INTRO
If you are not aware of it Beyonce has new album out a country album to follow along Renaissance her club and Afro Beats infused album that ran along side her tour also called Renaissance. Wow she’s doing good a successful tour and album with this one following on Act II a Country album which as I will explain is going to break barriers and change the hypocrisy of what people would call black music or associate with black music. I’m actually listening to the album right now for the first time so I will give my review of the album at the end it has 24 tracks on so it’s quite a long one but some of them are short songs. So far the first track is very Shania Twain and the second track is very traditional reminds me a 60s songs I’ve heard it before by a different artist. I must admit I love the fact she’s done it in different act something I would like to do say three different genres but call them chapters or something but linked somehow altogether. Now I think about it the horse on the first album goes well with this album Act II which has a very patriotic western theme and also has a horse on the album cover. I think it was in all a clever thing to do and makes music interesting again and also dare I say inspiring yeah inspiring. The internet was buzzing with this album with various of funny memes and statements all for the album and some said they put down the Renaissance album and play the crap out of her new album which came out last night 12.00 AM 29/03/2024, whilst some asked for Act III to come out so they can rotate all three albums. Hang on don’t be a bitch come take it to the floor now HEY lol! I’m on Texas Hold Em I like this one reminiscent of country the melody is catchy. So far I’m getting country music from throughout the decades this one Bodyguard very flowers in her hair style it feels 90s or something you would hear at a festival or light gig it’s very radio friendly too, so far no skips. Well I was expecting Dolly Parton to be on the album but not as a intro lol that hozzy what a skank we would say. Now I would like to watch Dolly and Beyonce on stage singing Jolene that’s the next track after the Dolly intro. Oh I love it the bleedy sheets on dirty floor or whatever she said very country and upbeat for the next track Daughter, I really like the lyrics for this one called Daughter and the melody. Oooh no sause for Spaghetti the next track a bit of Hip Hop, oh okay like the other album a change up to country music near the end keep it country lol, still no skips Alligator just finished. Well I just finished listening to the album and yeah no skips and a good country album with one or two southern Hip Hop I’m guessing. But I enjoyed the album something I would actually play again if I was in the mood. Will she get her Grammy for this or are they going to say there wasn’t enough traditional pieces in we were find out but check it out if you haven’t already it’s worth a play I would say and not something I would usually go for.
THE ORIGINS OF COUNTRY MUSIC
The Banjo a well known southern instrument was in fact a instrument made from Western Africans who crossed the Transatlantic in the slave trade and the instrument was made out of gourds, called the Akonting. For Four hundred years the enslaved made their own music including hymns, spirituals, and field song, all with roots in African music. It is said that playing the Banjo in the 1840s was exclusively a Black instrument and was unheard of for a white person to play the banjo. The instrument has had a controversial rise to music fame as in the In the 1850s, minstrel shows became grossly popular and depicted enslaved Africans as slow, lazy and as cannibals, also it was depicted with Banjos which in affect popularised the Banjo within the white communities inventing the genre Hillbilly music around in the 1920s. Hillbilly music later changed to Country music, first artist drew inspiration from from slave spirituals, field songs, hymns, and the blues, which itself has black origins. Despite America in the 1920s and 1930s being segregated Hillbilly and black artists would collaborate on songs which became popular and nearly 50 black artists would appear on successful songs with white artists because the music was seen as a black genre but changed hands with white people back and fourth. It was in fact after World War I after 1918 when Hillbilly music got changed to Country music after a big push from the record companies who wanted to start selling Country music but couldn’t due to the race of those artists. The black artists who were signed to a record company in the 1920s was underpaid and didn’t get any recognition. There music was sold on to white artists who were the stand ins and made Country music a white genre with the help of the record companies whose audience favoured middle white America looking people. DeFord Bailey was the one of the first Black musicians to gain recognition and was the first to play the Grand Ole Opry—a big deal for country musicians. His harmonica playing style greatly influenced the country musicians that followed him. Succeeding Bailey was Charley Pride. As mentioned before, Pride was the first black artist to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is often referred to as “country music’s first Black superstar.” He served as an inspiration for countless Black musicians. In their tow, Ray Charles was responsible for blending country with R&B and pop music in a way that would forever change the genre. His music also helped fuel the civil rights movement. Bailey, Pride, and Charles are three of the most recognizable Black names in country music, but there are many lesser known names that have also been critical in forming the genre. Gus Cannon was a Black musician who helped popularize jug bands (a precursor to country) in the 1920s and ended up teaching Johnny Cash, a world renowned white country singer. In addition, the guitar fingerpicking style that is largely used in country music today was developed by Black guitarist Leslie Riddle. Still to this day black artists still struggle to get the recognition and acknowledgement they deserve for their work in 2019 rapper Lil Nas’s Rap and Country song Old Town Road was removed from the Country Billboards Charts when Rolling Stone told Billboard, “it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version. Also some Country fans accused Lil Nas of cultural appropriation for wearing a cowboy hat but you can’t even wear a pouch without being called Skippy the wannabe kangaroo in my opinion. Beyonce also got in some heat when she released, “Daddy’s Lessons,” in 2016, she faced heavy backlash from the industry despite the fact that the hit single includes all the elements of traditional country music. Even when Beyonce performed “Daddy’s Lessons” at the 2016 Country Music Awards with The Chicks, country fans were enraged and some heckled her one woman said “get that black bitch off the stage.” She additionally submitted the record for a Grammy but was denied. Linda Martell was the first black woman to break into the Country industry and gain success with her 1970s album Colour Me Country it’s hard for black woman to break into the industry and even though there has been a rise in black female country singers in more recent years they are still faced with the same issues.
THE REVOLUATION OF BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC
I really do think it’s revelational as music should be as not only is she opening doors for other Country black artists but she is also reclaiming the lost history and the origins of Country music. There’s a stigma of what people expect of you being black or biracial which is all the urban genres like Hip Hop and Trap here in the UK UK Garage and UK Funky and House which I do actually make but I also like my synthesizers. I’m obsessed with them actually so I make Vapourwave, a bit of Progressive Rock, Synthwave and general synthy vibes which some people would class as white genres but I always said it doesn’t have a colour, I think no genre is White, Black, Asian or other apart from the tribal and traditional stuff from around the world. The boundaries of what people find is black or white is a recurring thing that happens and something I face a little bit in my own life and I think Beyonce’s album Act II is going to break boundaries and the hypocrisy between the races whilst defining the genre in the new form which incorporates other genres such as Hip Hop and other urban genres if it is acknowledge that is. As I said before it would open doors for other black artists who may of come before her and been doing this despite all the backlash and hate that they might get due to it being a white dominated genre. It’s kind of shallow to think that a person doesn’t like anything but Hip Hop and urban genres that’s like saying all Mexican’s drink Tequila and especially when they have strong roots in the genre and was pushed out due to race or race and or being a black woman. I think there is some sort of hypocrisy of what the races identify as being white or black and that is heavily linked in music and the fact the white race are being pushed more then the black race which makes it seem like the white race invented all these genres when really it was passionate black musicians that paved the way for the genre to grow into a mainstream staple diet. There is no denying that things such as colourism and sex has major parts in making it in the music industry and I’m guessing they start where they finish the big wigs I mean who push for what they call desirable and fashion too. Black people are undermined and underpaid and arts are quickly taken away from them and used, as in a video I watched on YouTube as toys just something to play around with and to suit the mainstream audience they are trying to extract money from. I’m sorry to say but most even all of the old white but black singing artists are replacements for the undesirable or what they call undesirable which is black, big nose, big ears and non straight hair again also a thing in fashion and Hollywood. And as we know the south of America and America as a whole can be pretty racists and some do not welcome African and West Indies American descendants into their life or anyone who is not white American. I saw this one example on Facebook this girl took a black boy or young man to the Prom and the mother was f’ing and blinding saying she’s cutting her allowance and even her life insurance she really stomped on her. I was like dang she really doesn’t like black people and she’s going to need that in case she got shot that’s a joke but I think that is the nasty way society is xenophobic and scared of the unknown so they cast it out. I feel there needs to be a lot done when it comes to changing the perception of what music is and the roots of each genre not to mock anyone who came before and paved the way. There is still like ugh you like rock you’re white or any other white based genre. Only once have I experienced slight undertones of racism it was on Tumblr when I used to make a lot of Progressive Rock tracks or call them that even some of them weren’t but anyway he wrote “sorry you ain’t got the long silky hair” and other comments that I thankfully forgot. He was referencing that most of the Progressive Rock bands had long silky straight hair and I was never too be marketed as Progressive Rock as I have a afro, that was it one message read “stick to what you know” as to say this is not the allocated genre for me. It’s funny cos some people actually expect you to stick with the allocated genres like Hip Hop and make a bigger deal if you are of colour even though they are just getting on with it and not trying to be ground-breaking or life changing you actually like that genre and been listening for all your life and was brought up with it. It’s not a well known fact and I don’t really put it as one of genres I like but I like Country. I like Johnny Cash, Dolly Patron, Hank Williams and Pasty Cline or though Pasty Cline’s music reminds me of sitting by the bar drinking myself to oblivion cos my girlfriend cheated on me that’s the feeling I get from her music. But I like country more so when Grand Theft Auto San Andres came out it was one of my favourite but secret favourite stations. Okay it’s not my favourite genre but I enjoy it and actually reminds me of being in a bar or Karaoke night when Johnny Cash the second or Dolly Parton the second takes the stage. Not only that Country is seen as naff or Hillbilly it’s not cool for a young person to listen to Country in the eyes of the young but Beyonce will change that and make it more fashionable. Not only that she’s doing the music industry a big favour by making a Country album as there has been a resurged of Country music in the last couple of years so it works in their favour and music is more inspiring as I said I feel inspired by her two latest albums even though I would never make Country I haven’t got the tools for one or knowledge for two. I like the fact that other black artist incorporate country with other genres like Hip Hop and people who work for Billboards need to start welcoming country infused with other genres for the sake of Country they can always push out the traditional artists too. Hip Hop got turned into Trap which is a Southern America genre but the UK has it’s own spin too, so why not welcome the new styles of Country and allow black artist to shine and make changes instead of being part of the problem. It’s all down to the outside world perception and what they would call black or urban or white if there wasn’t such undertones of racism there would be more balance within the genres and more freedom to express the genres you like without the fear of being laughed at or being laughed at and also make the music you exactly like instead of spitting unmeaningful lyrics or being a stereotype you know you’re not all to fit into your culture. Though this isn’t one sided and comes from all the races and sides which is all tribalism based stuff and a interesting topic to talk about. The basis of real tribalism is working together as a team and putting any race issues aside the old your English I’m English that is one angle. But the Western tribalism is all clicky and you all must look the same to fit into the gang or tribe which translate into music so horribly well. That’s why it’s so important for people like Beyonce to smash a few doors down someone well known and has done the rounds and also respected. Just how many boy bands come after Take That or N’Sync how many Janet and Michael Jackson’s were there. They made music or was in a group that inspired so many people and Beyonce is one of those people and has inspired so many artists out now but granted she has her haters too but who doesn’t. I only said that as I think it would inspire black artist to do a country album or put elements in their songs who wasn’t even diehard country music fans to begin with. Not to mention as I said before it will aid other artists who make Country and put them on the map too and to also tell them to keep following their dreams even though the odds may be against them but now it works more in their favour. Popular music you hear say on the radio, on YouTube Music, Spotify etc etc it’s all been demographically done and should appeal to the massive not just a group of people or though it is marketed at them but it’s marketed for everyone at the same time. That’s why there is no colour when it comes to music genres and the way we consume it or even sex or though artists like the City Girls are pushed for the girls with all those hypersexual lyrics and money money money lines but it can appeal to anyone I liked Twerkalator I would of listened to that more if it was pushed but guess they have gone now.
