Country Rap Becoming Mandatory for Country Males
“You can’t stop what’s coming. It ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity.”
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If you’re a male performer in country music right now, you may no longer have a choice. If you want to see your singles and records reach the top of the charts, if you want your songs played on the radio, and if you want to be in contention for the big awards, you better add some hip hop elements into your music.
It seems almost inexplicable that this statement could be made about American country music, but when looking at the top performing songs, albums, and artists in the format, and how many of them have at least some form of the hip-hop culture embedded in their music, the statement isn’t controversial, it is conclusive. And Saving Country Music isn’t the only one pointing this out.
“You hear the hip-hop thing start kicking in, and you start going, ‘Is that what we gotta do now to have a hit? Is that what I need every one of my songs to sound like now?” says Toby Keith, who not only was the best-selling country artist from the 2000’s decade, but is the owner of the influential Show Dog Universal label, and the highest paid person in country music from his stake in multiple record companies.
Even as a top label executive, Toby is having trouble convincing his own people to push music that doesn’t include electronic beats or rapping. According to Keith, when he brings them country songs, they tell him, “Eh, it doesn’t sound like what’s going on the radio today.”
The two best-charting, biggest-selling songs of 2013 so far have been songs that lean heavily on hip-hop influences: Florida-Georgia Line’s “Cruise,” and Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night.” Both songs broke records in 2013, with “Cruise” breaking the all-time record for any country single with 23+ weeks at the #1 position, and “That’s My Kind Of Night” breaking a record for the most consecutive weeks at #1 for a solo male performer—a record held since 1966.
Currently, the #1, #2, #6, #7 songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart feature hip hop influences, while Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, and Tim McGraw at the #4, #5, #9 positions respectively have all had major country rap singles, including Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” that was the biggest-selling song in all of country in 2011. Three of the five nominees for both Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year for the upcoming CMA Awards have cut country rap songs.
How Hip-Hop Stole Country Music: The Arrival of the Mono-Genre
But just because a song has hip hop influences, doesn’t make it bad. It has been the combination of country rap and the laundry list style of lyricism that has been the 1-2 punch to the integrity of the country genre, and especially the material emanating from male talent. This trend has caused a recent uproar, with many artists speaking out, including artists who have themselves participated in either the country rap or laundry list trend, including Jake Owen who recently said, “We need more songs than just songs about tailgates and fuckin’ cups and Bacardi and stuff like that,” potentially dissing Toby Keith’s hit “Red Solo Cup.” Keith was also arguably responsible for the first country rap song in the modern era when he rapped the verses in his 2001 hit “I Wanna Talk About Me.”
It may not be as much that Jake Owen and Toby Keith are being hypocritical as much as they are big stars that are expected to deliver hit singles, and they are sick and tired of chasing the current trends where there is little or no room for substance. When Keith spoke about his recent single “Hope On The Rocks” that stalled at #18 on the Country Airplay chart, he said, “…you start playing it to a twenty-something audience, and it’s like, ‘Naw, man, there ain’t no mud on that tire. That ain’t about a Budweiser can. That ain’t about a chicken dancing out by the river. That ain’t about smoking a joint by the haystack. That’s about somebody dying and shit.’”
So does that mean we can expect Toby Keith to go the country rap route? “I don’t know how to do that,” Keith explains. “I’m not going to change much. And when it quits working, I’ve got other stuff to do.” But if he doesn’t, Keith runs the risk of losing his relevancy as a mainstream country artist. That is why we’ve seen middle-aged country performers like Tim McGraw and Ronnie Dunn cut country rap songs recently, and why most of the up-and-coming country males that are making their mark are doing it through country rap.
Peer and financial pressures are making it mandatory for male country artists to start off their songs with a hip hop beat, or rap the verses to their songs, even if it is just a verse or two. Forget the stigma of trying to bring hip hop into the country format. If you’re a male country star in 2013, you can’t afford not to.
October 21, 2013 @ 8:58 am
I’m sure there were purists who hated seeing country merge with rock. That said, the bottom line, and the bottom of the barrel with the “NEW COUNTRY,” are the inane and ever-shallow lyrics. Hell, on tour last month I held my nose and turned on a commercial country station and damn if what assaulted my ears didn’t sound musical like a Lady Ga Ga song. It’s all hacks and whores blueprinting what sells, as always. Nashville is a nice place to live, but leave your brain at the door.
October 21, 2013 @ 10:47 pm
At least rock is similar to country though. Both real lyrics and great music played with real instruments. A major country station had a website poll asking which genre is your second favorite and classic rock won by a large margin. I think rap was dead last. For years country fans have been saying rap sucks and it still does. Who the hell wants to hear real music replaced by synthesized beats? It sucks!
October 22, 2013 @ 5:11 am
Chris, Please don’t read into my comment that I’m defending country going rap. Not in the least. I’m just being an observer here. It’s opportunistic bullshit is what it is and the guard of country greats are rolling in their graves. I commend Triggerman and his valiant stand to save the great genre of REAL country music, and it always will be saved, in the records and videos and memories of those who embrace the original art form, which at one time was poor man’s blues written and performed and sung by those who lived the hard life and took that to the stage. But it’s not coming back, at least as long as Nashville can stop it from making the airwaves. And the airwaves exist to sell advertising, plain and simple. These are the same whores and hacks who attempting to derail Johnny Cash and Willie and Waylon, so we can all consider the source right there. I don’t even recognize it now, but it ain’t country. It’s become something else, something despicable and sophomoric.
October 22, 2013 @ 8:08 am
I whole heartedly agree with ya both Pete AND Chris! I am a fan of “true” country, but that don’t sell on the radio around here. If I wanna hear the real deal I tune into KERV AM on my PC. If i’am in my truck or otherwise, I listen to Indy Artists on CD, MP3 or I tune my radio to classic rock cause I’ll be damned if I’m gonna sit through 5 crappy pop country songs on FM Country…just to hear 2 good ones!
October 22, 2013 @ 8:16 am
I hear ya, Ojaioan, also the music chanells on the cable stations are good listening. The other night listening to a station called HONKY TONK TAVERN. That was some authentic shit right there.
October 21, 2013 @ 9:20 am
When Toby Keith is the voice of reason regarding the integrity of country music, we’ve gone ’round the bend.
October 22, 2013 @ 1:07 am
2013 Comment Of The Year.
October 21, 2013 @ 9:48 am
The problem with radio country these days is the fact that it is not designed or geared towards country people. It is all about what can be released that gives an artist the best chance to be at the top of the charts for a mainstream audience, which consist of dip shit young city/suburban kids who want to hear about drinking & driving down a dirt road or putting their truck in the mud. It is like a big game of dress up and play cowboy, which is damn near along the same lines as these suburban protected white kids who dress up or act like urban black kids. Todays radio country is a huge candidate of fuck the people/fans who made us what we are were going to do what we can to get this most success, most money, etc. possible.
To put it plain and simple all of these mother fuckers forgot who made them what they are, and who made country music what it is. Imagine if a Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, & Jessi Colter went out and played what the Nashville sound was in the 70s, who knows who would have sold the first million records in country music ever, probably some Garth Brooks asshole. Just clarifying that country didn’t start with the album Wanted! The Outlaws, but just giving that as an example. With that said it also pisses me off that these pop country fuck offs marked Hank Williams as a dummy.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/kravitz-flips-off-country-crowd-hank-williams-marked-dummy
October 21, 2013 @ 11:17 pm
Speaking of Garth Brooks: I have recently been listening to many of his early songs. In my opinion, his first two albums contain some of the best country songs I have ever heard. Not only are the music and songwriting stellar, but his voice has a unique texture that imbues the songs with a strong sense of wistfulness. I actually think that early Garth Brooks was sonically more country than many of the Outlaws.
October 21, 2013 @ 10:22 am
Luke Bryan had a great song ‘That Old Tackle Box’ off his debut cd. If you never heard it, I suggest you listen to it. Also his song “Drinking Beer and Wasting Bullets” was a funny but great song also.
If you listen to Charlie Daniels he is a country-rap(fast talker) singer. Ever hear “Drinking My Baby Goodbye”, “Legend of Wooley Swamp” and “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”? They are like these songs today. But these songs have a lot more substance.
Waylon, Glenn Campbell, Charlie Daniels, are had rock elements in their songs. Waylon was and still the best to infuse rock and country together.
It has to be done right, and Waylon did it perfectly to make his songs. But let’s not act like it has no place in country. It has a place but like I said it has to be done right.
October 21, 2013 @ 11:05 am
I think a key difference is that rock IS part country. In my personal opinion country has nothing to gain from hip hop.
October 21, 2013 @ 11:17 am
One of the most underrated songs in 2005 was Cowboy Troys “If You Don’t Want to Love Me” a song about not feeling wanted in a marriage or part of the family. Sarah Buxton provided her voice on the song as well, and one of the most heartfelt songs that year.
Yea he is hick-hop but he also had a great song with James Otto called “Cruise Control” and it should of been a top 5 hit if Radio would of played it.
I wish he would get more recognition even though he is a Black Cowboy Rapper, but his songs are great if given a chance.
October 21, 2013 @ 1:31 pm
Spoken word is not rap. Can’t say it enough, or stress it any harder. And saying it is, is an insult to both rap and spoken word.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/once-and-for-all-spoken-word-is-not-rap
October 22, 2013 @ 7:26 am
I think its more of an insult to spoken word. Something as base and low as rap can’t be insulted enough.
October 22, 2013 @ 10:44 am
I agree with Trigger, spoken word is NOT rap.
If CDB is rap, then so is William Shatner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQwXOCKNLY
However, Leonard Nimoy IS country here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9NSpAdGxgU
October 22, 2013 @ 6:18 pm
I’m not trying to defend hip hop in country music, but spoken word is the same exact thing as the talking blues. The talking blues has it’s origins in West Africa, as for centuries traditional Irish and Scottish music also used spoken word in music. The guitar was brought first to America by Spanish Cowboys. Americans used influences from all cultures to create the American sound. Country is a hybrid of Irish, Spanish and African music. The first western singers were infact white blues players. Rap is derived from the blues. Ergo rap and country share the same great granddaddy.
October 22, 2013 @ 6:38 pm
The fundamental difference between rap and country is rhythm vs melody. Rap is melody-free and is based entirely on a complex rhythmic structure. Country, by contrast, centers on the melody.
October 22, 2013 @ 6:55 pm
Well technically Eric melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm. You cannot have a melody without rhythm. I would like to know what is considered rap. Is Subterranean Homesick Blues a rap song or a blues song? If you listen to that song you will find the only difference between Dylan and a modern rapper is talent, subject matter, and auto-tuner.
October 22, 2013 @ 9:41 pm
The 3 essential elements of music are melody, harmony, and rhythm. Country music has rhythm, but the focus has traditionally been on melody and harmony. In other words, the melody and harmony are much more complex in country than the beats. In rap, there is no melody and the focus is overwhelmingly on rhythm. The rhythm is where the complexity lies in rap.
Furthermore, rap is based on a strict poetic style of writing (i.e. the lines have to rhyme), whereas in country the focus is on prose-based storytelling.
Although I despise rap, I disagree that rappers are completely untalented. Rap existed well before autotune. It has also served as an outlet for excellent poets such as Tupac. I just don’t want it on country radio!
October 23, 2013 @ 5:10 am
Eric we both agree that hip hop in country music is unpleasant, at least from the current crop of artist producing it. I tend to disagree with your argument about how melody and harmony are more dominate over rhythm. Listen to an old Hank record or Johnny Cash song and the predominate sound is that driving rhythmic pattern. The rhythm of those old songs is what separated what we call traditional country from bluegrass. The influence of pop has dissipated dominant rhythmic musicality in mainstream country.
I think rap can be done right in country music and it has been done right. Johnny Cash released “God Will Cut You Down” that is a straight up rap song. I think when done right for artistic expression as opposed to generating revenue at the simplest form and creating original beats as opposed to sampling rap can elevate country music.
October 23, 2013 @ 6:42 pm
By rhythmic, I don’t mean that a song has no rhythm. I mean that the beat varies throughout the song while the melody remains relatively flat. This is how dance pop songs are created. By contrast, in melodic songs, the melody varies throughout, while beat pattern is either held constant or non-existent.
All of the Hank Williams songs that I am familiar with, such as “Cold Cold Heart”, “I Will Never Be Ashamed of You”, or “Lonesome Blues” are thoroughly melodic.
I am not as familiar with Johnny Cash’s songs. However, I know that while he did release some rhythmic rockabilly songs, he generally used bass beats to create a clear harmony, such as in “Walk the Line” or “Folsom Prison Blues”.
October 23, 2013 @ 7:04 am
Celtic (Irish and Scottish) music is the direct predecessor of traditional American country music. If you listen to many of the traditional tunes, passed down for over a millennium, you can hear the lineage. To say that rap and country bear the same source is preposterous.
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October 21, 2013 @ 11:10 am
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October 21, 2013 @ 11:14 am
While I certainly agree with the sentiment here from Toby Keith it’s kind of rich coming from the man who released ‘Red Solo Cup’ a pathetic reach for relevancy from a past his prime performer. Look at Toby’s last half dozen singles almost all have been about drinking beer or just plain drinking (although ‘Hope On The Rocks’ was a cut above). So he is playing into this entire trend with his releases and then complaining about it at the same time much like Jake Owen. It makes you wonder if he would be complaining if these singles were more successful on the charts or if he really is concerned about the song quality.
October 21, 2013 @ 4:32 pm
yeah, definitely comes off as an old whore bitter about the new whores stealing her johns.
October 21, 2013 @ 4:40 pm
should have said “his” instead of “her” sorry for the unintended misogynistic tone
October 21, 2013 @ 11:57 am
“country rap”… nothing new under the sun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtQJ9fqdV28
October 21, 2013 @ 1:34 pm
Nobody is saying that country rap is a new thing except for the people that try to sell it as country music “evolving.” As you point out, there were country rap songs around 25 years ago. Rap has been around for over 30 years. So how is combining country and rap anything new?
October 21, 2013 @ 1:53 pm
I wholeheartedly agree, trigger. I guess I was just trying to make that same point.
October 21, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
I guess what it comes down to at least for me is whether these performers are really being truthful in their comments or whether they are simple trying to get out in front of the coming backlash which could wipe them away while still benefiting in the short term. This is especially true of Jake Owen who now can say ‘hey I was only doing what I had to’. Have their country rap drinking beer down by the river on a dirt road songs while saying they don’t want to do it.
October 21, 2013 @ 12:25 pm
Go figure — when something goes big, instead of remaining a novelty it ends up setting the standard for everybody else, at the expense of variety.
October 21, 2013 @ 12:38 pm
We’ll have to see, then, if Toby Keith jumps on the Avicii bandwagon (that is, mixing EDM beats with “country” or “folk” sounds) 😉
That is going to be the next major trend in “country” music, mark my words. The secondary single “Hey Brother”, featuring the O’ Brother Where Art Thou vocal contributor is already #1 in Australia………….and now Pitbull of all people has released a new single titled “Timber” with Ke$ha that many are calling “country flavored”. -__-
October 21, 2013 @ 1:03 pm
I am somewhat surprised that Avicii is not performing on the CMA awards. I really thought they would make a big push to have him perform live. They may have and he just couldn’t do it for all I know.
October 22, 2013 @ 12:05 am
Avicii will surface at one of the two major country music award telecasts within the next three years. I’m quite sure of this.
And the thing about all of this is that I honestly think Avicii isn’t even aware of the unfortunate consequences his country-EDM escapades will eventually have on the genre in the broader sense. Say what you will about Avicii: he at least has good taste in featured vocalists and collaborators. Of all vocalists, he chose Dan Tyminski to feature in “Hey Brother”. He could have picked any of the dime-a-dozen male “country” acts currently pervading the “country” chart, or Marcus Mumford. But no. He chose a key member of Alison Krauss and Union Station.
Avicii’s attempts at meshing these two genres are absolutely naive, but I certainly don’t believe he was conspiring to further destroy the culture and identity of the “country” genre. Sadly, he will nonetheless be held responsible for the ultimate outcome that will be countless artists and producers milking this emerging trend for what it is worth, and within the next eighteen months we can expect to see all these ham-fisted attempts to shoehorn weak-sauce EDM beats in with your run-of-the-mill laundry list “country” song (Luke Bryan and Florida-Georgia Line, I’m looking at you).
October 22, 2013 @ 6:33 am
I have no doubt that there will start being a lot of people in country start trying to replicate that sound. I don’t believe Avicii should feel bad about whatever happens in country though. He is doing something innovative and refreshing in his genre. It’s not his fault if a bunch of leeches want to try to latch on and start trying to water down their genre by trying to copycat him. He has been able to be creative, while still being true to his EDM genre. I don’t think that anybody would have a problem with some of these country artists if they could be creative, but still stay true to their genre, but we know that isn’t going tohappen. They are just going to continually try to copy what ever is popular at the time from someone else, even if it totally erodes the the genre of country music.
October 22, 2013 @ 2:13 pm
Avicii has gotten a lot of flack among EDM purists for even thinking about mixing the two genres together, and frankly I don’t think he deserves a good share of it.
I do think his attempts thus far have been a mess in that they weren’t executed well………..but at least he tried. And at least he actually has good taste in collaborative partners. Dan Tyminski? Who would have thought?
Sadly, in less than eight months, I predict one of the leading males of “country” radio (maybe Jake Owen or Florida-Georgia Line) will take a page out of Avicii’s playbook (or even go out of their way hoping Avicii will agree to collaborate with them) and write another “frat-boy country” laundry-list song anthem with a generic EDM beat shoehorned in after its chorus. Next thing you know, all these lesser EDM producers will come pouring in and seek out collaborations with the other leading artists of the “country” format……………and Avicii’s legacy will wind up being a hot-and-cold one.
Hot in the sense that he spearheaded a new niche in the scope of EDM music, but cold in the sense that his efforts led to the diminishing quality of both the EDM and country genres in at least the short term.
October 21, 2013 @ 1:24 pm
I will say it to my dying breath Rap “music” is killing our youth culture in this country sometimes literally. White, Black, Latino, Asian it doesn’t matter. Urban, rural, or the burbs. Rap and it’s musical and cultural influences are running not just country music but rock music as well. I’m afraid it is hopeless the monoculture/monogenere has arrived and is here to stay. Support independent music so small pockets of decent music can survive.
October 21, 2013 @ 6:37 pm
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with rap, but the stuff Lil Wayne and T-Pain and the like put out has got to go.
October 21, 2013 @ 10:08 pm
Yep, rap is getting pretty bad too. My brother who grew up on the stuff doesn’t listen to it as much as he used to. It’s mostly 70s/80s country and rock bands now. Why? He doesn’t relate to rap music anymore and thinks most of it is shallow now.
October 21, 2013 @ 10:15 pm
Rap music has dominated youth culture for more than a decade now. What’s new is the stranglehold of rap and semi-rap over country radio, which used to be the one refuge from hip-hop-dominated pop music.
October 22, 2013 @ 12:58 pm
The problem is once the Rap culture dominated youth culture across the board for as long as it has by necessity rap has got to spread into every area of our culture. Because Rap “music” is a cultural infection sickening everything in it’s path. Country music just took awhile for it to infiltrate because it was, at one time, so far away from rap on the musical spectrum. I wish there was a powerful antibiotic that could kill it. Valliant efforts have been made by powerful forces like Dale Watson and so many others, only to have Devils from the pit of hell itself like Colt Ford decend on our rural youth like a diease. Go support good independent music while there is still time !
October 21, 2013 @ 1:48 pm
It’s all on Taylor Swift, she started it by doing that duet with T-pain about being a thug. People need to quit listening to her and listen to real country traditionalists like Carrie Underwood. She’s the real CMA artist not some thug wannabe like taylor that rights kiddie songs and raps
October 21, 2013 @ 5:09 pm
Carrie underwood is not a traditionalist. She is a great example of a country-pop singer.
October 21, 2013 @ 5:23 pm
The Swift / T-Pain song was not a single release, it was done as a joke at just 90 seconds, and not a career defining moment in Swift’s career.
The problem in country is the men.
Underwood is as traditional as Aldean and his ilk, “Good Girl” is more pop than anything Taylor or Katy Perry has ever recorded, pure crap.
She is a television creation and not worthy of the attention she gets. She screams her way through every song.
October 21, 2013 @ 2:02 pm
Wait a minute: since when is “I Wanna Talk About Me” a country rap song? It’s no more rap than “The Devil Went Down To Georgia,” which you vehemently defend as “spoken word.” Regardless, I hope Toby Keith doesn’t cut a country rap song. He sounds as if he has a decent amount of integrity so hopefully he won’t damage it. I enjoyed “Hope On The Rocks” and I’m not the least bit surprised that it didn’t touch the top 10 on the charts. It was too “slow” and not “hip” enough.
October 21, 2013 @ 2:26 pm
I just don’t get why these people insist on calling themselves country. If you wanna sing that shit, more power to you. I won’t buy it, but there are tons of people who will. Why do you have to try to take country and turn it into something its not? Don’t tell me country is where your heart is and every other load of crap they give. If you really loved country music you would sing actual country. Just go record a rap album and leave country alone.
October 21, 2013 @ 3:31 pm
The thing that could start to solve these problems would be the breaking up of the country format. Country music has always prided itself on being one big family but it’s far past time to admit that is no longer the case. Every other major format has sub formats that are to one degree or another thriving. Top 40 has a mainstream format and then they have an Adult top 40 and a Rhythmic Top 40 while Rock has Mainstream and then Alternative, Adult Alternative and Heritage formats. R & B has Rap as well as Adult R & B coexisting under one umbrella. What this does is it opens up space for artists that aren’t necessarily in the current mainstream to find a home and maybe grow.
If country would do something similar it would open up a format that would include many of the talented artists featured on this site and others while also including some of the acts now populating mainstream country. The current format could continue with a potentially thriving sub genre.
Unfortunately the chances of this happening aren’t good in this age of radio consolidation. This despite the fact that most every major market has at least one station of the above sub genres. That is not to say that this format can’t thrive in certain markets but nationally I just don’t think the current stakeholders (Clear Channel, major labels) will allow it to happen. Could be great though.
October 23, 2013 @ 8:16 pm
Well said! And very true. Everyone uses the excuse that “country music has to evolve” which is just not true. There is not room in the country genre for everyone that wants to be labeled so. You are right, it needs to be broken up. It doesn’t have to change. There are plenty of people who are still doing country right, but they aren’t getting a chance because it is being taken over by these other artists who want to make country that doesn’t sound country. If they had their own set genre, things would be so much better. Nobody said that these artists can’t make music, but they shouldn’t be able to completely take over the genre and make it what they want. There needs to be separation
October 21, 2013 @ 6:05 pm
We’ll see how this whole thing progresses in the next year or so…
October 21, 2013 @ 7:28 pm
The decisive difference that the hip-hop element brings to music is that it puts the nail in the coffin when it comes to melody. A lot of pop and country songs that have come out over the last fifty years have moved away from melody and leaned more towards rhythm in their construction, songs where the melody follows the chord changes rather than the chords following the melody(think “Louie, Louie” for example, or most any twelve bar blues). These trends have weakened the importance of melody within song, but have still retained some semblance of it.
Hip-hop out right obliterates this. Melody is destroyed, there is nothing but the rhythmic cadence and harmonies off mundane hooks. A lot of folks worry about this coming mono-genre, well, a lot of what makes up the mono-genre is the fact that songs don’t have a melody that distinctly sets them apart from the rest of the sound in the universe, of course these rhythmic soundscapes all sound the same, they’ve stripped music back to the least common denominator of elements. There is very little to work with when all you’ve got is the beat, a pentatonic hook, and some somnambulic mumblings and grunting. Bring back a proper understanding and respect for melody and one will find far greater diversity within popular music.
October 21, 2013 @ 8:59 pm
Very good observations. I may have to reference these points some time in the future.
October 22, 2013 @ 4:48 am
Please do. It’s important people remember the potential within music. While rhythm and harmony can make something passingly interesting to listen to, melody possesses the potential for expressing a far more precise and nuanced expression of emotion.
October 22, 2013 @ 5:11 am
melody has been missing from mainstream pop for years.
Because most of the “singers” have a range of about three notes. and no recognizable sound or tone.
How they look, is far more important than how they sound.
Therefore, melody has to be eliminated.
This happened when music video television became the main source of hits, not the radio.
At least this is a part of the problem.
Roy Orbison wouldn’t get through the front door these days.
October 22, 2013 @ 11:06 am
Disagree about the effect of music video. The 80s was the era of MTV, and yet some of the best pop melodies of all time came from that period.
October 21, 2013 @ 7:39 pm
I have to say it seems like the whole thing is some sort of twisted deja vu. It reminds me of the metal scene in the late 90s / early 2000s as rap invaded a pretty good swath of what passed as nu-metal. It was a hit formula for bands like Linkin Park, Papa Roach and a whole bunch of others. However, it was a fad that passed. The bands either exorcised the whole rap thing (like both of the aforementioned bands), fell off the map (many went this route) or somehow have maintained this anachronistic style despite current trends / culture (like P.O.D.). The same thing seems to be repeating itself in country. Not all metal / rap was bad, but for the most part it was nothing great. I never thought I would see it in country. I keep trying to figure out who we can blame. If we can go back in time and prevent that one band or collaboration, who would it be? Run DMC and Aerosmith? The Beastie Boys? I listen to country for country like I listen to metal for metal. I have some guilty pleasures of crossovers, but for the most part they are novelties. It’s sad when the industry pushes this kind of thing and the masses are so easily duped by it.
October 21, 2013 @ 9:09 pm
The argument can definitely be made that the insertion of rap into mainstream rock is what killed the mainstream rock format. I made this point in an article a while back.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/how-hip-hop-stole-country-music-the-arrival-of-the-mono-genre
“When rap mixed with mainstream rock in the mid 90”²s with acts like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, it was seen as the beginning of the mainstream rock format losing its identity, and the diminishing of rock music”™s control over its radio format and institutions. This gave rise to “indie” rock, and punk and metal undergrounds that purposely avoided mainstream rock avenues and robbed talent from the mainstream ranks. Soon rock ceased to be the catch-all term for guitar-based American music, and country and hip-hop emerged as the more dominant and influential genres. Eventually rock artists like Darius Rucker, Sheryl Crow, Aaron Lewis of Staind, Kid Rock, and many more had to solicit country for support in the aftermath of mainstream rock”™s implosion.”
October 21, 2013 @ 11:52 pm
I see it a bit differently. Starting in the mid to late 90s, rap and hip-hop simply started beating rock in popularity, causing rock to fade on pop radio. I don’t know if Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park were ever in the top tier of fame in rock.
October 22, 2013 @ 12:15 am
Linkin Park were. Limp Bizkit weren’t.
Linkin Park actually were a legitimate radio force to be reckoned with from “Hybrid Theory” on through their Alternative radio history-making run with “Meteora”. With Limp Bizkit, on the other hand, they were primarily driven by their cultish image. Along with Korn, they were the two “Hot Topic” fads of that time. I vividly recall how many times I hardly heard anyone in high school acknowledge specifically why they loved the music of Korn and Limp Bizkit, but nonetheless wore their merchandise and were transfixed by the intensity and over-the-top antics of their live performances.
Interestingly enough, despite never being a big radio force, Korn have nonetheless enjoyed some convincing staying power, while Limp Bizkit have been washed up since their terrible cover of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” became a moderate hit almost a decade ago.
October 22, 2013 @ 12:05 am
One of the key factors behind the rise of rap in the late 90s and early 00s was the advent of computerized beats, which provided some level of sonic structure to a genre which previously had been almost instrument-free.
October 21, 2013 @ 10:33 pm
Don’t think Hank done it this way
October 21, 2013 @ 10:39 pm
Having listened to country radio for almost 4 years now, I have been astounded by the pace at which it has declined over just the last couple years. When I started listening to country radio, it used to serve as the one place in radio that featured actual melody (unlike the entirely rhythmic modern pop “music”), with a side of good, heartfelt songwriting. Off the top of my head, some of the top songs in the first few months after I started listening to country radio, in addition to Taylor Swift songs, were: “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum, “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert, “She Won’t Be Lonely Long” by Clay Walker, “This Ain’t Nothin” by Craig Morgan, “The Man I Want to Be” by Chris Young.
Country radio has come a long way since then, and not in a good sense. Not only does it no longer provide an escape from pop radio, the songs are often worse than the average current pop song. At least in pop music, the dance beats are loud enough to blur out the lyrics, and the lyrics do not really say much of anything. In the current male country songs, on the other hand, we get both a dose of melody-free hip-hop beats along with some of the stupidest, most vomit-worthy lyrics possible.
A song like “Need You Now” would have never risen to prominence and won the Grammys that it did in today’s country radio environment. If Miranda Lambert were starting out today, she would have been perpetually stuck under the top 10. Even Taylor Swift would have struggled to achieve fame.
In short, country radio has devolved into an insult to intelligence in just a couple years. Since the only country station we have here is a “hot country” station (Silicon Valley is not exactly a hotbed of country music), I generally find that I would rather listen to nothing than listen to country radio. I envy those who have traditional/alternative country stations in their neighborhoods. Here, we have two stations that sometimes play Americana (97.7 KFOG and Pacifica Radio 94.1 KPFA), but the former generally plays indie rock and the latter is basically a news station.
I can’t think of any other examples of such a sharp decline in the quality of a genre. Can anyone else think of any? Also, why do you think that the deterioration has occurred in such a short timespan?
October 22, 2013 @ 12:55 am
I have a few theories to your question.
Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it is the blunt fact that most critics simply dismiss the genre entirely in that they narrow-mindedly and condescendingly view it as the genre of philistines and gun-toting reactionaries. Granted professional all-genre publications will review some of the banner week country (or “country”) releases, but let’s not kid ourselves here. It’s only out of obligation.
Outside that, you have countless hipster-leaning reviewer after reviewer after reviewer flat-out refusing to touch country music, while being willing to cover most any other genre. And the tragic consequence of that lack of representation, that dearth of coverage…………….is a detachment from a musical culture and identity, and by not informing countless readers about a massive part of our collective musical heritage, we’ve allowed the genre to be swept out from under us.
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Secondly, it is the unprecedented efforts of Scott Borchetta to re-define not just the “country” music industry, but the music industry in the broader sense. Numerous interviews have clearly indicated he is driven by demographics above all else. He said he doesn’t care about the country music tradition and has said: “Whatever fans of country music listen to and like. It”™s younger. It”™s youth.”
Others surely have taken notice of Borchetta’s winning streak, and are now capitalizing on more youthful demographics as well. Which leads to my third theory for now.
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My third theory is that, after Nickelback abruptly began its decline, along with the rest of the corporate rock format, following the monstrous success of “All The Right Reasons” in 2005 through 2007………..many fans were at a loss as to where to turn to in continuing to appease their frat-boy rock fix. There simply weren’t any other bands with the commercial clout to carry the torch of commercial dominance onward.
And that’s when they heard about Jason Aldean.
Jason Aldean effectively continued where Nickelback left off. Many of them noted the exact same topics and themes Nickelback covered in many of their later releases showed right up in Aldean’s output. Many said: “I never liked country music before, but I love Aldean!” The frat-boy rock crowd found a new mogul.
Thanks to Aldean’s rapid ascent to superstardom, many others had been quick to capitalize on this growing niche. Songwriters in Music Row who specialized in more mature-minded topics were brushed aside in favor of a more tightly-controlled, monopolized, president’s suite of a songwriting circle represented by the likes of Dallas Davidson, Rodney Clawson, Ashley Gorey, Rhett Atkins, Luke Laird and the Warren Brothers with the primary prerogative to make money, and doing so by writing insubstantial simple-minded party anthems and ditties about country boys using their jacked-up trucks as bargaining chips to get laid.
Now, the Nickelback connection runs ever deeper. Joey Moi, who has produced every one of Nickelback’s albums dating back to 2003’s “The Long Road”, is also the mastermind of Florida-Georgia Line’s “Here’s to the Good Times” (Their current single “Stay”, indeed, sounds like a carbon copy of a Nickelback power ballad or 3 Doors Down’s “Here Without You”). He’s the mastermind behind Jake Owen’s releases. And most tellingly, the former frontman of the Canadian rock band Default, Dallas Smith………..signed to Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger’s record label 604 Records………….is attempting a successful crossover into the United States with his debut country release.
Guess who wrote his debut American “country” single “Tippin’ Point”? You guessed it………..Florida-Georgia Line! And who is the producer you ask? None other than…………Joey Moi!
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So there you have it…………….my first three theories as to why the country music format has devolved so precipitously in only several years.
October 22, 2013 @ 1:27 am
Good theory…except that Nickelback is much better than today’s crop of male country singers. These current frat-boy “country” songs have nothing on “Photograph” or “Far Away”, for example.
October 22, 2013 @ 1:43 am
Yet, if you listen to Nickelback’s earlier albums…………and then compare them to their later ones………….you easily detect a dramatic dumbing-down of their lyrical content.
Now I’m not one who latches onto the anti-Nickelback bandwagon. I’m willing to admit Kroeger can write some decent songs when he actually wants to (“Never Again”, “Too Bad”, “Throw Yourself Away”)…………and even when he writes asinine lyrics, he has a penchant for effectively composing powerful cadences and hooks in a way most other corporate rock bands constantly struggle to do batting average-wise.
That’s where my higher marks for Nickelback have to come to a swift end, however. Because for every one of those aforementioned tracks you and I listed (I wasn’t even impressed with “Photograph”, really), they have released two-to-three clunkers………….including “Something In Your Mouth”, “This Afternoon”, “If Everyone Cared”, “Midnight Queen”, “Shakin’ Hands” and “Next Go-Round”.
If anything, I’m shocked “This Afternoon” never became the crossover hit on country radio I thought it would. Because it screams the exact same formula all this current crop of frat-boy “country” songs follow to a tee before the trend even began to explode.
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Anyway, I only partially agree with your claim Nickelback are better than the frat-boy “country” acts it partly inspired. They used to be better. With more recent releases, however, they’ve dumbed down remarkably and, frankly, their dumbest songs are also much more vulgar than even the most misogynous frat-boy “country” single currently impacting the chart. Say what you want about Florida-Georgia Line……….even they haven’t cut a song like “Figured You Out” yet. If anything, their two most recent singles have been pretty inoffensive, though not good at all.
October 22, 2013 @ 1:50 am
Having spent the last few minutes listening to some other Nickelback songs, I am now realizing that you are right. They definitely had some crap songs (like “This Afternoon”) that resemble today”™s laundry-list “country”.
October 22, 2013 @ 5:26 pm
Country artists going to pop songwriters and producers is definitely a big problem. Only a few artists turn out great songs with that formula but they are still too pop for many fans and the rest are just trying to copy them with no musical success. Sure some are commercially successful if radio plays them.
October 21, 2013 @ 10:47 pm
By the way, here is a rule of thumb that I use to determine if a song is bad at the outset, so that I won’t suffer by listening through it:
-“music” built on rap beats and hard rock guitars
-the presence of the word “girl”
This rule works around 90% of the time.
October 22, 2013 @ 12:18 am
Don’t forget the obligatory word “crazy” as an euphemism for horny and/or drunk! Almost ALWAYS works like a charm! 😉
October 29, 2013 @ 8:33 am
This misogynist infantilizing of women in new country drives me crazy as well. You can always differentiate a love song from a hook up song by how the singer refers to the object of his affection. If he refers to her as “baby” it’s a love song. If he uses “girl” it’s a fuck song. And there’s entirely too much “girl” lyrics in today’s country. I mean. really, do these Affliction Attired Cow Pokes know any WOMEN? Or is the 40-something soccer mom they’re attempting to swoon a “girl” as well?
October 21, 2013 @ 11:00 pm
When Keith spoke about his recent single “Hope On The Rocks” that stalled at #18 on the Country Airplay chart, he said, “”¦you start playing it to a twenty-something audience, and it”™s like, ”˜Naw, man, there ain”™t no mud on that tire. That ain”™t about a Budweiser can. That ain”™t about a chicken dancing out by the river. That ain”™t about smoking a joint by the haystack. That”™s about somebody dying and shit.”™”
Could this be because that audience has gotten used to or been brainwashed by radio constantly playing mud, beer, river, and joint songs? A few years ago listeners had no problem listening to some sad songs between the upbeat songs. I Drive Your Truck isn’t that old.
October 21, 2013 @ 11:10 pm
I am just wondering where the gag reflex is for those who like these songs. How is it possible that the same audience that enjoyed country radio as recently as 2010 or even 2011 could possibly listen to current country radio without feeling the urge to throw up or break their radio? Is the country radio audience of 2013 different than the audience of 2010?
October 21, 2013 @ 11:56 pm
Musicians need to go on strike.
The only way to show the masses todays music is trash,
is to give them nothing but the trash.
October 22, 2013 @ 1:50 am
Having spent the last few minutes listening to some other Nickelback songs, I am now realizing that you are right. They definitely had some crap songs (like “This Afternoon”) that resemble today’s laundry-list “country”.
October 22, 2013 @ 1:56 am
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FqCOJ8xnWr0
Good song to listen to while the radio stations continue to play awful music. Just found it a few days ago actually.
October 22, 2013 @ 4:28 am
i love this site but i’m so not a fan of these rap-country posts…mostly because of the comments.
October 22, 2013 @ 8:20 am
I agree that the opponents of country rap can sometimes be their worst enemy and portray all criticism of country rap as traditionalist and sometimes borderline racist reactionism. But I can’t control the comments (unless they clearly go over a line), and if I don’t say something just because of what someone else might say about it, the information doesn’t get out.
October 22, 2013 @ 5:35 am
I know this sounds clich̩ but I honestly feel bad for my kids. As a small child (3-12) you have no interest in the independent scene. You want to hear your favorite song on the radio and be able to sing along with friends and family. My kids are growing up in a world where country music is not only sonically different from the songs of old, but also morally different. The music I grew up championed the power of family, respect and hard work. TodayӪs country has very little to say about these important ideals and seems to pander more toward the moral code of those which country once opposed.
Not to belabor the point but over the weekend I had two of my boys (5 year old and 3 year old) with me while I was doing some yardwork. I brought the stereo out and was playing some Merle and my older son asks why I don”™t listen to the same music that the guys play on the radio. I asked him what songs he would like me to play and he says, “the one about the catfish dinner.” The younger son began dancing around and singing the chorus. It was cute as all get out but the fact that this is the music that my kids will grow up calling “country” disgusts me.
October 22, 2013 @ 5:38 am
So apparently some wana be gangster piece of shit is now country? Wow no wonder nobody but fucking douchebags listen to this crap. Rap isn’t music never was music and is now destroying another fucking genre of music. Rap is like a cancer it just keeps finding new places to destroy. All these piece of shit bling dog gold wearing motherfuckers should pack up and leave and take todays country radios fucktards with them. Not sure what the Hag and a rapper have in common. Absofuckinglutley nothing. Cmon you fucking dummies open your eyes!
October 22, 2013 @ 8:56 am
“Not sure what the Hag and a rapper have in common.” prison stint.
October 22, 2013 @ 7:44 pm
In other news, Eric Church just released a country rap “The Outsiders”.
October 23, 2013 @ 12:10 am
“The Outsiders” is neither country, rap, or country rap.
it’s metal.
October 22, 2013 @ 11:44 pm
no worries Triggerman,keep fighting the good fight. i get annoyed when hip hop fans bad mouth country music too…those people can be just as ignorent. everybody is entitled to they’re opinion though,it’s on me to ignore it. plus i’m getting old…i shouldn’t be giving a damn anyways,lol.
October 23, 2013 @ 8:58 pm
I am from Oklahoma and I don’t listen to “country” radio. I live New Traditionalist country. I would rather hear early Garth, Brooks and Dunn or what I call the 70s pop Outlaw country.
That’s the kind of feel I go for in my music. I have a Christmas album coming out that is traditional country. Like Ernest Tubb’s Blue Christmas and Roger Miller’s Old Toy Trains. If you like that check out my album coming out on 12/7. I would love to know what other SCM readers think about it.
October 24, 2013 @ 2:17 am
If a certain type of music has a fanbase, doesn’t have a place? All these country music hipsters are way too concerned with what’s ‘real’ country.
October 24, 2013 @ 4:48 am
the author of this article could have saved a lot of text by simply writing “Toby Keith is an idiot”. I don’t give a rat’s rear end what anybody in the industry says. The minute you “integrate” external elements into an established genre, that genre no longer exists as anything other than fusion. And by the way, Toby Keith is an idiot.
October 24, 2013 @ 8:39 am
Of course Toby Keith is an idiot, and I’ve said that so many times on this site it is almost redundant to the point of being insulting to say it again. I know this may be the first time you have ever been to this site and so you don’t have that frame of reference. Nonetheless, idiot or not, is what Toby Keith saying not true? Should we rip him apart personally to the point where his opinion is invalid meaning the message behind his words doesn’t reach more people?
October 24, 2013 @ 7:52 am
I just heard Colt Ford / Jason Aldean’s “Driving Around Song” on the radio, and it is now up there on my Top 5 worst song’s of all time. Have you heard this atrocity? Jason Aldean is AUTOTUNED!!!!!!
October 25, 2013 @ 12:30 pm
I was running down the road in Colorado when the Dixie Chicks/Toby Keith fight broke loose on the radio. I can remember it like yesterday.
Toby won and the Chicks were kicked to the curb. Court Yard Hounds are a big yawn. Big Dog Toby is still laughing all the way to the bank.
I think Toby has helped pull a few careers out of the toilet. I think he could help Gretchen Wilson, maybe. Some folks are cut out for their own record company, and some folks’ egos are not their amigos.
October 26, 2013 @ 8:27 am
Wow, way too much to digest. I’ll be up front and explain I am older and was raised from birth on country and as it evolved. In the late 60s I was in a band with my dad and we disagreed on how country should be played. Today I’m much like him and look back at the 60s-70s as how it should be. But there are now only 3-4 of today’s “singers” whose CDs I’ll buy. They all sound alike and the songs are alike. History tells me this is much like the much bally-hooed Nashville Sound of the 60’s. It took the outlaw group to break away and show it could be done another way. Record execs are simply worried about sales and all copy each other. Elvis hit, then how many people did they attempt to make into another Elvis. Buck and Merle hit with the same result. Even the DJs on what passes for country radio are on the bandwagon of playing to the kids. Sorry, 20-ish readers. The indie country singers are out there doing real country and their CDs can be found with a little searching. Check Jake Hooker for an example on You Tube and see where it leads you. Hoping I at least made a little sense.
October 27, 2013 @ 8:26 pm
Fred….you made alot of sense. If you are a country ‘purist’, you and your family can starve. The indie artists get little play and risk everything.
You can’t be brainless and 14 forever. Wash, rinse, repeat.
There’s usually only one good song on a CD and you can ditch the rest.
But then again, people buy chia pets.
March 16, 2014 @ 8:37 pm
Not a fan of new country. But mixing country with cRap? Give me a break. What the hell happened? What a bunch of sellout whores!
July 24, 2014 @ 12:38 pm
Ughhhh I hate all this new country music and how all the good artist are downgrading to this pathetic music, I mean if you wanna sing rap go and be a rap artist I don’t like this new country trend it’s disgusting to hear great artist trying to sing rap, or hip hop I always change the station that’s why I’d rather listen to Texas country like Randy Rogers now they really know about country music
September 1, 2014 @ 10:02 am
Rap has NO place mixing with COUNTRY nor Rock!….keep it out!…..I purchase only pure music, be it Rock or be it country…Hopefully the Big Shots in New York will quit having their song writers and stars doing this ADBOMB
INATION of music!
December 5, 2017 @ 6:19 pm
It’s called the Nashville Muzik Mafia. Go look them up it’s spelled just like that. Nashville Muzik Mafia. They wont resond to you so no need to try contact the scumbags. Think they are on facebook now. It’s run by Toby keith, gretchin Wilson, Big & Rich and other superstar country rappers. They decide who becomes a recording artist, star, singer, writer, whatever in the entire U.S.A. music world. You have to be rich to join thier MAFIA from the start.
It’s simple, if people would stop buying these shit bums country rap cd’s and going to there concerts, and start protesting the radio stations nation wide we could begin to fight back and stop haveing this shit shoved down our throats everytime we turn on a “SO CALLED” country radio station. But again Americans are to afraid to stand up for what is right especially when it comes to morality issues. Even where I live way out in a country rural setting I am bombarded with this BOOM BOOM BOOM cars driving by , no words, no music, just SUPER BASS ,,BOOM BOOM BOOM, shaking pictures off the wall. . And what do the COWARD POLICE do about it nation wide??>>NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is LEGAL for these AUDIO TERRORIST to tramatize peace loving American citizens. All in the name of “RESPECT THE MUSIC” which is no music at all. These HIP HOP RAPPER trash have destroyed everything in America and they arn’t finished yet. I see people in there 60′ 70’s hip hopping and rapping. WHATS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE. Again, Americans are cowards to afraid to stand up for whats right, and COUNTRY RAPP ISNT RIGHT!!!!!!!!!
I was a country recording artist dealing with Nashville in the early 2000’s and I can tell you this,, Nashville and Branson a like are the most corrupt filthy monsters you can imagine. I was told by several big Nashville & Branson producers and I quote, ” You are very good, awesome songs, vocals and musician skills, but your not going anywhere in this town without PAYING TO PLAY!!” unquote. Again I say, The Nashville Muzik Mafia.
As far as the country rock, hip hop, and rap. I would rather die a poor man than to betray the true country artist before me by writing, singing or playing this filth called Country Hip Hop Rapp.