When looking at the top of charts in country music—whether based on radio play or consumption—it’s these songs and other similar ones that are dominating, especially recently, and paralleling the trend of women not just being placed on perilous footing, but falling off the precipice of country music’s major indexes.
For many years, the influence and contributions of African American musicians in country music went mostly overlooked, or overshadowed by their Caucasian counterparts. However there has been a recent trend by media and even some artists to overstate the influence of African Americans.
We took the time to celebrate some of the Best Songs Released in 2018, as well as some of the Best Albums, so now it’s time to place a clothespin firmly on our noses, slip on some elbow-length rubber gloves, and go digging through the cesspool that is radio country to dredge up the absolute worst offenses.
Oh you’ve got to love watching the contortions of the fawning media trying to convince the masses that Kane Brown is some kind of country music revivalist because they believe his “diversity” is good for the genre. Recently ‘Variety’ named Kane Brown’s song “Heaven” a quote unquote “pure country smash.”
This story has been updated. The big news in country music on Wednesday (12-5) was how for the first time in the nearly 30-year history of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, there wasn’t even one woman represented in the Top 20. By Billboard’s charting methods, this is true. And regardless of whatever other clarification points proceed […]
“Best Shot” is not a bad song, for pop. And it’s a sum positive that a man of African American descent can earn a #1 song in country music in 2018. But it would mean so much more if the song was actually country. Only then would it be an noteworthy accomplishment.
Kane Brown is not country, and by insisting that he is, unnecessary conflict is created. Understand that many country fans would rather listen to a hip-hop, R&B, or pop record as opposed to Kane Brown, because at least that music will be authentic and honest, and genuine about its nature, as opposed to an aberration of the truth.
Country interloper Kane Brown just released his second record called Experiment, and since most of music media has devolved into nothing more than a promotional arm of the mainstream industry, the album’s arrival has been dutifully met with a host of fawning puff pieces filled with over-hyped tripe.
It’s now been two months since purely pop star Bebe Rexha eclipsed the all-time record on the 70-year-old Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for consecutive weeks at #1, and there is still no end in sight for the song’s reign. 43 weeks now the song has remained in the top spot, with challengers coming and going with no real threat.
Kane Brown and Luke Combs couldn’t be more different. But they are both a new style of country star who made their ascent into mainstream stardom 100% during the streaming era, and due to the streaming era specifically. Last week, both artists announced their own arena tours.
Now that the 2018 CMA Awards nominations have been announced, the people who care about the awards can pour over the lists and find things to complain about, while the people who complain about the awards can pour over the lists while professing to not care. This is the way of things, and what happens every year.
What has happened to American country music? How did we get here? What diabolically bad state of disrepair has befallen the country genre where someone would even be forced to interface with a song like Kane Brown’s “Weekend” as a country music fan or critic?
In the interest of equal time and giving everyone a forum to voice their grievances, Saving Country Music has decided to post the six messages received from angry Kane Brown fans via the site’s Facebook page here. These aren’t fake, and these aren’t a selection of the messages. These are all the messages presented in order.
The future of mainstream country music looks and sounds like Kane Brown—meaning bad neck tattoos and a monotone delivery of terrible songs. The only question left is what the future of mainstream country looks like if artists like Kane Brown are leading it.
It’s easy to pawn off the fault for the inappropriate moment on Kane Brown, but Kane is surprisingly saying he wasn’t on board with the moment either, and it was the ACM choreographers and producers who insisted on it. “It was super awkward. Lauren was like, ‘Might as well go ahead and grab his butt too!'”
The “Memaw” reference is yet another jab Kane Brown has made towards more traditional country listeners for their age—something he’s done numerous times in his career. He also admits the real motivation behind his recent remix with pop star Camila Cabello on the song “Never Be The Same.”
“I truly believe ‘Meant To Be’ paved the way for other artists to jump into country. This is the most fulfilling thing to me more then #1,” Bebe Rexha said on Twitter. “I want more pop artists to do country collaborations, and I bet that will happen a lot more in the next five to six months. I want to pave the way.”
Kane Brown will be appearing on a new remix of pop star Camila Cabello’s current single “Never Be The Same” according to information coming down the music wires. What has some observers from the country realm interested (or concerned) is if it will be the latest pop/country collaboration to be released to country radio.
Blackberry Smoke is once again #1 in country, at least when you consider pure album sales. Their most recent album Find A Light released on April 6th sold more cohesive records last week than any other country release according to the Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart. They also charted in Rock and Americana.
The effrontery of whomever is really responsible for compiling these five songs together and presenting it as an expression of Randy’s tastes or desires is appalling. This is ridiculous, and everyone involved in the perpetration of this ruse must think we are all incredibly gullible, and should be called out publicly.
Let’s face it. For a host of reasons, it’s pretty rare to see African Americans making country and roots music. But when they do, more often that not, they’re doing it the right way, pushing the music forward creatively while fiercely helping to preserving the past, becoming part of the solution instead of prolonging the problem.
We were so swept up in praising ourselves for all the gains made in the independent realm of country music in 2017, it wasn’t until here in the dwindling moments of the year that we realized just what a dreadful era 2017 posed in the mainstream.
Friends and neighbors, I know you would rather spend your time reading about something a bit more positive in nature than the rabid attitudinal protestations of some twisted up music critic spouting off about this grotesque specimen of audio diarrhea, and during what is supposed to be a festive season no less….
This week the country music world was shocked when a pop star named Bebe Rexha and her song “Meant To Be” featuring Florida Georgia Line debuted at the very top spot of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. But looking deeper into the numbers, something didn’t seem to add up.