Last night Beyoncé kicked off her country music era with the release of the Renaissance Act II: Cowboy Carter album. The album was amazing, with top level vocals (of course) and equally great production.
Beyonce also used cameos and vocals from some of the top country music artists, including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Miley Cyrus.
But folks on Black Twitter are blasting Beyonce.
According to Black Twitter, Beyonce should have used her platform to showcase the vocals of some of the rising Black stars in the country music genre. But she didn’t.
Instead of showcasing their talents, Media Take Out confirmed that Beyonce took songs from talented top Black artists, and used the music (without their vocals) as her own. she also featured a few lesser known Black artists.
Here are a few Black country artists that Beyonce could have showcased.on her album
Mickey Guyton
She was the first black woman to be nominated in the Best Country Solo Performance category at the Grammy Awards and in 2021 became the first black woman to co-host the Academy of Country Music Awards. Never one to take a backwards step, Guyton released Black Like Me in the wake of the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Rissi Palmer
American country singer Rissi Palmer became the first black woman in twenty years to appear on the Billboard Country Charts in 2007. An amazing feat that kicked the door back open for artists to follow, the song Country Girl was a chart success, but unfortunately the album that followed was her last until she re-emerged in 2015 after legal issues with her label. Speaking in 2021 when the video made its way back online, Palmer said “All I can say is, artists…own your masters, and business owners, pay and give credit when it’s due.” We’ve clearly still got a way to go. Luckily Palmer is back with a new single Still Here released earlier this year.
Brittney Spencer
Brittney Spencer
Brittney Spencer is one of the new guard of American country. Getting a shout out from Maren Morris in 2020 after Tweeting a video of herself performing, the amazing young artist has since released two EPs and received CMA and CMT nominations. She signed a major label deal in late 2022 with Elektra and the world is keenly awaiting her debut album.
Beyonce also didn’t feature Jimmy Allen, probably the most popular Black artist in country music.
Here’s Black Twitter roasting Beyonce: