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Beyonce Country Project

T

TheBigA

A commercial during the Super Bowl announced the release of a new album by Beyonce: A country album called Act II:

www.abc.net.au

Beyoncé announces a new country album during the Super Bowl — here's what we know

Move over Usher and Taylor Swift, Beyoncé's attempt to 'break the internet' was the big musical talking point of the Super Bowl.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au

When I first heard about this, I wondered how serious she was about this. I just got my answer. Her record label, Sony Music, has just delivered a single to country radio called "Texas Hold 'Em." It will be promoted to country radio by Columbia Records Nashville, with an official add date of next Tuesday 2/20.

Will they play it? We'll find out.

Apparently she has heritage in the country format:

hitsdailydouble.com

THIS ISN'T BEYONCÉ'S FIRST RODEO : HITS Daily Double

Now that the world has had some time to digest Beyoncé's plans for a country album, folks should remember that this isn't Bey's first rodeo when it comes to the genre. On Lemonade, Jack White...
hitsdailydouble.com hitsdailydouble.com
 
She certainly has the vocal chops to cross over to country music, but I'm not seeing country radio biting on this. I like the gospel elements in it a lot. It's just not a country song. I wonder if Sony will try to get CHR or urban AC interested. It really doesn't sound like anything now being played in those formats either, but if Beyonce's huge fan base takes to "Texas Hold 'Em," it might be a hit, just not a country hit.

That said, based on this and "16 Carriages" (another song she has dropped), I'm very curious to hear the full album and, going forward, to see if it's a one-off project or if she intends to become a country artist.

As for her appearance on the CMAs a few years ago, didn't that prompt Alan Jackson to walk out of the building?
 
CTListener said:
She certainly has the vocal chops to cross over to country music, but I'm not seeing country radio biting on this.
Click to expand...

It was just serviced to country radio today, so it will take a few days to see how they react. I saw this story a few days ago about one station in Oklahoma telling a fan who requested the song that they don't play Beyonce. However, that was before the song was serviced, so they may not have been aware of the country album.

www.complex.com

Country Radio Stations Boycott Beyoncé's Country Tracks

Tied to her Verizon commercial during Super Bowl LVIII, B...
www.complex.com www.complex.com

CTListener said:
As for her appearance on the CMAs a few years ago, didn't that prompt Alan Jackson to walk out of the building?
Click to expand...

From what I can see, this happened in 2016:

www.savingcountrymusic.com

Alan Jackson Walked Out on Beyonce’s 2016 CMA Performance - Saving...

Alan Jackson has been known throughout his career for putting his foot down for the integrity of country music, regardless of the ramifications. That's what happened at the 1994 ACM Awards when Jackson instructed his drummer to play without sticks when the producers insisted his band mimic...
www.savingcountrymusic.com www.savingcountrymusic.com
 
It’s by no stretch of the imagination fast, but it can be another chink in the hard-and-fast rules some cling to about genres and who can or can’t be part of them.

Not suggesting those walls will ever completely disappear, but we’re seeing blurring in various ways, regardless of what Beyoncé is doing right now.
 
radiofan2023 said:
If Darius Rucker can have success in country, so can Beyonce!
Click to expand...
Rucker introduced his post-Hootie reinvention with "Wagon Wheel," a very traditional-sounding tune that was much easier for country radio to accept than a song like "Texas Hold 'Em" looks to be. Rucker also didn't have the outsize public persona of Beyonce, nor the huge "Beyhive" of true believers following him over from pop, nor did he overshadow the Super Bowl halftime show to announce his new artistic focus. The Rucker transition seemed natural, organic. Beyonce's has the feel of a label- and social media-driven takeover attempts.

In a way, I hope she gets a hit out of this and her follow-ups have more of a country sound to them and also gain acceptance, because I dread all the gender- and race-based BS that's bound to dominate media coverage if country radio rejects her.
 
CTListener said:
Rucker introduced his post-Hootie reinvention with "Wagon Wheel," a very traditional-sounding tune
Click to expand...

It was actually his 8th single, after 6 #1s. What endeared Darius to country radio was his authenticity. He knew the entire history of country music, and had sung Hank Jr. songs when he was in Hootie. He was willing to visit every radio station, and start at the bottom like a new country act. He did all the free shows, just like a new artist.

So far, we don't know how Beyonce will present herself. There is a big country radio convention coming up in two weeks. Sony has already scheduled a show for all of the radio PDs. We'll see what happens then.
 
TheBigA said:
It was actually his 8th single, after 6 #1s. What endeared Darius to country radio was his authenticity. He knew the entire history of country music, and had sung Hank Jr. songs when he was in Hootie. He was willing to visit every radio station, and start at the bottom like a new country act. He did all the free shows, just like a new artist.

So far, we don't know how Beyonce will present herself. There is a big country radio convention coming up in two weeks. Sony has already scheduled a show for all of the radio PDs. We'll see what happens then.
Click to expand...
Dang! Thanks for that correction.The Hootie/Darius transition happened during the mid-2000s to late 2010s period in which I'd lost interest in country music as the New Traditionalist era gave way to the Shania and bro-country eras. I've been trying to catch up on what I missed since I started following country radio again in 2018.
 
I think this is all hilarious. People are tired of this. At the end of the day listeners still like 'genres'. Now, privately (myself) I welcome it. It's nice to see someone with a Hip-Hop background crossing over as opposed to having to deal with country-based artists stepping into other genres. I just don't think this will catch on like the opposite.

Hootie is an entirely different feel. His style is more rooted in acoustic -country like- sounds. Beyonce is the essence of Urban/Pop/R&B/Hip Hop. I just know there is still too much of a large white rural audience in Country that doesn't connect with a black woman from the City who has never done Country before. (Her little appearance in Country before doesn't matter)
 
radiorobert said:
I think this is all hilarious. People are tired of this. At the end of the day listeners still like 'genres'.
Click to expand...

That's not what we're seeing in the way they use radio, and the way they stream music.

Now perhaps older demos prefer genres, and want radio to be what it was 40 years ago. But that's not what this is. The country radio format has adapted and grown to include other genres and artists from other genres. Right now, the chart is filled with music that could easily be categorized as rock or rap or pop or alternative, depending on your taste. Country is not a narrow format, and hasn't been for over 30 years.
 
radiorobert said:
I just know there is still too much of a large white rural audience in Country that doesn't connect with a black woman from the City who has never done Country before. (Her little appearance in Country before doesn't matter)
Click to expand...

That may be why those stations choose not to play the song on the radio. But it has nothing to do with the song or its production.
 
In 1962, Ray Charles released Country singles and two Country music albums. The first one, "Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music" won a Grammy and was the U.S.'s #1 album for over 4 months. That lead to the same titled "... (Volume two) near the end of the year which got close to being a chart-topping album. His rendering of "Georgia On My Mind" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" are justifiably revered. He also recorded the 1870s song "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny" which was an adaptation by African-American composer James Bland of a song from the 1840s that became a major hit seller for Alma Gluck in 1916 on a Victor Red Seal (Classical) label. However, no Ray Charles Country songs made the Billboard Country singles charts until 1980. Personally, I, at least occasionally, find it interesting when an artist chooses to step out to try something different.
 
johnbasalla said:
However, no Ray Charles Country songs made the Billboard Country singles charts until 1980. Personally, I, at least occasionally, find it interesting when an artist chooses to step out to try something different.
Click to expand...

My theory about that is that his record label at the time, ABC Records, didn't want his music to chart country. They felt it would hurt sales, according to this interview with Terry Gross:


Because everything changed when he left ABC and went to Columbia. Once there in 1980, he started recording country music that got airplay on country radio, and therefore charted. In the 60s, country radio was regional, and also a smaller platform than it became. Plus he got played on MOR and Pop stations, as did other country artists such as Jim Reeves or even Johnny Cash. It definitely didn't hurt his sales or popularity. Even with limited country chart success, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame a couple years ago.
 
Beyonce's new country song is already getting added in her hometown of Houston:

www.insideradio.com

In Her Hometown of Houston, KKBQ and KILT Welcome Beyoncé’s Country Songs.

As soon as the addboard opened on Wednesday, Beyoncé’s “’TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” had its first add. Urban One “93Q” KKBQ Houston — the top-cuming country station in the U.S., in
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com

From what I can see, 71 country reporters have played the song at least once.
 
Don CT said:
I'm listening to it now, It sounds forced. I can't see it grabbing hold on country stations.
Click to expand...
"Texas Hold 'Em" is ok. Sounds like what it is... a non-Country singer doing a Country-styled song. Might have been enhanced by some good, Country-fiddle.in it. It's got some needless cursing in it which should have easily been avoided since it's, otherwise, an upbeat, fun type of song.
 
TheBigA said:
Beyonce's new country song is already getting added in her hometown of Houston:

www.insideradio.com

In Her Hometown of Houston, KKBQ and KILT Welcome Beyoncé’s Country Songs.

As soon as the addboard opened on Wednesday, Beyoncé’s “’TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” had its first add. Urban One “93Q” KKBQ Houston — the top-cuming country station in the U.S., in
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com

From what I can see, 71 country reporters have played the song at least once.
Click to expand...
The first skirmishes have broken out on the Facebook group for SiriusXM's The Highway -- the usual, people threatening to cancel their subscriptions -- so it seems that SXM is playing it.

It never fails. Whenever The Highway adds an "outsider" act, artist of color, LGBTQ artist, artist with liberal social/political views, whatever, a certain number of listeners will dredge up SXM's six-month ban on Morgan Wallen back in 2021 as proof that the whole station is run by communists.
 


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