change compared to the often unsympathetic and derogatory portrayals pumped out by Hollywood and the pop music industry.
The above, inter alia, contributes to my initial statement that it’s a shame Beyoncé isn’t promoting her new output as country music. It’s this very music that – warts and all – offers an outsider like me insight into America from people who aren’t simply overcome with politically inspired self-loathing. It could have been a way to open that window for others like me to come into contact with the genuine article, albeit through not exactly the best of means.
March 20, 2024 @ 6:47 pm
qween bey did not have Mickey Guyton on this? or did she forget to invite her
she must be waycist
March 20, 2024 @ 7:13 pm
Beyonce, who if isn’t a Billionare, will be soon. She has over 30 grammies. Imagine how much better she could be doing if she wasn’t being held down by the man!
March 21, 2024 @ 4:43 pm
Well Kacey says that money and the things that shine can’t buy you true happiness so there’s that.
March 20, 2024 @ 9:28 pm
Is she Cowboy Carter or is Jay-Z?
Because she should have named the album “Cowgirl Carter” if she’s referencing herself
March 20, 2024 @ 9:30 pm
Trig, any idea how the logarithms will work here?
If someone streams her album, will Zach Bryan or Luke Combs be recommended to said listener?
This could help other country artists out. Especially if Beyonce is grouped into Country Playlists.
I think similar stuff has happened for Keith Urban, Stapleton and Maren Morris with their Taylor Swift duets on her “Taylor’s Version” remixes
March 20, 2024 @ 9:37 pm
Not real sure. That would be up to the streaming services. Often recommendations happen of the user’s previous preferences. Honestly don’t think Zach Bryan and Luke Combs need any help. The actual Black women of country is who deserve a boost in this situation.
March 20, 2024 @ 9:36 pm
Trig, as for the CMA’s social media posts from 2016 featuring Beyonce — couldn’t they have just closed the comment section? And kept the posts/videos up.
Not sure if such features were available in 2016. But they are now, on Instagram YouTube Facebook etc.
March 21, 2024 @ 3:37 am
…beyoncé, the country music story of the year so far and probably also at the end of it. who would have thought that? now, only taylor swift can save country music with a bigger buzz this year. another silverada name change.or nipple and butts won’t do the trick, i feel.
March 21, 2024 @ 5:23 am
Attack vectors neutralized…bloodbath avoided.
March 21, 2024 @ 5:50 am
Since you’re going to continue to beat this poor dead thing I guess I will too. No one was making anyone think Beyoncé is country. There was a fan push to play her on country radio When radio was reluctant the response was hysterical for a reason. Black people my father’s age couldn’t use the same damn bathroom as white people my father’s age. Even today, a home in a black neighborhood is valued 23% less on average than an identical home in a mostly white neighborhood. Systemic racism is, like gravity and a mostly round earth, a real thing. Country, like it or not, is a rural, poor-White music with roots in the South – roots that are glamourized in many, many songs – the same South that fought to secede from the country so that Black people could remain in slavery, that removed Jim Crow laws only 3 years before I was born and fought the removal of those laws during my childhood and is in many ways still fighting. So when Country radio doesn’t want to play Beyoncé, a symbol of American Black success, for ANY reason, there is going to be hyperbolic response. It’s 1+1=2. It has nothing to do with the genre of country music. Country music, as a genre, is safe. It’s OK. Would I rather that the media be more calm and level-headed – like Beyoncé? Sure. But the news has never been known for that. And I’d rather have them freaking out that Country doesn’t want to play Beyoncé than freaking out that they do. Because, obviously to everyone (I hope), systemic racism is wrong and aside from that, hurts everyone.
March 21, 2024 @ 8:18 am
“No one was making anyone think Beyoncé is country. “
Are you fucking kidding me? You’re actually going to make that statement and think it will stick with people? That is absolute insanity. TIME posted a now notoriously viral article whose title was, “Beyoncé Has Always Been Country.”
The whole, “country radio won’t play Beyonce” thing is a canard. It IS playing Beyonce, due to an environment of fear and compliance the Beyhive and the complicit media has ensured, not because anyone wants to listen to it, or due to any organic appeal. So they won the battle, but lost the war. The reason the one radio station in Oklahoma did not play it is because it had not been serviced to country radio yet. That was a mistake by Beyonce’s team. Beyonce’s team also originally filled out the metadata as pop. Radio also needed a clean version serviced to them since the track is not FCC compliant. Believing that Beyonce got gatekeeped at country radio is outdated, and a social media canard.
“Even today, a home in a black neighborhood is valued 23% less on average than an identical home in a mostly white neighborhood. Systemic racism is, like gravity and a mostly round earth, a real thing. “
I agree. So how is playing Beyonce who is worth $800 million and married to a billionaire going to solve those problems? This is the elite serving the elite, and pushing race as a virtue signal to keep the lower classes warring among themselves so they don’t wake up to the fact that BOTH poor White and Blacks are getting fleeced by the high society that throws a “Black Lives Matter” sign in the window, and goes on to pushing the same policies that keep Black people systemically down.
March 21, 2024 @ 10:04 am
So I’m guessing that to you, that average person is an idiot who reads an obviously subjective article in Time and thinks holy shit, Beyoncé has always been country? Who knew? I’d hate to have that opinion of my fellow humans.
Country was initially reluctant to play Beyoncé. Beyoncé fans and progressives jumped on that and forced them to play it. That’s capitalism in action. Not because their empty heads were filled by the evil media with false notions but because they were reacting in a predictable way in opposition to the social problem of systemic racism. Will playing Beyoncé on country radio solve the problem? No. But NOT playing Beyoncé on country radio will exacerbate it.
And man save the whole ‘poor Whites are getting screwed too’ argument. I grew up a poor White person. That sucked. I made it out. Contemporary America is hard on all poor people. That needs to change. But the path out is still a culturally White path, and people who share that skin color have a huge advantage, no matter their background. It doesn’t harm the plight of White people to admit that truth.
And the ‘war amongst themselves’ of the lower classes has been a one directional war for most of American history – poor Whites warring against poor non-Whites because nothing the Snopes like better than someone to feel superior to. That’s the actual history of the South that you and I (and Faulkner) grew up in.
March 21, 2024 @ 12:21 pm
I am not going to call the average person an “idiot.” But I do think the outright falsehoods swirling around this Beyonce release are much more pervasive and believed than the truth, and this bears out in data. The old saw, “A lie travels around the world twice before the truth puts on its shoes” is happening over and over when it comes to this Beyonce situation. That TIME article has been shared over 10,000 times on Twitter alone. This article was shared three times.
“Country was initially reluctant to play Beyoncé.”
See, you’re the victim of false information.
The truth is that Beyonce’s label did not service the song country radio, and so they were not in the capacity to play it. Since the original version of the song wasn’t clean, they had to be serviced the single to be FCC compliant. Also, the original singles were released with the metadata “pop” not country. As soon as country radio was serviced the single, it did start playing it. That’s the truth.
But let me clarify an important point: Country radio is not playing the track because of demand from actual country fans. They’re doing to comply out of the environment of fear that has been created by the Beyhive and its surrogates in the media. Similarly, “Texas Hold ‘Em” is not at the top of country charts due to the consumer activity of country fans. This is coming from pop/hip-hop fans. Those advocating for Black representation in country music need to be honest to themselves about these realities. Beyonce is not popular among actual country fans.
March 22, 2024 @ 5:44 am
I never said country fans wanted the song. I said Beyoncé fans wanted the song. Everyone is allowed to affect the marketplace. That’s how it works. And your technical details regarding why country seemed reluctant to play the song don’t matter – country SEEMED reluctant play it. The only reason that was even an issue is that we are all living out the sad effects of our country’s racist history. Nothing to do with county music or the media boogeyman. Just the chickens come home.
March 21, 2024 @ 1:12 pm
“And man save the whole ‘poor Whites are getting screwed too’ argument. I grew up a poor White person. That sucked. I made it out. Contemporary America is hard on all poor people. That needs to change. But the path out is still a culturally White path, and people who share that skin color have a huge advantage, no matter their background. It doesn’t harm the plight of White people to admit that truth.”
That’s bullshit. I can take you to eastern Kentucky/Tennessee and southern West Virginia and show you otherwise. I dare you to tell the poor white people in that region that they have a huge advantage to a path out of poverty.
March 22, 2024 @ 5:36 am
Don’t need to take me out there because I live there
March 21, 2024 @ 3:42 pm
Modern scalawag.
March 22, 2024 @ 3:27 am
Craig, if you are really so concerned, there’s a million things you can do instead of whining on a country music site.
And FYI, we’re not in the sixties anymore. Ever heard of DEI?
March 22, 2024 @ 6:20 am
Oh you live there.
Are you white guilting your fellow residents about their “privilege?” Is it working on them?
March 22, 2024 @ 6:41 am
“I grew up a poor White person. That sucked. I made it out.”
So you agree it’s on the person to change the situation they’re in.
Many black persons that grew up poor made it out of their environments too.
Are you saying they can’t just because they’re black?
Gotdayum that’s racist!
You must be an adjunct professor at Marshall.
March 24, 2024 @ 4:28 am
All of y’all – I’m not whining on a country music site, I’m engaging in conversation with a a community I’ve been a part of for over ten years – SCM. Conversation is powerful, and worthwhile.
Y’all seem to feel that acknowledging the plight of others makes light of your own. It doesn’t. If anything, it makes you a happier, healthier person more likely to succeed. As you say, the individual is finally responsible for his fate, even if he’s in a Siberian work camp. Which doesn’t mean that we should be OK with the fact that Siberian work camps exist.
You know that I didn’t say that Black people cant become successful – but rather that being obviously not White puts you at a disadvantage that people who are obviously White don’t face. A poor man from Eastern Kentucky can shine up and go to an interview and he’s just another dude at an interview. A Black man from the same town can shine up and go to an interview and he first has to overcome the fact that he’s not a White man. It may not matter to the hiring manager, at which point he’s fine. But it may. In other words, the White person’s skin color is very rarely held against them and the non-White person’s skin color very often is. It’s this imbalance that is fueling the Beyoncé country music debate on both sides. Acknowledging that is not saying that White people suck. I’m only responsible for the way I treat other people personally, as are you. What this country is and is not is bigger than you or me and we can only change so much during our very short lives. You all seem to think I’m asking you to do something or be something. I’m just asking you to consider why this Beyoncé argument is occurring, and it’s not because some media corporation or hive of supposedly mindless, easily manipulated people want it to. Americans are a lot of things but we aren’t sheep – not even the liberal ones.
I won’t post again on this thread because I can’t say more than this on the subject. But love is better for you in every way than bitterness.
March 24, 2024 @ 4:31 pm
Hey Craig,
Hope you are having a a Wonderful Sunday!
March 21, 2024 @ 6:02 am
Has her choice got anything to do with her realizing via industry stats that people are getting bored of Rap/R&B, and country music is on the rise?
Check out the stats on this Rick Beato video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMV5vFm-I3Y
March 21, 2024 @ 6:25 am
Going to be fun reading all the reactions to bey & dolly’s, JOLENE.
That collab. may turn out to be very good.
March 21, 2024 @ 7:18 am
Good insights, but there is rationale for capitalizing “Black” but not “white,” similar to how “brown” would not be capitalized. Black with a capital B refers to a specific American culture born of the African diaspora, whereas white and brown are umbrella terms that encompass numerous cultures. Of course, there’s certainly room for different perspectives here, but let’s give each other the benefit of the doubt.
March 21, 2024 @ 8:08 am
When the capitalization of “Black” and the lowercasing of “white” comes with assertions like, “The truth is that country music has never been white. Country music is Black,” there sure seems to be a lot of race anger behind that syntax.
Taylor Crumpton truly believes that if she just says it, she can actualize it into being. She knows this is a lie. It’s the fact that it is a lie that led to its virility. The harder you lie about this Beyonce situation, the more viral your opinion will go. In fact, it’s your willingness to lie that shows your loyalty to the cause. It’s a shame an outlet like TIME has given into the perverse incentive structure.
The anger behind Taylor Crumpton’s piece is vehement enough to inspire violence.
March 21, 2024 @ 1:08 pm
The old maxim “tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth” is attributed to various historical figures, chiefly among them Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, and it seems to be the mission statement of socio-political ideologues and partisan wing nuts for at least a decade now. We’ve seen it over and over again recently.
Taylor Crumpton is exactly that sort of wing nut, and a superficial scan of comments from Beyoncé’s supporters all over social media reveals endless repetition of the same claims – that country music is an entirely black origin music genre, that white people stole it from black people, and that Beyoncé is taking it back.
It seems in an age where access to information and knowledge is so unfettered, the impulse to seek and tell the truth is not only too difficult but discouraged entirely. Scary stuff, honesty.
March 21, 2024 @ 8:44 am
I’m tired of reading non-country music journalists giving opinions on country music. They have no knowledge of the genre and its history.
The white cowboy hat and long white hair combo makes me think of Leon Russell. Beyonce should do a cover of Tightrope.
March 22, 2024 @ 4:44 pm
Or “This Masquerade”? (P.S. Happy birthday, George Benson.)
March 21, 2024 @ 9:33 am
@ Trigger
Would like to know your take on the viral TikTok deep dive video about the Carter family and how it may relate to the title of Beyoncé’s Act II: Cowboy Carter.
TT @beysus.christ Little Debbie
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL2yWfUL/
TL; DR – Idk much about the Carters, but basically it’s said that Maybelle Carter is a pickin’ thievin’ Karen who stole the “Carter scratch” from a black country musician, Lesley Riddles. A.P, Carter, her dad, also took songs from various black people, recorded them, passed them off as his and used their musical influences to make himself and his family rich and successful in the country music industry. It’s a theory making the rounds as to why Beyonce’s fans think she’s likely referencing the Carters on this album. We don’t know if that’s the reason for the album title or what the songs are about, so it’s speculation for now.
Seems like Beyonce is aiming for AOTY Grammy next year. Her husband made a big fuss about her not having that particular Grammy despite winning over 30. Ironically JayZ complained about this as he was accepting yet another Grammy for himself all while the couple’s daughter Blue Ivy (who won her first Grammy at age 9 for featuring on a track on her mom’s album) looked on. Talk about tone deaf and privileged. It’s bizarre how they still paint themselves as some kind of underdog in the industry. ‘Cowboy Carter’ will easily be number one on the country charts because Beyonce is an established artist with a built in fanbase. The backlash she got was primarily from some country music fans online, not from the artists themselves or the country music industry. People complain all the time on social media after every award show for various reasons. Clearly her feelings were hurt after that experience. Based on her own words this album isn’t country and it’s not even about her love for country music or her newfound love of black country artists, as much as it is retaliation against the online country fans & the Nashville establishment for making her feel like she was unwelcome in this space and for rejecting her performance with The (Dixie) Chicks. At least that’s my impression.
March 21, 2024 @ 9:52 am
Lesley Riddle was very real and was certainly an influence on the Carter Family. A. P. was Maybelle’s brother-in-law, not her father.
I don’t know if the title of Beyonce’s album is a reference to the Carter Family or not. But if it is, it is further evidence that she has very little knowledge of country music’s history. The Carter Family were Appalachian. Nobody who knew what they were talking about would ever associate them with “cowboy” or Western music. It’s also odd that Beyonce, who was obviously assigned female at birth and has, to the best of my knowledge, never identified as anything but female in almost 30 years in the spotlight would call herself “cowboy.”
March 21, 2024 @ 1:17 pm
C.H.
Pretty sure it’s because Beyoncé is married to Shawn CARTER, bka Jay-Z.
Social media people once again making asses of themselves.
March 21, 2024 @ 1:47 pm
So first off, I will wait to see what Beyonce says about the inspiration for the title of the album “Cowboy Carter.” I have seen a lot of conjecture, including in the Tik-Tok video you link to, but I’d like to hear it from Beyonce herself. That is why I think her recent statement was so important. With a few words, she cleared up a lot of misconceptions, along with verifying some important things.
As far as the Tik-Tok video:
The first thing people need to understand is that the reason all of these things about Beyonce are going viral is because they are based upon lies. Those lies come across as so fantastical and revealing that it blows people’s minds, and they feel inclined to share it. Meanwhile, any corrections, or the truth itself are inherently boring and non-fantasitcal, which means people just ignore it.
Leslie Riddle is a known figure in country and folk music. He is cited often in country history books, there is a full display on him at the Birthplace of Country Music in Bristol (https://birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020_BCM_StudentActivitySheets_LesleyRiddle.pdf), and he was mentioned and profiled specifically in the Ken Burns documentary on country music from 2019.
A lot of what this individual says in the Tik-Tok video is true in regards to Riddle traveling with A.P Carter to find songs. This is all very well documented. One of the things that drives me crazy about these viral posts like this is they often couch the information as being a revelation. The presence of Leslie Riddle is no more of a revelation than “the banjo is a Black instrument.” It may be news to this young woman, but it’s widely known and documented throughout country history.
The lie here is her dramatic, almost clownish embellishment of how a song would go from discovery by AP and Riddle, to composition, to the commercial application.
The young lady says at one point that the song would be taken to Mother Maybelle who would record it, and quote, “It would become a smash hit on radio. This is what birthed country music.”
The Carter Family is not Luke Bryan. They did not have “smash hits on the radio.” Between 1927 and 1934–which was their commercial heyday, the vast majority of Americans didn’t even own radios. The songs were recorded by Ralph Peer and others, then sold on 78s. There is no song ever recorded by the Carter Family that anyone would ever characterize as a “smash hit on radio.” It just completely misunderstands the entire dynamic. My guess is this young women understands this, but lies and embellishes to create a viral Tik-Tok.
What is true is that Leslie Riddle and A.P. Carter “found” many of the songs attributed to them. There have been many deep debates over the years about how to consider this. In one respect, it seems a little disingenuous to “find” a song and then copyright it for yourself. On the other hand, if A.P. and Leslie did not “find” and preserve these songs, they may have been lost forevermore.
Also, Leslie Riddle was a player in this system. He’s not an innocent just because he was Black.
And yes, The Carter Family also did TRAVEL to the Mexican border in 1938-1939 and worked with the border radio stations. They didn’t live there for years as is implied in the video, stealing Mexican rhythms. They were taking advantage of the lack of broadcast wattage restrictions of the border radio stations as were other artists at that time.
It’s taking a leaven of truth, and then instilling very big lies that makes these things go viral.
March 21, 2024 @ 10:01 am
As an addendum, if it turns out that the title is actually a reference to Cowboy Copas (who was of Appalachian origin himself, despite his stage name), she or whoever came up with the album title is much more knowledgeable about country music than I suspect. “Cowgirl” still would have made more sense, though.
March 21, 2024 @ 4:42 pm
Beyonce could have said this earlier. She knew what would happen when she released those songs and she could have framed them as a mixture of influences straight out of the gate. The fact she didn’t suggests to me she was happy to push them as country songs and create that backlash. That’s not the behaviour of someone who has any love for this genre. I infer from the statement that the album is not country. That the songs she released were not country in any meaningful way and she was bluffing, knowing that nobody could call her bluff without being called racist. But Beyonce knows this bluff is gonna be called when the album comes out so we get this statement. At least this should be a much smaller battle in the culture wars than it looked like being a few weeks ago.
March 25, 2024 @ 6:18 am
A cover version, already, by James Otto, whom mainstream fans might remember for “I Just Got Started Lovin’ You.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV5RGUzhMQ0
March 28, 2024 @ 9:56 am
The amount of ink you have spilled on this topic is absurd. That you feel vindicated by her comment is equally bananas. Genres are not precious artifacts meant to be gatekept (this is the very point she’s making). But what’s truly distasteful is hand-waving away her very genuine emotions at not being welcomed at the CMAs by… suggesting that Alan Jackson maybe had to take a piss? Unfortunate.
March 28, 2024 @ 12:12 pm
I’m just getting started on the amount of ink to be spilled on this topic because it’s an important one. Don’t really care how popular or how much people hate that coverage. It’s important we get this moment right, and I will continue to work to make sure that happens.
March 28, 2024 @ 12:51 pm
What is there to get “right”? That this isn’t a country album, by your standards? That she is wrong to have felt unwelcome at the CMAs? That she isn’t deserving of any country accolades whatsoever? I’ll reserve judgment on the album until I actually hear it, but it’s telling that you seem to already have made up your mind about all of it.
March 28, 2024 @ 2:01 pm
I never said it wasn’t a country album. I haven’t even said the first two songs weren’t country songs. I’ve been very careful about that, and am also waiting to hear the full album, and have encouraged others to listen to the full about before coming to any hard conclusions.
There are the opinions I share in these articles, and the opinions people think I share based off of their preconceived notions of my opinions. I thought Beyonce’s statement was really important and thought out, unlike a lot of the media coverage on this issue. Among other things, it also made me more intrigued to hear the album, and make sure we all put our biases aside and listen to it as music first, and then concern ourselves with genre.