I’m sure you were all in awe after Beyoncé, 32-time Grammy winner and Texas native, dropped two new country-themed songs during the Super Bowl — “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” — while announcing a new album, “Act II.”
Instead of fans celebrating this achievement, they expressed their concerns over singer K. Michelle’s mental state following the news about Beyoncé dropping a country album.
If you remember, K Michelle has been very vocal about her transition from R&B to country music and how Black women charting in country music is challenging because the genre itself isn’t the most welcoming (from the Black perspective). At one point, she didn’t feel that it was realistic that she could have a career singing country music.
The Memphis native took a long time before releasing her long-awaited album “I’m The Problem.” She is considered a “new artist” in this space, and she made waves during the 2023 Country Music Awards, singing on stage with the night’s Best New Artist winner, Jelly Roll, singing her rendition of The Judds’ “Love Can Build a Bridge.”
Her performance almost had me shedding some thug tears. It was an amazing performance, but why would fans pin her against Beyoncé entering into the genre? That led me down a rabbit hole of questions:
Why does there have to be one Black person excelling in a space at a time?
K Michelle made her country music debut in 2022; how does this news impact her? Do white country artists do this?
Why can’t Black folk put their money where their mouth is and support these Black artists like the Swifties support Taylor Swift? Did you see that sweep at the People’s Choice Awards? PEOPLE is the operative word here.
K Michelle responded on X, saying, “Why would anyone need to check on me? I’m one of the greatest African American country singers of all time, with no album even out. Y’all been mentioning me ALL night. I’m just happy to be spoke about in my genre. I love Bey and will be supporting her like I always do❤️❤️”
Did we forget Lil’Nas X and the backlash he received from his 2019 hit “Old Town Road” featuring 1990s country music legend Bill Ray Cyrus? The gatekeepers of the genre didn’t consider it a country song despite being wildly successful with country music lovers and lovers of all music.
How about rapper Nelly and his nine-track country-influenced album “Heartland”? This is the man who rose to success off of his debut mainstream single “Country Grammar;” success that broadened his career into country music.
We can’t ignore the fact that country music has a very complicated history with respect to race. This genre is primarily associated with white artists when African-American influences heavily inspired it. Why should Black folk be restricted into the box of R&B/Hip Hop when we are way more versatile than that?
Let’s all look at the bigger picture instead of participating in buffoonery. There is room for more than one Black artist to excel in this space. Black folk created it, and it’s time folks took it back.
