Beyoncé is upending country music. These 5 Black country artists are already feeling the effects.

Beyoncé is upending country music. These 5 Black country artists are already feeling the effects.

Despite its fast-growing popularity, modern country music’s reputation is not always flattering; thinly veiled conservatism and overused clichés about trucks and beer may come to mind.

For Black fans in particular, the genre is rarely described as welcoming. In 2019, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” was barred from country charts and radio stations for lacking unspecified “elements,” igniting discourse about segregation in the music industry.

But when Beyoncé tells you to grab a cowboy hat and “take it to the floor now,” how could you say no?

In February, Beyoncé became the first Black woman ever to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with her surprise-released single “Texas Hold ‘Em.” Just one week later, it topped the Hot 100, even though some country radio stations initially refused to play it.

Following in the footsteps of its predecessor “Renaissance,” which paid homage to the pioneers of house, ballroom, and club music, Beyoncé’s new album “Cowboy Carter,” out Friday, carries sociopolitical implications. It’s been widely interpreted as an act of reclamation — a deliberate move to recoup space in a genre indebted to Black people, but whose audience and public perception have been whitewashed over time.

While Beyoncé is a proud Houston native, this is a territorial battle she’s faced before.

In fact, “Cowboy Carter” was inspired by an unnamed time when Beyoncé “did not feel welcomed,” which many have speculated is an allusion to the 2016 CMA Awards, where her performance of her outlaw anthem “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks faced widespread backlash from viewers.

“Because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive,” Beyoncé explained on Instagram. “The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me.”

Pablo, The Don, a popular music commentator on TikTok, previously argued the “Renaissance” trilogy is intended to challenge our ideas of authenticity: in this case, what constitutes “authentic country music” and who gets to decide. More than perhaps anyone else, Beyoncé can leverage her platform to confront the self-appointed gatekeepers, almost daring them to deny her entry.

“With country in particular, it’s going to be the toughest reckoning,” Pablo said. “This is a genre that historically has been so incredibly well gatekept and monopolized by white folks.”

It may be a stretch to suggest Beyoncé can single-handedly reclaim country music for Black people. As Billboard’s Kyle Denis argued, that would imply a dearth of Black musicianship in the genre preceding the launch of “Cowboy Carter,” which isn’t the case.

But what’s undeniable is Beyoncé’s ability to spark dialogue on a mainstream scale. Her defiant embrace of country music has served to illuminate its diverse roots, educate skeptics, and revitalize interest in the genre — especially as a space where Black artists can (and do) experiment, innovate, and thrive.

Consequently, she has spurred members of the Beyhive to seek more trailblazers in Nashville. Many Black artists creating country music have already seen major boosts in streaming numbers.