Can the “racialized past” of the country music genre be overcome by Beyoncé‘s upcoming album? This week, a lot of mainstream media started posing that query.
The world was taken aback by superstar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter on Sunday night during the Super Bowl when she unexpectedly released the new singles “Texas Hold Em” and “16 Carriages” as a sneak peek at her next album “Renaissance Act II,” which will be released on March 29. The forthcoming “Act II” seems to draw more inspiration from country music than her previous “Renaissance” album. Beyoncé Closed Down Fashion Week in New York
Some media sites have questioned whether Beyoncé can succeed in country music despite “the exclusion of Black musicians from the genre” in the days following the release of the tracks.
“Whatever happens, or doesn’t, is likely to create waves, given the star’s status as certainly one of the two or three biggest music luminaries in the world, moving toward a format that has proven famously resistant to making its homegrown Black women into stars,” according to a Variety story.
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“Will it be a symptom of persistent racism if Beyoncé doesn’t get big (or any) play at country? Or is it just a hint that country radio is doing what it does best, which is move cautiously and deliberately in anticipation of signals from a dominant record label? It makes sense to be anxious about how these inquiries would be received in the context of almost exclusively White male playlists.”
According to the report, race and “the near-complete lack of success of Black women in the format providing a historical backdrop” would “inevitably be at the fore” regardless of how Beyoncé’s songs are perceived.
The director of Rhodes College’s Lynne and Henry Turley Memphis Center, Charles Hughes, further stated in an interview with The New York Times that “country radio has systematically excluded artists of color” and that Beyoncé might not be an exception.
“Maybe that power will create an expanded space for all these great Black women making country music,” said Hughes, “to make it more in line with the people who love country music and the country it’s supposed to represent.”
Furthermore, Time magazine insisted that “Beyoncé Has Always Been Country” because “the truth is that country music has never been White.”
“It is time for the institutional oppressive regimes of country music to be removed, and for those who have continued to carry on the legacy of country’s music heart and soul to be seated at the table,” the article in Time stated.
It went on, “It’s unclear if Knowles-Carter will confront the racist history of country music or expose its underlying lies, but she bears a resemblance to Archangel Gabriel, who blew the trumpet to announce the arrival of Judgment Day. She is able to hold people accountable who stole the legitimate heirs of country music. Perhaps it would be her only task for Act II.”
This media reaction was criticized by freelance writer and music analyst Kyle “Trigger” Coroneos, who noted that by focusing on the “racism” of country music, it ignores the contributions made by Black performers to the genre.
“The tragic irony of these claims is that they are the means by which the Black legacy in country music is being erased in real time. No history book or documentary on country music would mention the genre’s Black influences without mentioning them, according to Coroneos on Fox News Digital. Examples include the banjo’s African origins, Rufus “Tee-Tot” Payne’s instruction of Hank Williams on the guitar, Charley Pride’s 30 No. 1 singles, and his status as the first male country performer to win back-to-back CMA Male Vocalist of the Year awards.
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“By asserting ‘exclusion,’ you ironically ignore all of these contributions,” he continued. This is frequently done by academics and activist journalists who have a conflicting interest in making country music appear more racist than it actually is in order to gain influence on social media.”
The topic of conversation was sparked by a post on X that went viral on Tuesday, in which a guy accused an Oklahoma country music station of racism for turning down a request to play Beyoncé’s most recent song. After then, the station released a statement informing everyone that the original request had been misunderstood and that the music will indeed be played.
In a statement, KYKC general manager Roger Harris stated, “We initially refused to play it in the same manner if someone requested us to play the Rolling Stones on our country station.” “The truth is that we like Beyoncé and play her on TWO of our other stations.
She is a legend. We just were unaware of the song. After learning about it, we made an effort to obtain it, and we have already played it three times on YKC, our country station. Additionally, we play her on 105.5, 99.3’s KADA-FM, and KXFC-FM.”
