Beyoncé Challenges Country Music to Return to its Roots

For decades, the country genre and its artists received success, despite stripping the spirit from the genre. Beyoncé, never one to shy from artistic exploration, dug up that long-lost spirit.

Images courtesy of Flickr and Wikimedia Commons

When Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter late last month, she was clear in her message: Country music is Black music. 

For decades, the country genre and its artists received success, despite stripping the spirit from the genre. Beyoncé, never one to shy from artistic exploration, dug up that long-lost spirit.  

What makes Cowboy Carter work is that it’s not country in sound. Beyoncé already declared “This isn’t a country album, this is a Beyoncé album.” She meant it. Cowboy Carter is a Beyoncé album that honors and celebrates country music’s spirit. She doesn’t surrender herself completely to the genre. Instead, she invites country to explore her world. 

The result is a brilliant power play years in the making. A response to the whites-only attitudes country radio has eschewed for decades. The attitudes that tried to lock Beyoncé out, simply for honoring her roots as a southern Black woman.  

It was Beyoncé’s 2016 album, Lemonade, that woke many up to the segregation country’s powers that be upheld. An artistic masterpiece, the album is the kind that reminds us why cohesive and carefully crafted albums just hit different. 

Nestled comfortably on Lemonade’s Side B is “Daddy Lessons,” a blatant country song. In it, Beyoncé sings about an imperfect father—a common theme in her more recent catalog—and his daughter’s attempt to grapple with his sins. The track has both country music’s sound but the storytelling that makes the genre so rich.

“Daddy Lessons,” however, was not welcomed by the country crowd. 

The Grammys rejected the song for any consideration in country music categories and the Country Music Awards received protests and backlash for inviting Beyoncé to perform “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks.

And that’s where modern country radio began to lose its grip.

Country’s Black beginnings and white supremacist turn

Jimmie Rodgers is historically known as the Father of Country Music. 

Just as important as Rodgers’ impact, though, is his influence. 

A white man, Rodgers gained acceptance from his Black colleagues while working a railroad job. A waterboy for the workers, the young man was exposed to work songs and learned to play banjo and guitar while on the job. Rodgers’ time spent with Black railroad crews heavily influenced his signature sound—a sound that combined the folk he grew up with and the blues he learned at the railroad. 

Rodgers recognized the impact his colleagues had on his music and was one of the first white country musicians to work with Black artists. However, while Rodgers was establishing himself and honoring the inspiration behind his music, a well-known historical figure began pushing country music as a white genre.

Henry Ford is an oft-praised figure. Ford Motor Company’s founder made cars accessible, established the eight-hour workday and paid higher-than-usual wages. As a Metro Detroit youngster, Henry Ford was a fixture in my school’s lessons growing up. Teachers sang his praises, our field trips included The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Villiage and as students, we’d chant ‘Mo-town a-ssem-ba-ly line/ Ma-kin cars and do-in just fine!’ in music class. 

Two decades later, I’d learn Henry Ford was actually a piece of shit. He had atrocious views and wielded his power to segregate Metro Detroit in a way that is still felt today, so it’s no surprise that country radio’s more recent success is rooted in his attempt to suppress Black voices. 

The biggest blow happened when Ford forced his workers to participate in square dancing. A view rooted in racism, Ford hated jazz and clubs that hosted jazz bands, so he went on a one-man mission to overpower the genre. He funded fiddling contests and square dancing clubs across the nation (creating what we know now as modern square dancing). Ford’s anti-jazz rampage successfully brought square dancing to nearly half of America’s schools. 

This is where country music begins to evolve, gain steam and further push white supremacy. 

Journalist Taylor Crumpton confronts this history in her brilliant viral piece, “Beyoncé Has Always Been Country.” In its powerful opening, Crumpton writes:

“The greatest lie country music ever told was convincing the world that it is white. That hillbilly music turned white at the turn of the 20th century. And that Black musicians who created this music, alongside low-income white people, were suddenly classified under ‘race music.’ The lie became a truth.”

I highly recommend pausing here to read Crumpton’s piece. As a woman of color native to Texas, Crumpton is much more qualified to speak on her region’s country roots. 

When you’re ready, we’ll head to the 1960s and 1970s.

The Outlaws push for change

Ford forced a wholesome image onto a genre too big to control. So, when the ‘60s counterculture started creeping into country, it created cracks in the status quo. 

One of the genre’s first crossover artists, Patsy Cline, pushed gender norms when she was the first woman to wear pants at the historically conservative Grand Ole Opry. Her style, men’s work clothing paired with bright red lipstick, played with both men’s and women’s fashions. 

Cline is best known for her song, “Crazy,” written by Willie Nelson and released in 1961. Around this time, a music style called the “Nashville Sound” was emerging. A more sleek and pop-forward sound, it overtook the rougher, fiddle and steel guitar-influenced honky tonk genre that overtook the ‘40s and ‘50s.  

As more artists took on the Nashville Sound in their recordings, a group of country musicians began to push back. Established country artists like Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings felt Nashville was commodifying country music. So, in the 1970s, they defied the Nashville Sound and indulged in country music’s roots. As a result, the 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws was the first country album to hit platinum and featured Jennings, Nelson, Jessi Colter and Tompass Glaser. 

“Songs were sinful and debaucherous, exploring themes of hard living, incarceration, and anti-establishment,” Alli Patton (no relation) writes. “They spoke of fighting with authority, for the underdog and, most importantly, against social injustice. They weren’t afraid to touch on political issues and shed light on the decidedly unglamorous side of life.”

The outlaws were born. 

“For us, ‘outlaw’ meant standing up for your rights, your own way of doing things. It felt like a different music, and outlaw was as good a description as any,” Jennings wrote in his autobiography.

Female artists also made a name for themselves using this strategy. Already challenging the status quo by being a woman in a male-dominated genre, Loretta Lynn used her music to tell women’s stories—stories modern radio didn’t want people to hear. 

Like many country singers of her era, Lynn faced taboo head-on. Her song “The Pill” praises female liberation through contraceptives and “Wings Upons Your Horns” is about a teen losing their virginity.

In 1972, Lynn released the track “Rated X,” which many stations banned for its subject matter: a divorced woman’s perspective. Despite the ban, “Rated X” became Lynn’s sixth No. 1 country single and the song spent 14 weeks on the chart. 

Outlaw country’s popularity may have begun and ended in the 1970s, however, members of the movement like Johnny Cash and Dennis Hopper, for example, reminded listeners of the genre’s roots and spirit. 

Country goes pop—and nationalist 

Despite being true to country music’s roots, outlaw as a genre didn’t stick. 

The songwriter ‘70s were gone and the bombastic, bright, sparkly 1980s favored pop music— enhanced by the synthesizer’s increased popularity—pushed country to the side. Randy Travis, the prominent country singer at the time, admitted he fought to keep his twangy sound, writing in his memoir,  

"When I came along and we were trying to attract attention, traditional country was not being sought after by record labels. It wasn't pitched by producers or welcomed by music executives. Everybody wanted 'new country' -- pop-contemporary sounds that to me sounded more like rock-and-roll over a lush orchestral bed.”

The genre started heating back up in the 1990s, though, with artists taking cues from 1980s pop and rock stars. “Achy Breaky Heart,” initially released by the Marcy Brothers in 1991, got a poppy makeover when Billy Ray Cyrus recorded the track in 1992, making it a crossover hit. (And, for me, the most annoying song to skate to at the Rolladium.)

Taking that momentum to the next level was a Tulsa man with the perfect pedigree to become country music’s next evolution. Named Troyal Garth Brooks, he swapped his first and middle names to create the stage name Garth Brooks. 

Brooks’ father worked for an oil company and his mother was a country singer, encouraging the performing arts at home. The family held weekly talent shows, where Brooks showed off his banjo, guitar and singing skills. 

It was Brooks who pulled country back from the brink by combining rock and pop influences made popular in the 1980s. In 1993, Brooks filmed a concert special for NBC at Texas Stadium, a string of three sold-out concerts, with Brooks giving it his all through special effects like fire, rain and aerial stunts. Audiences responded by making Brooks our current best-selling American artist.

This is where country started picking up. Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, The Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks), LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain and Faith Hill all saw heavy radio play, with many acts crossing over into pop territory. 

By 1999, country radio reemerged as a music power player. And in 2001, it took a turn.

The Twin Towers attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 affected every area of American life, including music. The U.S. flag began appearing on… well, everything. Being a genre distinct to America, country music leaned into that patriotism, with a message that took on a life of its own.

All eyes were on the United States military. In the year following the attacks, 181,510 citizens enlisted and shortly after the attacks, 77 percent of Americans favored military action. In early 2002, 83 percent approved of their country’s “military campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.” 

A campaign that launched extreme Islamophobia in the United States that is still felt today. 

While the military was never tied to country music’s beginnings, genre artists began to honor the American troops—and the country’s anti-Islam attitudes. (Summed up nicely in this Onion article.)

In 2015, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz proudly disavowed rock music for country after 9/11.

“I actually intellectually find this very curious, but on 9/11, I didn’t like how rock music responded,” he told CBS This Morning. “And country music, collectively, the way they responded, it resonated with me.”

Let’s dig into this country music response Cruz described.

Possibly the biggest offender was Toby Keith, who used the cultural moment to let his racism fly. For example, ‘The Taliban Song,” released in 2003, included the lyrics: 

“I'm just a middle-aged, middle-eastern camel herdin' man

And I got a little two-bedroom cave here in North Afghanistan

Things used to be real nice and they got out of hand since they moved in

They call themselves the Taliban

Ooh, yeah, the Taliban

Singin', ooh, the Taliban, baby

Oh, yeah”

And, here’s another one from his 2002 song, “Beer for My Horses”:

“Take all the rope in Texas find a tall oak tree

Round up all them bad boys, hang them high in the street

For all the people to see”

He just described lynching, an act white Americans used to murder Black Americans. And our culture ate it up. Industry leaders took this racist momentum and used it to establish country as a white-only genre. Which brings us back to “Daddy Lessons.”

Changing the narrative 

“Daddy Lessons” ushered in the reverse of what we witnessed in the ‘90s and early ‘00s—country-pop crossover artists. 

With 1997’s Come On Over, country artist Shania Twain dominated both country and pop radio, becoming the best-selling country album and best-selling album by a solo female act. We saw the same domination nearly two decades later, when Taylor Swift made her pop artist debut with 1989. 

But pop artists, with the exception of Darius Rucker, have struggled to cross over to country the way country artists transition to pop radio. Many well-known artists have released country albums. Kylie Minogue, Lionel Richie, Jessica Simpson, Tina Turner and Ringo Starr all released strictly country albums. And, in what I consider a personal attack, Gwen Stefani met a mediocre dude and turned her entire personality into being a country queen. 

“Daddy Lessons” is when that trend started to turn around. 

In December 2018, Lil Nas X released “Old Time Road (I Got the Horses in the Back)” on SoundCloud under the ‘country’ category. It then moved to TikTok, where it became a viral sound and meme. By March 2019, the song, renamed “Old Town Road,” entered the Billboard Hot 100 and shot to No. 1 by the week of April 13, 2019. 

Like Beyoncé, though, Lil Nas X faced pushback from mainstream country.

On March 16, 2019, “Old Town Road” debuted at No. 19 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The next week, Billboard moved the song to its Hot Rap Songs chart. Fans quickly took notice and called out Billboard for making the change. A Billboard representative gave Rolling Stone a statement and, for anyone who knows Country Music 101, it’s not great.

“Upon further review, it was determined that ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard‘s country charts,” the representative said. “When determining genres, a few factors are examined, but first and foremost is musical composition. While ‘Old Town Road’ incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.”

Oof. 

Billboard literally said the problem out loud: “Today’s country music charts in its current version” is not aligned with what makes country a uniquely American genre. 

It’s Lil Nas X who got the last laugh, however. 

As a response to Billboard’s removal, the artist released an “Old Town Road” remix featuring country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. In a statement, Cyrus explains why he chose to work with Lil Nas X: 

“Waylon Jennings once told me every once in a while the industry outlaws someone because they’re different. Country music fans don’t need to be defined by critics. I’ve always said, don’t think inside the box, don’t think outside the box. Think like there is no box. So, I’m honored to collaborate with Lil Nas X on ‘Old Town Road.'"

Cyrus, a white man, needed to step in and remind country fans about their genre’s history. And in doing so, he helped Lil Nas X put bigger cracks in the modern country radio façade. 

And, to further troll his critics, Lil Nas X released four additional remixes (my personal favorite is the one with Young Thug and the boy who yodeled in Walmart.

Five years after “Old Town Road” entered the charts, Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter. A carefully constructed artwork, it’s a giant middle finger to anyone who doubted her country roots. 

And, now that we’re a month past its release and the dust has settled, it’s time to find out if country is ready to return to the same roots Beyoncé came from. 

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