Following the 2025 Grammy Awards, Beyonce left the stage 2 awards richer. Taking home the Win for Best Country Album and Album of the year for her critically acclaimed “Cowboy Carter” album. The album was a commercial success like anything Beyonce does making her the first Black artist to win the grammy for the country album category. Cowboy Carter was the artists 8th straight #1 album on the billboards also while making Beyonce the first Black woman to have a #1 selling country album and the first Black artist to do so in the country realm since Charley Pride in the 1970s. One would assume that a world renowned, multi-talented superstar like Beyonce would have been full blown accepted by the country world but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Although she took home 2 awards at the Grammys for the Cowboy Carter album, immediately after the ceremony the Grammy Committee created a new category called “Best Traditional country album” and reclassified Beyonce’s win as “Best Contemporary country album”. Many such as myself, believe that this reclassification is a direct response to Beyonce being the first Black person to take home the award in the category. Not to forget, that despite Cowboy Carters commercial success, Beyonce did not even receive a NOMINATION at the Country Music awards. So why did Beyonce winning strike a chord in mainstream media? Why is she being punished for her success? The answer is simple… country music’s historical conservatism and racial bias within media has a caused a mass discomfort for a lot of “traditional Americans”.
The Backlash Beyonce is facing is bigger than her. It speaks to the entire phenomenon and issue of Black people having to be “accepted” in “traditionally” White spaces. Beyonce is arguably one of the most talented, respected, musically knowledgeable and creative artists of all time. Her only crime in this, is not being white. Like many other realms in America, there is a resistance to allow Black faces in White spaces. There is push back about who gets to participate, and in what, that’s regulated by the mainstream “White society”. This Beyonce event exposes the nature of this issue. The irony of the narrative is that throughout history Black artists such as Deford Bailey (1899-1982), Lesley Riddle (1905-1979), Arnold Schultz (1886-1931) and many more have all played fundamental roles in country music’s inception and evolution. The idea that Black people have to be accepted in a space that they helped create is absurd. These artists have never fully gotten the credit and respect that they deserve for their impact on the genre because of racism and segregation within the music business industry. Most of these artists were forced into “race records” such as Blues or Jazz regardless of what the songs actually sounded like. Regardless of the instruments used, regardless of the sound the artists were trying to create, they were more than likely labeled something else by mainstream racists in the media. The establishment would not allow for these people to be labeled as country as a form of division, control and segregation. These artists have played an undeniable role in the history and formation of country music that won’t be forgotten.
Blues based guitar styles by Arnold Schultz laid the groundwork for what we now know today as Bluegrass music. Although he did not invent bluegrass music, Bill and Charlie Monroe the “creators” of bluegrass (White men) have openly admitted Schultz was their main influence. This same influence can be found in the Banjo. A critical instrument in country music, the Banjo was played in the Black community with roots in the Caribbean and West Africa for about 300 years before it became popular in country music and in the hands of White artists. Jimmie Rodgers who is also known as “The Father of Country Music” has made it known and documented plenty of times that he drew from the blues style of Tommy Johnson and Jim Jackson who happened to be Black men. He also collaborated heavily with Louis Armstrong who sings the popular song “what a wonderful world”. I’m not saying all this to say that Black people should own country music or should be the gatekeepers of country music. I’m saying that Black Americans influence on the genre is undeniable and the erasure of Black Americans history in the genre added in with the treatment of today’s Black country stars today and throughout is disgusting and is clear examples of racism within the system. 100 years later, Black Americans still face the struggle of being accepted as a whole in the country music world.
There is a plethora of reasons that people claim to be upset about Beyonce’s legendary Grammy night or the Cowboy Carter album. Genre “purists” believe Beyonce’s music isn’t “authentic country”. They believe that her music blends too much with hip hop, R&B and pop music. But these same critics are silent when Country music superstars like Morgan Wallen, Thomas Rhett and Tim Mcgraw make music with rappers such as Lil Durk, Young Thug and Nelly. Instead, these same critics praise these artists for their versatility. Why is it that when Beyonce does it, it’s not traditional country? But when Morgan Wallen does it, it’s called versatility. I believe that it is because her success is outgrowing the box that conservatives from this realm want her to be in. Racial bias and cultural discomfort all pave the way for this unjustified treatment and criticism. Once again, this whole phenomenon is bigger than Beyonce. This example of her success is just the perfect picture that describes what’s going on in America for many Black Americans who have success in areas that are not heavily Black. Even our most talented, respected and successful people still have trouble trying to assimilate into mainstream culture. Conservatives continue to regulate what faces get to participate in what spaces. Even in 2025, in a realm like country where Black people are documented at being at its inception and played a critical role in the genre’s evolution, there is still a struggle to be accepted. This is why for many urban blacks such as myself we have totally turned our back on country music and tend to have a negative perception of the genre and its community. But the time is now to stop letting others control our narratives. To Power the People in every realm we must fight for what’s ours. Whether by the Pen, the Track or the checkbook we cannot allow others to label us and keep us in boxes limiting who we are and what we are capable of. “Genre is a code word to keep us in our place as Artists.” – Beyonce
Leave a comment