Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Beyoncé brings fans of color to country music
But Nashville might not be prepared and willing to let them in
Dusty, worn boots. Horses lapping up water. Sweat dripping from the foreheads of every shade of Black skin as country classics blare through giant speakers. These moments are frequently re-created during Tayhlor Coleman’s family gatherings at their central Texas ranch. For her, Beyoncé’s country album, “Act II: Cowboy Carter,” was the granting of an unlikely wish.
“There is something to be said about the biggest artist in the world coming home to the genre that ... we all kind of love but never really felt welcome into. It’s really hard to put that to words,” said the 35-yearold native of Houston’s 3rd Ward, the same area Beyoncé lived in as a child. Loving artists like Miranda Lambert and Shania Twain, Coleman hoped this moment would come. “I was praying then 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 not only reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but she became the first Black woman to top Billboard’s country album chart.
“There’s nothing that that girl can’t do. … That’s inspiring to me,” said country superstar Lainey Wilson, who took home the country album Grammy in February. “I’m excited to see the fans that didn’t know they liked country music find out that maybe they like it a little bit.”
Beyoncé’s steamrolling into country music — and her motivation behind it — has reignited discussions about the genre’s origins and its diversity. But with increased interest from Beyoncé’s fans at a fever pitch, is Nashville prepared and willing to welcome them in? And will these new listeners of color and others curious about the hoopla stay or will their interest in the genre wane?
“I will be honest with you, I think that it’s a Beyoncé thing. I don’t know that it’s a country music happening 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 really 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 was her power, her money and … the acknowledgment of her brand. The fandom did that,” Palmer said.
Tanner Davenport, co-director of Black Opry — and proud BeyHive member — worries that the massive achievements of “Cowboy Carter” could have unintended consequences, such as country music executives not feeling an urgency to platform existing and future Black artists.
“Once ‘Act II’ has ran its course and gone away, there are going to be programmers ... looking back at this moment and saying, ‘We’ve already done this. We’ve given a Black woman a No. 1,” Davenport said. “If they can really start to dial into the audience a bit more, I think they can start to see progress within this and capitalize on this moment because I think there’s a huge undermining of the Black dollar and how far it can go.”
While Wilson, one of the biggest artists in the genre, hopes that some Queen Bey fans will explore country, a significant percentage of Black listeners already exists. A 2021 Country Music Association self-commissioned study, “Country Music’s Multicultural Opportunity,” examining potential audience expansion opportunities, revealed that 26% of Black respondents said they listen weekly.
“I don’t think they have gotten to the point where they feel as safe to be at country shows. … The broad listenership in country music is going to be reflected in the streaming world,” Davenport said. However, the Black Opry is strategizing ways to capitalize on Beyoncé’s momentum so curious fans can find spaces “where they can exist and not feel threatened.”
Safety and feeling comfortable in a country music environment is often on the minds of Black country musicgoers. Davenport was in the audience during Beyoncé’s 2016 CMA performance with The Chicks that sparked a much-documented racist online backlash and is widely believed to be the genesis for “Cowboy Carter,” with the superstar expressing in an Instagram post: “I did not feel welcomed.”
That same CMA multicultural study found that 20% of concert attendees of color experienced racial profiling or harassment. The polling included non-country music listeners, and up to 31% of that segment noted that they don’t listen because they “wouldn’t be safe/comfortable at live events.”
While popular artists like Wilson, the legendary Dolly Parton, Maren Morris, Jason Isbell and more have publicly voiced the need for inclusion, their allyship can sometimes be overshadowed. In 2021, Morgan Wallen, then already a huge star, was caught on camera using a racial slur as his “Dangerous: The Double Album” record sat at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks.
Although there were repercussions, many fans rallied around him, boosting his popularity. Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” also experienced a surge last year as the music video swirled in controversy.
“That’s the problem that 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 were sight-unseen because of her team’s concerns that her race might present an obstacle. In 2007, Palmer became the first Black woman in 20 years to reach Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with “Country Girl.” She remembers performing at shows with Confederate flags in the crowd but singing anyway as a form of resistance. Concerns from music labels included her hairstyle and even the ethnicity of her love interests in music videos.
Palmer says the perception of racism is a “hard connotation to overcome, and you have to do a lot of work. You have to do a lot of answering for that and possibly asking for forgiveness . ... I don’t know that the industry is prepared to do that.”
Fans and experts seem to agree that Beyoncé has created an education on Black country trailblazers like Linda Martell and Rhiannon Giddens, and is providing an immeasurable amount of attention toward existing artists.
“It’s really great for them. … The rising tide lifts all boats,” said iconic singer Wynonna Judd, who mentors several established and rising Black female singers. “What I think of professionally is how this has to be a blessing to so many women in the business that are … wanting to be heard.”
The scope of Beyoncé’s country music impact might not be realized for years, but there’s an optimism that the curiosity about Black country artists will continue.
“I hope that when Beyoncé moves on to ‘Act III’ that some of the people are going to stay . ... There are women that we stand on the shoulders of, and I want to make sure that we acknowledge all of them,” Palmer said.