Jessie Murph Doesn’t Consider Herself Country. So Why Does Country?

Random Notes 43 Comments


It’s bad enough that there are artists who demand their music be considered country when they have little or nothing to do with the genre. It’s even worse when country music’s institutions recognize artists for being country when these artists don’t even recognize being country themselves, and don’t even care for the recognition.

That’s what happened with bad pop singer Jessie Murph during this year’s cycle of the Academy of Country Music Awards, or ACMs. Jessie Murph was nominated for New Female Artist of the Year beside Kassi Ashton, Ashley Cooke, Dasha, and Ella Langley. Ella Langley ended up winning it. Jessie Murph didn’t even think she should have been considered for the award, but somehow, still was.

You might be asking yourself at the moment, who is Jessie Murph? Well, a lot more people know her name now after she recently released a very disturbing video for her song “1965.” No, it won’t be linked here, and it purposely wasn’t discussed here when it was released as to not be part of any Streisand Effect. But with an outright sex scene and other weird stuff that apparently YouTube deems okay, the video has put Murph on perilous footing with her own fans, many of whom were the first to call it offensive.

Jessie Murph first arrived on the radar of Saving Country Music in January when she collaborated on Koe Wetzel’s first #1 country radio song, the mediocre “High Road.” As was said at the time, “Both Koe and his attitudinal-sounding collaborator Jessie Murph’s hand gesticulations and hip-hop inflections feel incredibly fake. It’s less emotive, and more a put-on attitude from a couple of bumpkins trying to act street. To be honest, Jessie Murph is the worst part of this.”

But apparently this “country” collaboration and others were enough to land Jessie Murph an ACM nomination, which looks even worse in hindsight in the aftermath of the “1965” video controversy. Then in a recent interview with the Zach Sang Show, Jessie Murph herself said she had no idea why she was nominated.

“That was such a big surprise,” Jessie Murph said. “I wouldn’t look at me and be like, ‘That’s a country artist.’ I don’t know that I deserved to be in that category. I feel like there’s other country artists that maybe deserved to have that spot.”

When asked if she cared about genres, she responded, “No, I don’t give a f-ck. I really don’t give a f-ck. I love mixing genres and I think that I’ll always do it … I don’t like the thought of boxing myself in to express myself.” This is actually very similar to what Beyoncé said about her album Cowboy Carter, but press and awards decided to ignore that and call it country as well.

As some old proverbs say, sometimes you can find wisdom in the strangest of places. And in this case, it’s Jessie Murph delivering some important wisdom.

First, of course there were more deserving artists to be nominated for the ACM’s New Female Artist of the Year. The names in that category continue to speak to the major label and radio play bias of country music’s major awards, even while the listening public is moving dramatically away from the mainstream country radio format.

Why wouldn’t the ACMs consider names like Kaitlin Butts, Sierra Ferrell, or Noeline Hoffmann for such an award? They’re way more qualified than Jessie Murph, and all have actually had mainstream impact. Sierra Ferrell and Noeline Hoffman both appeared on big Zach Bryan songs, and Kaitlin Butts has gone viral now multiple times on Tik-Tok.

We’ve actually seen ACM nominations recently for bands like Flatland Cavalry and The Red Clay Strays. The Red Clays Strays actually won the ACM for Best New Duo or Group of the Year in 2025. But for some reason, this broadening perspective on independent artists is not being extended to the women of country—one of the many reasons the genre continues to struggle to develop women long-term. It makes it even worse when pop stars get nominated over the women of country.

In the mainstream of country, there is still a systemic bias to artists who are either not signed to major labels, or who don’t get radio play. Recently, Billboard started a new outlet called Billboard Country. But as opposed to utilizing the new outlet to dig deeper into some of the wildly popular independent artists rewriting the possibilities for performers not played on the radio, it still forwards the same mainstream country-centric perspective, publishing puff pieces about performers like Jessie Murph.

Billboard Country recently published an article on Jessie Murph appearing in Sports Illustrated‘s 2025 swimsuit issue, but completely ignored the “1965” video controversy, or Murph’s “I don’t consider myself country” comments.

Of course, Jessie Murph will take any press she can get. She also gleefully showed up to the ACM Awards holding a baby pig (there are no miniature pigs, people), and said she had a good time there. But ultimately, all of this is overshadowing actual country women making actual country music who will be in the genre for the long haul.

This is also one of the reasons it was so important to see the Grammy Awards add a Best Traditional Country Album category recently. If these major award shows are not going to recognize actual country artists, and instead favor pop stars from outside of the genre, it’s time for them to start making completely separate categories for country artists who are actually country.

Good on Jessie Murph for seeing what the ACM Awards themselves didn’t: It’s unfair to country artists and the women of country specifically to nominate pop performers for country awards over performers native to the genre. It needs to stop, and these institutions need to start recognizing the independent artists who often are becoming even more popular than entry-level mainstream, major label, corporate radio performers.

– – – – – – – –

If you found this article valuable, consider leaving Saving Country Music A TIP.

© 2025 Saving Country Music

, , , , , , , ,