Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Those who believe Black people should not perform or listen to country music need to realize that Black America invented country music in the first place. And Beyoncé is reclaiming the genre and bringing country music back to its Black roots.
The ignorant and racist idea that country music is white property and a white cultural space took center stage this week when an Ada, Oklahoma, radio station KYKC refused to play “Texas Hold ‘Em,” one of Beyoncé’s two new country songs. The other song is “16 Carriages.” After first refusing to play the song, arguing they are a country station that does not play Beyoncé, the station manager had to switch things up after facing pressure from angry fans.
This is nothing new. After Beyoncé sang “Daddy Lessons” with the Dixie Chicks at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards, some country fans lashed out in protest, saying she did not belong there, and the Grammys refused to accept her song as an entry in the country music category.
Lil Nas X blew up the charts in 2019 with his country hit, “Old Town Road,” but Billboard removed the song from its Hot Country Songs chart after one week because the song was not country enough for them. But these white gatekeepers claimed the decision had nothing to do with the race of the Black artist.
The racism in country music is real, and Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish has spoken out about this. Rucker — who vocally supported Black Lives Matter following the 2020 murder of George Floyd and may have lost fans because of it — said people in the industry told him “My audience would never accept a Black country singer.”
Meanwhile, it was nice to see Tracy Chapman get her well-deserved props with her 1988 song “Fast Car.” Luke Combs…
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