A young white southern belle asks a woman not to cheat with her man while an older Black southern queen warns a woman against cheating with her husband.
Will Beyoncé’s new album help to break down racial barriers in the country music industry? Here she performs during the ‘On The Run’ tour on July 18, 2014 in Houston, Texas.
(Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment/AP Images)
Beyoncé’s country-inspired album has caused a stir because the country music scene has a history of racial segregation that has erased its Black roots and gatekept it from Black artists.
Tanner Adell is one of the four Black, female country singers featured on ‘Blackbiird.’
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Confinement was the essence of Linda Martell’s brief career as a country star in the 1970s – and it’s the exact sort of fate that Beyoncé has sought to avoid.
Beyoncé and her husband, Jay-Z, at the 66th Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles.
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Country singer Jason Aldean’s hit song triggered renewed attention on vigilante justice, racism and urban America.
Drake has made a career as a heartbroken player who sings and raps.
Drake accepts artist of the decade award at the Billboard Music Awards on May 23, 2021, in Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Canadian R&B artists, including Drake, have built lifestyle brands that simultaneously reinforce and challenge dominant beliefs about R&B music as Black and American, and Canadian identity as white.
America’s overnight summer star, country singer Oliver Anthony, performs in Moyock, N.C., on Aug. 19.
(Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)
Although its content is essentially libertarian, the No. 1 song of the summer in the U.S. resonates with both some Democratic supporters and those on the Trumpist right.
Molly Tuttle is a rising star in American roots music.
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Willie Nelson is an icon who rose to the top of an industry by challenging it – showing that you can be a counterculture figure and activist while remaining as American as apple pie.
Doc Watson was the finest guitar picker of his time.
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Doc Watson’s popularity and influence came from his virtuosic guitar playing, powerful voice, broad musical taste, folksy storytelling and lack of pretense.
Loretta Lynn’s music articulated the fears, dreams and anger of women living in a patriarchal society.
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The video for Lil Nas X’s latest track is provocative and erotic. It also fits into a tradition of turning the tables on those seeking to oppress marginalized groups through religious dogma.
The country artist Charley Pride was one a few black artists who achieved success within country music in the 60s and 70s.
Republic Country Club/Wikimedia
While some stereotype Alberta as a “conservative” province, the bucking and swift horses that typify the Calgary Stampede speak to a more complex spirit of risk seen in local musicians.
Dolly Parton is having a pop culture moment. The ‘Dolly Parton’s America’ podcast explores belonging and ‘home.’ Here she performs with Joel Smallbone, left, and Luke Smallbone, right at the 53rd Annual CMA Awards in Nashville, Tenn.
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill