FEATURE:
TEXAS HOLD ‘EM BACK
IN THIS PHOTO: The cover for Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter (out on 29th March)
Is Country Music a Genre That Embraces Black Women?
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THERE are contrasting points…
PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
though there is this struggle for Country music to accept Black women. In fact, Black artists altogether. It seems still very much like a landscape that excludes them. It needs to change. I mention this, as Beyoncé has been in the news. Her recent single, TEXAS HOLD ‘EM, is taken from her new album, Cowboy Carter (out on 29th March). A U.S. radio station refused to played TEXAS HOLD ‘EM. The truth is, as Beyoncé was raised in Texas, she grew up around Country music and the culture. That was confirmed by her dad. Their opinion from many is that Beyoncé does not belong in Country music. This elitism still persists. That you have to be genuine. Beyoncé definitely is. It will be exciting to hear her new album. There are questions around Country music and whether it has a problem with race and gender. Although women are slowly getting more airplay and acceptance, there is still discrimination that is holding women back. In spite of a few Black female Country artists getting recognition, there seems to be a real lack of celebration. Last year, PBS wrote how Black women have deep roots in Country music:
“Rissi Palmer, independent country music artist, songwriter, storyteller, entrepreneur and mother, is a Grammy-nominated performer who has worked at her craft since she was 17 years old, and left college in her freshman year to come to Nashville to make a living making music. Under the loving watch of three generations of mothers, Palmer grew up listening to and loving country music women like Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline, as well as gospel, soul, hip-hop and blues. She has made music in all of these genres, but country music is where she’s made her home, despite the gatekeeping of an industry that often made her feel like she was running in place. After landing a recording contract with a label in Nashville, Palmer experienced tight control and surveillance, from the kinds of stories she could tell in her lyrics to how she should wear her hair.
This feeling of running in place was one that many Black women artists navigating country music have experienced, historically. From Linda Martell, Palmer’s biggest inspiration, to Dona Mason, the Black country artist who had been the last Black woman to chart a country hit 20 years before Palmer, Black women have fought to find a place in an industry that is only recently beginning to shift.
Black women have deep roots in country music, and are among the originators of the genre.
The banjo is, after all, an instrument with African origins, cousin to the current West African instrument, the akonting. Black people are said to have brought their banjos (and the knowledge of how to make them), with them during the Middle Passage. The first string band performers were enslaved people, and this music was appropriated to form Blackface minstrelsy, the United States’ first successful commercial music. A major country music guitar and banjo picking style originated in the Piedmont region’s blues, exemplified by virtuoso Black woman musicians Elizabeth Cotten and Etta Baker.
Some of the erasure of this history of origins can be explained by the ways that from the 1920s on in the record industry, recorded music was segregated into “Hillbilly” records (which was eventually called country and western, or just country music, and was marketed specifically to white audiences), while “Race” music (including blues), was marketed as “Black” music. But both performers and fans crossed these racial lines, despite the rules, and despite the idea that this segregation was “natural” and grounded in the body. In this way, country music, like other American musical genres have reflected the informal, but sometimes deadly laws of Jim Crow. The segregation of country music continues today, upheld by many of the ways that country music is sold, marketed, distributed and written about, with very few exceptions”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Miko Marks/ PHOTO CREDIT: Lelanie Foster for The New York Times
Going back to 2021, The New York Times spoke with five female songwriters - Mickey Guyton, Miko Marks, Rissi Palmer, Reyna Roberts and Brittney Spencer – about the challenges they face in a homogeneous genre. It does seem that the successful Black female artists in Country music have gained recognition and acclaim because they have carved their own path. Straying away from what is accepted and traditional:
“Black artists were foundational to the roots of country music, but the industry has been famously inhospitable to Black performers. Outside of the success of Charley Pride, a giant of the genre who died in December from Covid-19, and the harmonica ace DeFord Bailey, there were few other high-profile Black performers in Nashville until Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish pivoted to country music in 2008. More recently, Jimmie Allen and Kane Brown have made inroads with a radio-friendly sound.
In the past decade, women were increasingly pushed to the genre’s margins as the heavily male bro-country aesthetic dominated. The disparity has played out on country radio, which is still largely responsible for breaking acts and maintaining their status. In the infamous “Tomato-gate” uproar of 2015, a male radio consultant asserted in a salad analogy that women should be akin to tomatoes — sprinkled into the mix. A 2019 study examining data from Mediabase, a service that monitors airplay, found that between 2002 and 2018, male solo artists received 70 percent of spins at country radio.
IN THIS PHOTO: Rissi Palmer/PHOTO CREDIT: Lelanie Foster for The New York Times
Guyton, Marks, Palmer, Roberts and Spencer stand at the intersection of two marginalized communities in country music at a pivotal moment — as the genre, and the wider world, re-examines itself in light of the protests for racial justice in 2020. Just this month, Nashville got its first high-profile test, when the star Morgan Wallen was captured on video using a racial slur. Guyton tweeted a challenge to her peers — “So what exactly are y’all going to do about it. Crickets won’t work this time.” — and as other artists reacted online, the industry rebuked Wallen, pulling his songs from radio and playlists.
All eyes will be on the Texas native Guyton, 37, on March 14 at the Grammy Awards, where she is nominated for best country solo performance for “Black Like Me” — a first for a Black female artist. But all of these musicians have earned a spotlight. Roberts, 23, had her first single, the raucous “Stompin’ Grounds,” adopted by ESPN for “Monday Night Football.” The veteran indie artist Marks, 47, will release “Our Country,” her first new album in over a decade, later this year. Spencer’s cover of the Highwomen song “Crowded Table” led to a writing session with the group’s Maren Morris and Amanda Shires. (Spencer and Roberts were also both recently named members of the 2021 class of CMT’s “Next Women of Country.”) And Palmer, 39, has drawn high marks for her Apple Music radio show “Color Me Country,” which explores the genre’s Black, Indigenous and Latino beginnings. (The title was inspired by the Black country pioneer Linda Martell.)
The five musicians gathered on an animated and emotional video call in December. There was roof raising, finger snapping and tear dabbing as they discussed something sacred to them — country music — and the challenges and outright racism they’ve faced trying to break into a notoriously homogeneous segment of the music industry.
But above all, they are determined to be true to themselves and support each other: “These white men at these record labels, they’re not going to do it for us,” Guyton said. “These white men at these radio stations, they’re not going to do it for us. But Black women will do it for each other, and that is literally the only way.” These are edited excerpts from the conversation”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Mickey Guyton/PHOTO CREDIT: Lelanie Foster for The New York Times
When did you each decide to let go of trying to fit in?
PALMER It actually was in the boardroom before anybody had ever heard me. I remember us sitting around — and this was Black and white people — arguing about whether or not my hair was going to be offensive to people. I remember wanting so badly for everybody to love me and be OK. So, I did this photo shoot and I wore these wigs. One was a straight shag, like soccer mom hair. And they were just like, “That’s it.” It looked crazy, and it wasn’t me. I remember saying, “Can we just do one photo shoot with my hair?” And those ended up being my promo pics and my favorite pictures of me that I’ve ever taken. But I had to fight just to be me.
MARKS I didn’t start fighting until much later. I had the kind of manager that was like, “Sometimes you’ve got to get in the box to get out the box.” I had the cowgirl hat, the weave, the boots. I had the whole box. A little while after that, I shaved my head, because I forgot who Miko was. Something about that hat and that weave and them boots, it just had me so I couldn’t breathe. And so I was like, “Well, I still love the music, but this is me right here. This is it.”
Mickey, once you stopped trying to please people, you felt like your music became more authentic?
GUYTON Yes. I wrote a drinking song called “Rosé” about three years ago. And I was just like, “What girl doesn’t love rosé? If there’s a song that country radio will finally accept from me, it would be this one.”
I played it for the label. Crickets. Some white radio promo guy said, “Yeah, but I don’t know if this song is going to bring back Mickey,” and derailed everything. It put me into the deepest, darkest, scariest depression that I’ve ever felt in my entire life, because I realized that no matter what I did, it was never going to be enough. Because surely if a white girl presented this song, they would have had a music video and a pink hotel with drinks and the whole thing.
At that point I was just so done trying to please these people. I heard of a woman at Capitol Records, and I was going to talk to her about this. We were at a restaurant around the corner from the record label, and the hostess said, “Would you like to sit in our rosé lounge today?” I was like, “As a matter of fact, I sure [expletive] would.” We sat there, and I made up my mind. I’m going to write my truth. And not only that, I’m going to find every Black female country singer that there is, and open that door too, because the only way that this will ever work is if we find each other and we bring each other up.
I released “Black Like Me” myself. And I only did it because I saw unjust deaths happen, just like everyone on this call did. I put it out there for no other reason than to maybe make a couple of people feel hope. And it took on its own life.
And now you have a Grammy nomination.
GUYTON Right. It’s our Grammy nomination, by the way.
Here’s where it gets complicated: Hopefully, the day will come where we can’t name all the Black country artists because there are so many. But you also don’t want to lose that powerful element of identity that informs a song like “Black Like Me.” How do you balance making sure being Black is part of your music but not the only story?
SPENCER Well, I’m the new kid on the block. I’ve released an EP, and I wanted four songs that I felt talked about the whole me. I just write about anything, sing about everything. And hopefully that puzzle makes sense to people. But for me, it’s just been important to talk about the things that I want to talk about, and that does include being a Black woman. People will have to understand that no artist in general is just one thing”.
In spite of some inspiration and wonderful Black female Country artists challenging the genre and tackling racism and sexism, it is clear that there is still a massive issue. Following on from the fact that Beyoncé made history on the U.S. country charts by becoming the first Black woman to score a number one single - with TEXAS HOLD ‘EM -, the BBC spoke with Black female Country artists about the state of the genre. Beyoncé follows up 2022’s RENISSANCE with Cowboy Carter. That will be the second act in a trilogy of albums:
“Rissi Palmer, 42, from Missouri is one of them. She broke a 20-year wait for a black woman to appear on the country charts with her 2007 single Country Girl. Before her, it was Dona Mason in 1987.
Speaking about Beyoncé's achievement, Rissi told the BBC World Service's OS Conversations documentary: "I'm glad that a black woman has finally had a number one.
"I think it's absolutely ridiculous that in the history of having this chart, there's only been eight of us. That's not a good thing, it's not a happy thing.
"She's a Houston girl. She's just as southern as anybody else that makes country music. One of the great things about this Beyoncé moment is that it has dispelled this myth that country radio has always tried to teach artists that you have to do things in a certain way for your music to be played."
It comes after a station in Oklahoma went viral for refusing to play Beyonce's song - saying it didn't consider her new material to be country. After a backlash from fans, the station later added Texas Hold 'Em to the playlist.
But it cuts to the heart of the country music experience for black artists, longing to be accepted into the genre.
Enter Holly G, from Virginia. She's the founder of Black Opry - an organisation dedicated to creating connections between black artists in country and Americana.
"For somebody who loves country music so much, to go so long and not see yourself in it, I just got to a point where I got frustrated with that," she says.
"I kind of had a decision to make, I could either stop listening to it or try to figure out a way to make it better. And I decided to stick around and see what we could do.
"I think the way that Beyoncé is being celebrated should be the rule for all of the black women that are trying to work in this space. They're being more tolerated recently than they have been in the past, but they're still not being celebrated."
"They're still not being included in meaningful ways. And Beyoncé topping the chart changes nothing structurally," Holly says.
Black Opry now tours across the US to champion the work of black artists and the change they want to see.
Holly expresses a sense of urgency about the cause, adding: "There's not going to be another black woman at the top of the country charts, if they behave the way they did before Beyoncé entered the space."
Rissi chimes in with her agreement, knowing the struggle all too well.
"I was on a radio tour for nearly a year trying to get Country Girl to go up the charts," she recalls. "I wanted to talk about being black, and was kind of told not to do that. So instead I put black girl Easter Eggs in the song.
"I think country means something different to white and black people in America. We don't necessarily long for the good old days, because what were the good old days for us, you know? It was Jim Crow, it was slavery.
"We tend to look toward God, the future and black joy," says Rissi.
After a lengthy legal battle, Rissi lost the rights to her master recordings and parted ways with her record label in 2010. She now releases music independently, deciding to move away from the hub of Nashville to North Carolina as she felt it was the "healthiest thing for her".
Beyoncé has nodded to the traditional sounds of the genre on Texas Hold 'Em - featuring Grammy Award-winning Rhiannon Giddens playing the banjo, who has been credited for highlighting that black people created and played the banjo before it was popularised by white country artists.
"It's ancestral," points out Taylor Crumpton, 28, on the influence of country music in her life. As a black woman from Texas, just like Beyoncé, she reflects on how the genre is connected to her identity.
"I come from a proud line of sharecroppers and cowboys. My grandfather was buried in his cowboy boots," she shares.
As a writer, part of her job is to be analytical about the country universe. But for the most part, she says, the connection comes naturally.
"I think it feels more like a warm embrace and a hug from an elder who has passed - or maybe when I spent summers at my grandmother's farm and I'm running from chickens and there's hogs."
"I've grown up hearing stories from my family members about how they were made fun of for their accent. I think people forget that when Beyoncé first debuted, she was made fun of for her accent in the press.
"In this moment, I've been getting messages from black woman about how they feel like they can come back into a wholeness of self”.
To further add to the debate, Azealia Banks called out Beyoncé. Accusing her of selling out or venturing into a genre that she is not meant to be in, NME reported on Banks’ remarks:
“Beyoncé announced that she would be turning her sights to a country direction last year, and recently shared the cover and title of her upcoming album, ‘Cowboy Carter’.
However, rapper Azealia Banks isn’t too happy about the finished product, and has taken to social media to slam the ‘Love On Top’ singer as being in “white woman cosplay”. It also comes after she claimed the singer is “setting herself up to be ridiculed” by venturing into the country genre.
Writing on Instagram stories, Banks first took aim at Beyoncé for the album’s title, writing: “Wow we didn’t even try to put even a little effort into a more artistic title?”
She then shared her issues with the cover and overall aesthetic of the LP, saying that she was “ashamed” at how the singer “switch[ed] from baobab trees and black parade to this literal pick me stuff.” The comments refer to the Grammy Award-winning single from The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack, which Beyoncé executive produced back in 2019.
Later, she went on to accuse Bey of “reinforcing the false rhetoric that country music is a post civil war white art form” and “subsequently reinforcing the idea that there is no racism, segregation, slavery, violence, theft, massacres, plagues, manifest destiny craziness that form the bedrock of epithets like ‘proud to be an American,’ or ‘god bless the usa”.
I think he inevitable success of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter will help shine a light on the role of Black women in Country music. Whilst there are small steps forward, there is still a massive issue with race and gender. A genre that still is still homogeneous and struggles to celebrate Black women, it is clear that something needs to change. It is clear that Country music really needs to…
SHINE a light on their importance and talent.