Beyoncé has attracted fans of color to country music, will they be welcomed?

Dusty and worn boots. Horses drinking water. Sweat drips from the foreheads of all shades of black skin as country classics blare through giant speakers. These moments are frequently recreated during Tayhlor Coleman’s family gatherings at her ranch in central Texas. For her, Beyoncé’s country album, “Act II: Cowboy Carter”was the granting of an improbable wish.

“There’s something to be said about the world’s biggest artist coming home to the genre that… we all love, but never feel welcome, it’s so hard to put into words.”said the 35-year-old native of Houston’s Third Ward, the same area of ​​the city where Beyoncé lived as a child. With favorite artists like Miranda Lambert y Shania TwainColeman was waiting for this moment to come. “I was praying that one day she would make a country album… Beyoncé is more country than a lot of people making country music today.”

Beyoncé’s latest project is not only No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, which includes albums across all genres, for the second week in a row, but it made her the first black woman to top Billboard’s country albums chart.

“There’s nothing that girl can’t do… that’s inspiring to me.”said country superstar Lainey Wilson, who took home the Grammy for best country album in February. “I’m excited to see fans who didn’t know they liked country music discover that maybe they like it a little bit.”

Beyoncé’s dazzling move into country music, and her motivation behind it, has reignited discussions about the origins of the genre and its diversity. But with growing interest from Beyoncé fans at a fever pitch, is Nashville ready and willing to welcome them? And will these new listeners of color and others curious about the novelty stay or will her interest in the genre diminish?

CAN

“I’ll be honest with you: I think it’s a Beyoncé thing. “I don’t know if it’s a country music event because that would mean the industry would have to do something… I think it’s one of those cultural moments for black people, specifically black women,” said country artist Rissi Palmer, host of the Apple Music radio show Color Me Country, which has created a centralized community where fans of color can enjoy the genre.

“It’s so funny to me to see a lot of country radio programmers trying to take credit for what just happened with Beyoncé. That wasn’t country radio… That’s her power, her money, and… her brand recognition. The fans did that”Palmer said.

Tanner Davenport, co-director of the Black Opry website, and a proud member of Beyonce’s army of fans known as the BeyHive, worries that “Cowboy Carter’s” massive achievements could have unintended consequences, such as country music executives not feel the urgency to include existing and upcoming black artists. Black Opry was founded by Holly G in April 2021, as she was examining her relationship with gender during the social justice movement sparked by the murder of George Floyd. The organization aims to amplify black voices in country, Americana, blues and folk music.

“Once ‘Act II’ has run its course and gone, there will be programmers… looking back at this moment and saying, ‘We did it. “We have given a black woman a number 1.”Davenport said. “If they can really start to get the audience’s attention a little bit more, I think they can start to see the progress implicit in this and capitalize on this moment because I think the black dollar has been greatly undervalued and how far it can go.”

IT IS NOT AN ANOMALY

Reyna Roberts’ parents had a house full of music. Roberts, a rising country artist who collaborated with “Cowboy Carter” on the songs “Blackbiird” and “Tyrant,” said some questioned her musical aspirations.

“People are always surprised. But I’m like my parents who played country, trap, rock, classical music, blues… Everything I’m creating is really authentic.”said Roberts, who reached a career breakthrough in 2020 after being endorsed by the superstar Carrie Underwood y Mickey Guyton, who in 2021 became the first Black woman to co-host the Academy of Country Music Awards. (Charley Pride, who died in 2020, was the first black co-host of the CMA Awards in 1975.)

Roberts is part of a new generation of artists, such as Shaboozey, Tanner Adell y Willie Joneswhich fuse country with other genres such as hip hop.

While Wilson, one of the genre’s biggest artists, hopes some fans of Queen Bey, as they call Beyonce, will explore country, there is already a significant percentage of black listeners. A 2021 Country Music Association-commissioned study, titled “The multicultural opportunity of country music”which examined potential audience expansion opportunities, revealed that 26% of Black respondents said they listen weekly.

“I don’t think they’ve gotten to the point where they feel so confident about being at country concerts…the broad audience in country music will be reflected in the streaming world.”Davenport said. She added that the Black Opry is strategizing to capitalize on Beyoncé’s momentum so curious fans can find spaces “where they can exist and not feel threatened.”

THE SENSATION OF REJECTION

Safety and feeling comfortable in a country music environment is often on the minds of black country music fans. Davenport was in the audience during Beyoncé’s performance at the 2016 CMA Awards with The Chickswhich sparked a well-documented racist backlash online, and is believed to have been the genesis of “Cowboy Carter”as the superstar expressed in an Instagram post: “I didn’t feel welcome.”

During the performance, Davenport says a woman near him screamed: “Get that black b—- off the stage.”and I add: “I started to realize that this is really a space that I don’t feel comfortable in and that I don’t feel safe in.”

That same CMA multicultural study found that 20% of concert-goers of color experienced racial discrimination or harassment. The survey also included listeners of other musical genres, and up to 31% of that segment indicated that they do not listen because “they wouldn’t be safe/comfortable at live events.”

Monica Wisdom gets it.

In the early 1990s, the St. Louis native attended a concert by one of her favorite artists, Reba McEntire. Wisdom, 55, says McEntire’s performance was great, but the atmosphere and crowd were cold.

“They were very unwelcoming… You would see their disapproving looks and you would hear comments and whispers, like, ‘What is he doing here?’”recalled Wisdom, founder of Black Women Amplified, a women’s empowerment group. “I said if this is what country music is, I don’t want any of it. So I stopped listening to it.”

Y Wisdom He hasn’t attended a country music concert since.

While popular artists like Wilson, the legendary Dolly Parton, Maren Morris, Jason Isbell and the more they have publicly expressed the need for inclusion, their alliance can sometimes be overshadowed. In 2021, Morgan Wallenwho was already a big star at the time, was caught on camera uttering an insult to black people while his album “Dangerous: The Double Album” It was at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for three consecutive weeks. Although there were repercussions, many fans supported him to increase his popularity. “Try That in a Small Town” of On Jason’s side also saw a spike last year when the music video swirled in controversy.

“That’s the problem the industry has in trying to retain and foster a real black country audience.”said Palmer, whose first meetings with major labels in the early 2000s included concerns from his team that his race could present an obstacle. In 2007, Palmer became the first black woman in 20 years to reach Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart con “Country Girl”. He remembers performing at shows with Confederate flags (linked to the far right) in the crowd, but singing anyway as a form of resistance. Record labels’ concerns included her hairstyle and even the ethnicity of her love interests in music videos.

Palmer says the perception of racism is a “connotation that is difficult to overcome, and you have to work a lot. “You have to answer a lot for that and possibly apologize… I don’t know if the industry is ready to do that.”

IDENTITY

“I think there is a feeling that country music is white music,” said Coleman, who didn’t always express his love for country music as a teenager. “It wasn’t cool to be country… for a long time, especially growing up, I was trying to fit in with everyone else.”. It’s a sentiment that many black fans, including Palmer, have echoed.

It’s possible that the genre makes fans of color feel unrelatable because they don’t see themselves. In the CMA’s multicultural study, respondents reported feeling that country music is not interested in appealing to them and they do not see enough black, Latino or Asian artists.

“It’s hard to be in a space if you don’t see a representation of yourself.”said Roberts, 26, whose song “Louisiana” was inspired by “Daddy Lessons” of Beyoncé. “My mindset was that even though I don’t see representation, I’m going to make sure there is representation.”

In a much-cited 2021 study by Jada Watson, a musicologist at the University of Ottawa, her data revealed that artists of color received just 1.5% of airplay on country radio between 2002 and 2020. During that period, with almost 15,000 songs played within the format, only three of the 13 black artists were women. No songs by black women reached the top 20 on the country radio charts.

“There is so much lack of love in the world for black people, especially black women, that you have to find the places where you are loved,” said Wisdom, who grew up loving Parton and Kenny Rogers and watching the TV sitcom “Reba” the McEntire. “I didn’t find that in country music.”

BEYONCÉ’S IMPULSE

Fans and experts seem to be

agree that Beyoncé has spread information about the pioneers of black country such as Linda Martell y Rhiannon Giddensand that is bringing an immeasurable amount of attention to existing artists.

“It’s really great for them… The rising tide lifts all boats”said the iconic singer Wynonna Juddwho mentors several established and rising black singers. “What I think about professionally is how this has to be a blessing to so many women in the business who… want to be heard.”

Before “Cowboy Carter” officially announced their guest artists, searches, streams and mentions on social media increased exponentially for many current black country artists such as Roberts, Guyton, Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Brittney Spencer, Shaboozey and others, due to media stories and curiosity. Since the album came out, the numbers have increased even more.

“The fact that Beyoncé has been able to create this conversation so that more people are included in this space and talked about has been really cool,” said Shaboozeywho has appeared in “Spaghetti” y “Sweet Honey Buckin’”. “Seeing her come here has honestly been beneficial for me and a lot of other artists.”

But Davenport, who noted that the Black Opry will honor the pioneering songwriter Alice Randall for the organization’s anniversary this month, says that while the country is more diverse, Progress has been too slow and Nashville has failed to deliver on promises made after the social justice uprising.

“I don’t think things are going to change overnight… now it feels like a repeat of what happened in 2021 after the murder of George Floyd,” Davenport said, referring to the current backlash against diversity and inclusion efforts. “There has been no progress. I mean, you can see it on the charts. You can see it on the posters (of the festivals)”. While fans say country music has a lot to fix, they realize they have to do their part.

“Fans, however, have to take responsibility and support the artists,” said Wisdom, whose love of country music was rekindled after watching the Peabody Award-winning series “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America”, which featured a black cowboys episode. “We have to go to these shows, we have to buy their music.”

THE FUTURE

The extent of Beyoncé’s country music impact may not be known for years, but there is optimism that curiosity about black country artists will continue.

“I hope that when Beyoncé moves on to ‘Act III’ some of the people will stay… There are women that we lean on, and I want to make sure that we recognize them all”said Palmer, whose Color Me Country Artist Grant fund provides microgrants to artists of color pursuing careers in country, Americana and roots music. “I’m glad everyone is excited about Beyoncé. I’m glad she’s having the milestones that she’s having, all of that. Also, remember that there were people who were here before.”

Despite Never explicitly said by Beyoncé, many fans believe that “Cowboy Carter,” as well as her previous dance music album “Renaissance,” are meant to reclaim genres whose foundations are rooted in black culture. But with the passage of time, along with systemic inequalities, is recovery possible?

“Hope springs eternal, right? I mean, that’s what my entire career is focused on right now, making sure the whole story is told.”Palmer said. “This is a great moment of visibility for black artists in country music who have been here: past, present and future. But I think Nashville has a lot of introspection and a lot of self-examination to do.”