SARAH CAULDER // DAILY NEXUS
With Beyoncé Knowles-Carter gearing up for a new album cycle and bringing the era of her 2024 album “Cowboy Carter” to a close, it’s critical to fully dissect what the media skewed and misunderstood about the momentous album for Beyoncé and other Black artists. “Cowboy Carter” is not only a country album, but an album that discusses the appropriation of country music. It was not just another award added to Beyoncé’s shelf, but instead a win for all of the lost African American music history. But to understand the historical complexity of Beyoncé’s win, we first must understand the complexity of the racism embedded in country music.
When accepting her Grammy award for Album of the Year, Beyoncé dedicated her win to Linda Martell who is also mentioned several times throughout “Cowboy Carter” in the form of short features. But who is Martell and how does she fit into the thesis of Beyoncé’s album?
With a background in R&B and blues, American singer Linda Martell was fresh out of a trio group when she took on her next musical project. In a 12-hour recording session blending R&B and country, she created her 1970 album “Color Me Country.” The album was a success, but her challenges as a musician would only just begin. Being a Black woman in country music was almost impossible — and that was by design. After legal battles with music executives, difficulty getting gigs due to prejudices of promoters and vocal pushback on systematic racism, Martell was ostracized and forced to retire in 1970. Nevertheless, Martell would hold the record for being the highest charting Black female country artist, reaching No. 22 on the country charts, until 2024 with Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter.”
It took 54 years for another Black female artist to beat Martell’s record of 22nd place on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Given the historic influence of Black music on the country genre, one can’t help but wonder about this disconnect.
Like most roads in America, it leads back to colonialism. The Country Music Hall of Fame frames the banjo as the most recognizable country instrument. Yet, the instrument comes from West African culture and was traditionally a West African instrument, until the slave trade when enslaved peoples brought it over and colonizers repurposed it for personal gain. At first, the banjo was used in minstrel shows for comedic effect to portray African Americans as unintellectual and inferior, to later be used for country and folk music. Even who we credit for being pioneers of country music didn’t do so by their own creativity.
Based in Virginia, the family band Carter Family entered the music scene around 1927, and are often labeled the foundation of country music, setting the building blocks for the genre. The Carters were even credited as innovators by contemporary country artist Megan Moroney at the American Music Awards. Although this is not a complete fabrication, the Carter Family has more layers than a family of talented musicians. As reported, North Carolinian Lesley Riddle was a talented Black guitarist, and when “A.P. Carter, patriarch of the famous Carter [F]amily, first heard Riddle play and sing in Kingsport,” Carter asked Riddle to help him and his family turn the gears in their success. The two would visit “African American communities and churches throughout Appalachian Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina to find new songs for the Carter Family band.”
Although the Carters may have had some form of talent, their legacy relies on the backs of African American culture and communities. This history is rarely spoken about when we discuss country music. Audiences may perceive country music as a genre pioneered only by white musicians. But in reality, despite their many contributions, Black artists struggle to achieve mainstream success. Holly G., founder of Black Opry, told NPR in 2023 that in the past 20 years, only 1% of Black country artists have been played on the radio. These margins are extremely low, considering that country music is one of the last genres to rely on radio station play in the age of streaming. The lack of radio time Black country artists get restricts their success, pushing them to the backburner.
Rock is another genre that lies in the heart of western music and also has roots in African American culture. This genre stems from R&B and country music. African American artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Ike & Tina Turner are pioneers in the genre for embedding new sounds of electric guitar to these pre-existing genres to create a new sound. However, many audiences often think of white artists such as The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Pat Boone for being trailblazers in the genre.
Even electronic dance music, originally coming from Detroit and Chicago, comes from Black innovators. According to NPR, gay Black and brown artists created the subgenre of EDM, titled “house.” We now see the genre becoming popular within, and increasingly associated with, white fraternity boys aspiring to become DJs. This shift in the genre washes away the history and importance the genre had on these individuals as they faced discrimination by our government and sought relief and freedom in the music.
The struggle for Black artists to make a profit on their music in the early-to-mid-90s due to racism in the music industry made it nearly impossible for these artists to make big names for themselves, often leaving them broke. This inescapable cycle made Black artists’ mark on music history easily erasable, despite their everlasting impact.
Contemporary Black artists, such as Beyoncé, SZA and Kendrick Lamar, are able to ride the waves created by earlier Black artists and ascend their career farther than what was once possible. Nevertheless, we still see the effects of colonialism and racism in today’s music. Today we often see Black artists boxed into “Black” categories of music, especially hip-hop, R&B and afrobeats. For instance, at the 2017 Grammy Awards, Drake won “Best Rap Song” and “Best Rap/Sung Performance” for “Hotline Bling” — a pop song. The nomination and win highlighted how Black artists, even mega stars like Drake, are othered by the music industry and still sectioned off, even though Black people are the foundation of popular western music.
Beyoncé coming out with “Cowboy Carter” was her retaliation to the past and current racism that Black people face in the music industry. Through blending all types of contemporary genres with country, she is reclaiming sounds that have been appropriated. From “AMERIICAN REQUIEM” to the final track “AMEN,” Beyoncé discusses her experience with racism within the music industry, and her personal experiences being outcast from the country scene, despite the fact that she is a southern woman born and raised in the often idealized Houston, Texas. Beyoncé’s success at the Grammys is major progress for Black artists in music. By taking back what was stolen and giving credit to the real designers of country music, Beyoncé is uncovering lost history and giving credit to the real pioneers.
But just like those that came before Beyoncé, her win will allow other Black artists to win categories that have been otherwise appropriated. We are already seeing this in action, as more Black artists are entering the contemporary country sphere, such as Shaboozey. Although the industry has a long way to go, calling out industries and systems that have stunted the success of Black artists will open doors to the generations that follow us.
Andrew Olmos is obsessed with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.
