*Many bloggers and journalists are noting that Beyonce and the Dixie Chicks serve as reminders about the history of county music following their performance of “Daddy Lessons” on the 2016 Country Music Awards, and the racist backlash they received.
The day after the show, the Country Music Association bowed to racists and low-level thinkers by erasing all online promotion of the Bey/Chicks segment. The move sparked online conversation and debate about the history of country music and it’s roots in black culture — a fact that many country music fans are blissfully ignorant of.
Bey’s foray into country music comes with the song “Daddy Lessons,” from her visual album “Lemonade.” But not everyone is as enthusiastic about calling the song “country,” including Country Music Television News contributor Alison Bonaguro.
In a short post on the CMT site back in April, Bonaguro asked, “What’s so country about Beyoncé?”:
“Sure, Beyoncé’s new album Lemonade has a song with some yee-haws, a little harmonica and mentions of classic vinyl, rifles and whiskey. But all of the sudden, everyone’s acting like she’s moved to Nashville and announced that she’s country now.”
READ RELATED STORY: Beyonce Outrages CMA Fans, Kaepernick Starts Kids Camp & More | BHL This Week
Some Twitter users called out Bonaguro for not being able to hear the black roots of country music.
The subtext of @alisonbonaguro post is that Beyoncé is trying to appropriate country, a genre stolen from Black folks by white folks.
— Autumnal Grimes (@andreagrimes) April 27, 2016
Musicologists have traced country music’s iconic banjo back to the ngoni and xalam, plucked stringed instruments rooted in West Africa.
Watch/listen:
Thanks to white supremacy and the ongoing erasure of the contributions of black people, country music’s “little white myth” persists, per vox.com.
Meanwhile, “American Idol” Season 15 runner-up La’Porsha Renae was also left feeling some way about Beyonce’s performance at the Country Music Awards.
During a live stream with her fans, she criticized Bey’s style and overall artistry:
“I didn’t feel like that dress matched that song. I didn’t feel like her movements matched that song. It was confusing — and people couldn’t even grasp the beautiful message of that song. She was thrusting her hips and popping her butt. Country people — I don’t even think they do that. They didn’t like it because the essence of country wasn’t there.”
Peep what else La’Porsha had to say below:
So LaPorsha Renae sounded off on Beyonces appearance at the CMA Awards pic.twitter.com/dwDCkbaTmv
— Stefano Dimera (@2much336) November 6, 2016
