Country music is Black music

By Izayah Morgan Opinions Editor Recently at the Country Music Association (CMA) awards, breakout sensation Shaboozey was up for a number of awards, which included New Artist of the Year and for Single of the Year with his song “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Tied with the Lil Nas X song “Old Town Road” they have both been on the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks now. This marks a moment for the genre as the two biggest songs in country music have been created by two Black men. In addition, one of the biggest albums in 2024 “COWBOY CARTER” by Beyoncé sold 407,000 copies in the first week, according to Billboard. To have been recognized at the CMA awards would have been amazing recognition to the waves Black people have been making in the genre. Despite this, Shaboozey ended up receiving no awards for his work. Shaboozey’s album in 2024 debuted in the top five albums in the Billboard Top 100 and had one of the biggest songs of the current decade. I first asked the question: why? Why, despite obviously having the credentials and the long line of hard work since 2014, was he still denied access to the awards he deserved? It brought me back to the moment where Beyoncé did not win any CMA awards even though she had multiple Grammy nominations for the same album. It brought me back to the moment where, despite having the biggest country song of the decade, Lil Nas X was disregarded as a country artist until he brought on legend Billy Ray Cryus on the remix of the song. It did not surprise me that Beyoncé or Shaboozey, despite dominating their respective years, saw no recognition in terms of awards from the CMA. I think part of myself is angry, but much of myself has grown apathetic to what's happening to Black artists that enter the country music space. I never really listened to country music as a kid for various reasons. One, it was never really thought of to be the “mainstream” or “cool” genre to listen to. In addition to that, the many hate comments I saw under Black country artist music made me throw the genre away all together. If the dominant mainstream country couldn’t accept us, who would? Throughout the years starting with Beyoncé’s recent expansion into country I saw myself getting more into the genre. Seeing people who looked like me opened my eyes to a genre that I enjoy now from time to time. More importantly it opened my eyes to some of the history left by people before me. According to PBS Learning Media in a video about the history of the banjo and the fiddle both are key instruments in the creation of country music. The fiddle came from immigrants and the banjo came from Africa. Africa, despite recent (often racist) stereotypes, is where life started. Despite the toxic culture that can form around Black country artists, I wouldn’t have known about this portion of history without them. Without Black people we wouldn’t have this genre. Shaboozey and Beyoncé may not have won CMAs, but they have the hearts and support of every American who loves their music. Black people will continue to step into spaces that may not want them. Because without us we wouldn’t have America.