Can BeyoncĂ©âs new album Cowboy Carter boost black country artists?
The Texas Hold âEm singer is shaking up the genre.
Beyoncé has released her highly anticipated new album, Cowboy Carter. It is a deep dive into the country-western genre. Some critics have questioned why one of the biggest R'n'B vocalists in the world would experiment with country. But others say it is her right as a Texas-born singer. Regardless, there is a strong sense that she is helping black artists take up more space in a genre long associated with white Americans.
Sophie Williams, a ±«Óătv reporter, explains how black artists have often felt excluded from the country music industry. We also hear the from two black women working in country music: Holly G, the founder of Black Opry, an organisation that connects black artists in the country and Americana genres, and Tiera Kennedy, a singer-songwriter from Alabama who appears on BeyoncĂ©âs tracks Blackbird, which is a cover of The Beatlesâ original song, and Tyrant.
We also hear from Dr Emmett G Price III, dean of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music & Boston Conservatory. He explains how African-American history influenced the development of country music.
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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart with Sophie Williams
Producers: William Lee Adams and Benita Barden
Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks
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