2024: the year of Black country artists

Black artists have long been a part of the country music industry, lending some of their cultural influences to arguably one of the most American of music genres. However, they have often faded into the background of an industry that is stereotypically attributed to white patriotic, conservative and rural communities. Beyoncé's formal entry into the genre in 2024 demanded attention from fans and critics for herself and also a bevy of contemporary Black country artists already inhabiting the space.

The Beyoncé effect

In another surprise drop, Beyoncé followed up her "Renaissance: Act I" album with Act II, a country music album called "Cowboy Carter." The Houston-born singer featured two singles off the album during a Super Bowl commercial rollout, in which she announced the album that dropped in March. "Texas Hold 'Em," one of those two singles, helped Beyoncé become the first Black woman ever to reach No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. Her other single, "16 Carriages," debuted at No. 9. One week later, it topped the Hot 100, "even though some country radio stations initially hesitated to play it," said Business Insider. The album was inspired by an experience five years ago during which Beyoncé "did not feel welcomed," she said on Instagram. Some have speculated that it was her 2016 CMA Award performance of "Daddy Lessons" with The Chicks, known at the time as The Dixie Chicks.

Like "Renaissance," which "paid homage to the pioneers of house, ballroom and club music," the new album carried "sociopolitical implications," Business Insider added. "Cowboy Carter" was "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."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Still, it may be a "stretch to suggest Beyoncé can single-handedly reclaim country music for Black people," said Business Insider. That would imply that "Black people have been absent" from country music, and "that is not the case," Billboard's Kyle Denis said. Still, after Beyoncé's official country debut, many contemporary Black country artists saw a boost in streaming numbers. A few of them, like Tanner Adell, Reyna Roberts and Rhiannon Giddens, were featured on "Cowboy Carter."

The boost in attention and newfound country fans helped, whether it was intended that way or not," country music singer-songwriter Ernest said to The New York Times. "The needle has been moved so far this way that it'll never swing back as far as it was."

The Shaboozey storm

Rapper and country singer Shaboozey, another artist featured on "Cowboy Carter," had a breakout year of his own. His "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," a "seamless and savvy hybrid of country and hip-hop" built around the 2004 hip-hop hit "Tipsy" by J-Kwon, was rewarded with a "record-tying 19 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100," the Times said. He shares the record with Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," which featured Billy Ray Cyrus. The feat earned Shaboozey a performance spot and two nominations for this year's CMA Awards.

He is one of only a few Black artists nominated for New Artist of the Year, but he walked away from the awards empty-handed. Multiple people mentioned his name off-handedly throughout the night. When Cody Johnson took the stage to accept the Album of the Year trophy, his producer Trent Willmon quipped into the microphone: "I got to tell you, this is for this cowboy who's been kicking Shaboozey for a lot of years." The joke was criticized as a microaggression, made even more glaring by the artist's loss at the awards. His first year at the show "should have opened the door for him to be welcomed," said Rolling Stone. It was "arguably slammed in his face" instead.

The CMA shuns cannot detract from what has been a good year for Shaboozey. On top of having one of 2024's stand-out songs, he racked up six Grammy nominations, including nods for Best New Artist and his feature on "Spaghettii," one of the two songs he recorded for "Cowboy Carter." The song also featured country legend Linda Martell. "That's my show opener every show, night after night," he said to Variety. "And now it's nominated for a Grammy. It's beautiful."