Quit With All This “Gatekeeping” Talk in Country

Random Notes 23 Comments


Seriously, just quit it.

Accusing someone of “gatekeeping” is just an intellectually lazy, thought and discussion-ending enterprise designed to win arguments online as opposed to addressing the very real and systemic issues behind why some artists are favored in the music industry, and some are not in ways that disallow meritocracy and basic fairness from proliferating.

Just like the term “woke,” “gatekeeping” can be hard to define. But the basic idea is that certain people are kept out of certain segments of society due to who they are, and what they do in a way that is inherently unfair. In country music, this often comes up when performers who initially made their name in other genres decide they want to start recording country, though it can also be used to describe perceived biases against someone due to race, gender, sexual orientation, or place of origin.

It’s definitely the case that in the history of country music, it’s been harder and easier for certain people to break through. That’s certainly still the case today when it comes to country women. But the way this “gatekeeping” claim is most commonly deployed is against people who are actually trying to defend imbalances and injustices in the country genre slanted towards established and wealthy performers from outside of country attempting to tap into country’s increasingly lucrative marketplace, while artists native to country continue to get shaded out due to these high-profile interlopers.

For example, far and away the performer we’ve seen characterized as the biggest victim of “gatekeeping” in country music is Beyoncé. Yet her album Cowboy Carter was allowed to chart at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart despite Beyoncé herself saying it wasn’t country. Beyoncé’s song “Texas Hold ‘Em” charted #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and was played on mainstream country radio when promoted to it. And Beyonce won Grammys in two separate country categories in 2025, including Best Country Album.

The idea that Beyoncé was the victim of “gatekeeping” in country music is ludicrous. Previously the complaint had been that the Grammys themselves we’re gatekeeping Beyoncé even though she was the most nominated and awarded artist in Grammy history since she had never won the all genre Album of the Year. Lo and behold, she even accomplished this with Cowboy Carter. Yet still, the insistence that Beyoncé is somehow a victim of gatekeeping persists.

But this isn’t just about Beyoncé. Lord knows that who argument has been hashed out ad nauseam. Last week, hip-hop artist BigXthaPlug had the #2 album in country music with his straight hip-hop album I Hope You’re Happy. He’s also had a #1 song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and was invited to the CMA Fest. Yet despite all this success in country, criticize BigXthaPlug’s, and people will present him as a victim of the country experience due to supposed “gatekeeping.”

In truth what’s happening is that the individuals and institutions that are actually in a position to be gatekeepers and are entrusted to keep at least some semblance of order in the country genre are selling out their own constituencies and exacerbating institutional distrust by being so completely permissive and subservient to any and all artists who want to claim affiliation with country. They often do so in fear of getting slapped with this gatekeeping accusation. They know this stuff isn’t country. But instead of taking even a moderate stance or drawing some sort of line, they simply acquiesce and let it pass through, if not outright promote it.

Recently, Rolling Stone Country ran a big feature on a hip-hop artist named Clever who’s collaborated with Post Malone in the past, asking if he’ll be the next Jelly Roll, and touting how he’s trying to break into the country market. Jelly Roll and Post Malone are already interlopers in country, with the former not really even embracing any semblance of the “country” sound. Why is this Clever guy with an established career already getting a big feature in Rolling Stone trying to butter up country to accept him, when so many of country music’s established performers can’t even get a mention?

Who is actually not being given access to the support and infrastructure of the country music industry in a systemic and inherently biased manner, a.k.a. “gatekept”? That’s right, it’s the actual country artists who are playing actual country music. It’s independent artists not signed to major labels. It’s women who have devoted their entire lives to pursuing country music who get discounted because they refuse to go pop. These are the artists with beef, not the millionaires and billionaires who are simply looking to add more zeros behind their net worth by tapping the lucrative country music market, and then using the “gatekeeping” term as a shield and a cudgel against anyone who would get in their way.

Think about artists like Brennen Leigh, Sunny Sweeney, and Kristina Murray, or Dallas More or the Joe Stamm Band. We sit back and are stupefied they aren’t any bigger than they are. These are the victims of gatekeeping, not Jelly Roll who is ever-present throughout American culture.

Saving Country Music is accused of “gatekeeping” commonly. But what exact power does a personal blog have compared to the powers that be in country who are continually letting non-country artists through? In truth, most actual country fans would love to put more hard and fast parameters around what is defined as country, but it’s Billboard, the CMA, and major labels who get to choose such things. For actual country music fans and advocates kvetching about this online, that power is a pipe dream. Meanwhile the “victims” of this supposed “gatekeeping” are literal millionaires, and in the case of Beyoncé, a billionaire, while those complaining about their presence in the genre are left with table scraps.

This website was founded to advocate for the independent, traditional, marginalized, and legendary artists of country music that are so often summarily cast to the side in a distinctly unfair and undemocratic system that discounts talent and rewards mediocrity. It’s the individuals and institutions attempting to protect actual country artists from the true gatekeepers—meaning the moneyed interests on Music Row and corporate media—who are being slapped with this ridiculous “gatekeeping” label.

But in truth, even the folks in charge at country music’s major labels are often reacting to public whims as opposed to being the maniacal puppet masters pulling the strings and choosing who makes it and who doesn’t like they’re often portrayed. Calling them “gatekeepers” is probably hyperbolic too, even if it’s a more accurate portrayal than someone complaining about Beyoncé and Jelly Roll being called country on Facebook.

Country fans didn’t think Beyoncé made a country record, and neither did Beyoncé. It was those that demanded it be considered country that created the conflict, not some supposed gatekeepers who really don’t even exist anymore thanks to streaming, TikTok, social media, and other stuff.

So again, just quit with it. We should all advocate for the power to choose the winners and losers in music to be held by country fans themselves, and for talent and appeal to be the true arbiter of who makes it, and who doesn’t. If that was allowed to happen, country music would be better off for it, and would have to deal with significantly less conflict.

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