One of last year’s top country hits was laced with blatant racism.
Country music star Jason Aldean’s sarcastically titled song, “Try That In A Small Town,” was originally accompanied by a video filmed in front of a courthouse where a Black teen was lynched in 1927 and included snippets from unruly protests following George Floyd. The title of the song is more than a hint of what it was about.
Yet the song reached №1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and achieved the biggest sales week for a country song in a decade.
Country music star Morgan Wallen in 2021 was caught on video hurling the N-word. He’s since apologized, saying, “There’s no excuse,” and has donated money to Black causes fighting racism.
Chart-topping pop and country singer Maren Morris announced in 2023 she was “distancing herself’ from the genre because of its racist culture.
Country radio stations even refused to play Garth Brooks’ “We Shall Be Free” single, first released 30 years ago, because it was about a world free of racism, homophobia and violence. It was one of his only songs not to make the top 10.
T-Pain wrote country songs for Luke Bryan and others but now always asks his name be kept off the credits because he doesn’t want to deal with the racism he’s had to endure. Indeed, Bryan himself acknowledged the deep racism in country music, saying eliminating it “takes time.”
None of this is new, as country music was conceived in racism.
Before country music was an official genre, there were literally “hillbilly” records and “race” records, separated only by the race of the artists. “Hillbilly music,” which later became country music, was only sung by white people and “race music” by Black people.
The music was the same style though.
Country music legend Hank Williams actually learned to play guitar from Black street musician Rufus “Tee-Tot” Payne.
Lesley Riddle was instrumental in creating the music of country music star A.P. Carter of the Carter Family. While the Carters remain among the all-time greats of country, I’m guessing if you’re a country music fan, you’ve never heard of Lesley Riddle, because he was Black.
In the early 1900s, half of the string bands were Black.
The country music world credits record producer Ralph Peer for creating the genre, but he did no such thing. All he did was ensure that records made by whites were marketed solely to whites, which is why country music today is portrayed as almost strictly “white” music.
And that’s how development of and contributions to country music by Black people were essentially erased.
Peer commercialized racism, understanding that he could sell more records by separating the races, even though the music sounded similar. It didn’t matter to him that Black musicians taught white musicians how to create string music.
The banjo itself was a plantation instrument played by enslaved Black people and only later used by white musicians in their Black-face minstrel shows in the 1800s. Not surprisingly, white history ignores the Black origin of banjo music and associates it with “white” country music.
Sure, we had Black country legend Charlie Pride, but if we’re being fair, he remained silent about race even when some concertgoers hurled racist insults at him.
Black Artists Return to Country
In recent years, Black artists have started to reclaim their rightful place among country music.
While Billboard’s Hot Country chart pulled Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” from the country charts for “not being country enough,” many Black artists like him are pushing the envelope.
Everyone by now knows of Beyonce’s fast-rising “Texas Hold ’Em” country song. But some country radio stations initially refused to play the song, even though she’s the first black woman to top Billboard Top Country chart.
But Beyonce and Lil Nas X aren’t the only modern Black artists to challenge country norms.
In 2021, Black artist Tanner Adell hit the country music scene by storm.
Her debut song, “Honkey Tonk Heartbreak,” has been used by the Dallas Cowboys’ cheerleaders in one of their routines.
Adell’s songs “FU-150” and “Throw It Back” were huge hits. And her recent single, “Buckle Bunny,” has gone viral. It’s even become the pseudo anthem for women of the PBR circuit.
Up-and-coming rap artist Baux mixes his Mississippi country roots with hip hop.
Many other Black artists are making their way through the country music scene. Shy Carter, Jimmie Allen, Allison Russell and Amythyst Kiah just to name several.
Still. country music has a long way to go to make way for Black artists, as confederate flags — as well as belt buckles and shirts emblazoned with the Stars and Bars — remain common at country music concerts.
After George Floyd and the many other police abuses of Black men and women, virtually no country music artists used their platforms to advocate for change and denounce white supremacy, Dolly Parton being one of the few exceptions.
Here’s what needs to happen to end racism in country music.
First, country music concerts should ban the confederate flag, just like NASCAR did.
Second, the genre should acknowledge and pay tribute to the fundamental contributions of Black musicians to country music.
Third, the industry needs to openly accept Black artists with country songs. That means not refusing to play their songs. Not excluding them from their music charts. And most, importantly, it means giving Black country artists, songwriters and producers opportunities to excel in the industry. It also means hiring Black professionals in industry executive positions.
Country music wouldn’t exist without Black people. Let’s honor that the right way.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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