- Written by Iqra Farooq
- BBC World Service
BeyoncĂ© made history last week on the U.S. country charts with her latest single, “Texas Hold'em,” becoming the first black woman to have a number one single.
The release is the first taste of an entire country album following what Beyoncé called the second act, a renaissance focused on house music.
But while she's blazing a trail in a genre where black artists have traditionally struggled to gain recognition, there are several black women who have followed that path before her.
Lissi Palmer, 42, from Missouri is one of them. She continued her 20-year wait for a black woman to appear on the country charts with her 2007 single “Country Girl.” Before her, there was Donna Mason in 1987.
Speaking about BeyoncĂ©'s achievement, Lissy told the BBC World Service's OS Conversations documentary: “I'm happy that a black woman has finally reached number one.
“I think it's absolutely ridiculous that we're only eight people in the history of this chart. It's not a good thing, it's not a happy thing.
“She's a Houston girl. She's from the South, just like everyone else who makes country music. One of the great things about this BeyoncĂ© moment is that country radio always reminds artists that things aren't the same. We've dispelled the myth that we've been trying to teach you that you have to play your music a certain way. ”
This comes after an Oklahoma broadcaster was accused of refusing to play Beyoncé's new song because it didn't qualify as country. Following backlash from fans, the station later added Texas Hold'em to its playlist.
But this song cuts to the heart of the country music experience for black artists who yearn to be accepted into the genre.
“Black women are still not celebrated.”
Enter Holly G from Virginia. She is the founder of Black Opry, an organization dedicated to creating connections between Black artists in country and Americana.
“As someone who loves country music, it got to the point where I was frustrated that I'd been doing country music for so long and I wasn't included in it,” she says. .
“I kind of had to make a decision: I could either stop listening or I could figure out a way to make it better. And I decided to stay there and see what I could do.
“I think the way BeyoncĂ© is celebrated should be the rule for all black women trying to work in this field. It's more tolerant these days, but it's still not tolerant.” . ”
“They haven't been featured in a meaningful way yet, and even though BeyoncĂ© is at the top of the charts, nothing structurally changes,” Holly says.
The Black Opry is currently touring the United States to champion the work of Black artists and the change they want to see.
Holly expressed a sense of crisis about the cause, adding, “If BeyoncĂ© acts the way she did before she entered this field, there will never be another black woman at the top of the country charts.”
Rissi agrees with her because he knows the hardships well.
“I was on a radio tour for almost a year trying to get Country Girl on the charts,” she recalls. “I wanted to talk about being black, but I was told not to do that, so I put an Easter egg of a black girl in the song instead.
“I think the word rural means different things to white Americans and black Americans. We don't necessarily yearn for the good old days, because what were the good old days for us? ?It was Jim Crow, it was slavery.?
“We tend to focus on God, the future, and the joy of Black people,” Lissey says.
After a long legal battle, Lissy lost the rights to the master recordings and parted ways with the record label in 2010. He now releases music independently and decided to move away from downtown Nashville to North Carolina because he felt it was the “healthiest” move. Something for her.”
BeyoncĂ© nods to the genre's traditional sounds on “Texas Hold'em,” which features Grammy winner Rhiannon Geddes on banjo. He is credited with emphasizing that the banjo was made and played by black people before it was popularized by white country artists.
“It's ancestral,” says Taylor Crampton, 28, of country music's influence in her life. As a Black woman from Texas, like BeyoncĂ©, she reflects on how the genre ties into her own identity.
“I come from a proud family of sharecroppers and cowboys. My grandfather was buried wearing cowboy boots,” she said.
Part of her job as a writer is to analyze the world of this country. But most of the time, she says, connections come naturally.
“I think it's akin to a warm embrace or a hug from an elder who has passed away. Or maybe it was when I spent summers on my grandmother's farm, running away from the chickens and pigs.”
“I grew up hearing stories from my family about being made fun of because of my accent. I think people forget that when BeyoncĂ© first debuted, she was made fun of in the press for her accent.
“Right now, in this moment, I am receiving messages from Black women who say they feel like they can return to their whole selves.”