Country music, with its themes of soul and sacrifice, its twang and tradition, is one thing that Americans claim as their own. But with our hodge-podge of cultures and melting-pot nature of our country, is it really ours? It originates from Appalachian-folk and bluegrass, which itself originated from Irish and Celtic traditional music and, not surprisingly, African-American traditional songs and blues. As with any music or art, it was influenced by tons of different sources to become what it is today, appropriating the culture of other countries’ and cultures’ traditional music and manifesting itself into the hands of the Devout American.
At this year’s Country Music Awards, Beyonce was an outsider, along with the Dixie Chicks, who’ve been cast out of country music since they insulted then-president Bush in 2003. They took the stage together at the prestigious awards show to play Beyonce’s “Daddy Lessons.”
The Southern United States has a strong tradition, and it seems that according to that tradition, the only time it’s okay for culture to be appropriated is if white Americans are doing it. Not Beyonce – who herself is from Houston, Texas, and whose family is from New Orleans –who’s cited influence for her music from both of those places, and who’s always used her past as an artistic medium. From a general consensus of country music fans, as seen by the comments on a local Charlotte country station’s Facebook post, 96.9, she and her blasphemous counterparts were unwelcome on a country stage. Not only because their genre, but because their beliefs. Beyonce and the Dixie Chicks are both outspoken women, who don’t mind making a scene. One of the most symbolic parts of the performance was the quick switch to the Dixie Chicks’ “Long Time Gone,” with Natalie Maines and Beyonce singing, in perfect harmony, “They sound tired but the don’t sound Haggard, they got money but they don’t have Cash, they’ve got Junior but they don’t have Hank, I think.” It was a not-so-subtle jab at what country music has become; pop-like with vaguely misogynistic lyrics, which is likely nothing remotely similar to what Hank Williams, Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash would’ve strummed on their guitar 40 years earlier.
The song they sung, a collaborative rendition of Beyonce’s song “Daddy Lessons” from her newest album, Lemonade, is an ode to her absent father and cheating husband. The album and live version featured banjos and a bluegrass-jazz crossover melody, probably taking from Beyonce’s Creole roots. It’s fun, and is, as itself, a country song. Lemonade was a concept album – it experimented with different genres Beyonce hasn’t ventured into much before – with relative success. “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” another song on Lemonade, features avid rocker Jack White, and has an almost metal sound. Ezra Koenig, frontman of alt-indie band Vampire Weekend, wrote “Hold Up.” It was a creative conglomeration of influences from all over the musical spectrum, another example of how music genre is literally dying (but that’s an entire other 3,000 word essay I could write) to make way for a more collaborative, globalized musical economy and sound. The anger and outrage at Beyonce on a country stage proved that it’s only okay to appropriate musical culture if it’s a white artist doing it.
Country has had hundreds of crossovers. Taylor Swift would be the most well known, but even within the genre, Jason Aldean had his strikingly terrible cover of Colt Ford’s country-rap song “Dirt-Road Anthem” (not to mention its advocation of drunk-driving), which features him literally rapping over a banjo. Sam Hunt, who’s wildly popular in the country-world, raps in most of his songs, and they sound almost like R&B in a fake Southern accent. Florida Georgia Line had a version of their hit “Cruise” that featured Nelly, and both country and top 40 radio didn’t stop playing it for about two years.
The Beyonce-Dixie Chicks CMA performance was symbolic. Country music is the final frontier for progress in the entertainment industry, and it seemed that Nashville was making a statement by allowing the Dixie Chicks back in and accepting Beyonce’s cross from R&B to country: they’re accepting diversity. At a time when the future of our country is hanging by a thread, and when the country-music demographic is so strict in a certain way of thinking, resisting progress could mean more than just some angry rednecks. One popular comment on 96.9’s post read, “She doesn’t belong in country music. You don’t see Loretta Lynn at the BET awards, do you?…To throw trash out on the stage and then to top it off let the garbage of the Dixie Chicks in as well. Not a smart move.” Most of the comments echoed this dissatisfaction, saying “Beyonce has no place in country music.” We’ve forgotten the way that art works, and we’ve forgotten how black music had a place in country music long before “Daddy Lessons,” and long before Colt Ford wrote “Dirt Road Anthem.” It was at the hand of African-Americans that country music was created, and Nashville is finally getting a clue about the direction this country is headed. They used this performance to rebrand themselves at the discontent of their fans, but sometimes that’s what it takes to make a statement against the subtle racism that’s lined a genre for so long.
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