Beyonce and country - can anyone ever say a particular genre of music can 'belong' to an ethnicity

[mids2019]

Well I like the new album.

However it did make me ask the question, can any race or demographic legitimately claim a form of music is theirs and it is problematic if someone performs it e.g. Taylor swift doing rap?

@Meem321 "I think it's clear that white American Conservatives have claimed the genre as their own and that to them, yes it is problematic when other races try to break into it".

The mere existence of anyone not exactly like themselves is problematic to white American Conservatives.

The Jolene cover is criminal too.

I just don't get it.

I'm not sure I understand this comment?

I have no strong opinion either way on Beyoncé’s new album, although I enjoy her cover of Blackbird. I do believe, however, that music is by its very nature a mishmash of cultural influences. As long as people respect and acknowledge their sources and don’t try and pretend they ‘invented’ rap/country/folk/whatever, bring it on. If rap speaks to you as a young white boy (as it did eminem) or if psychedelic rock speaks to you as a young black boy (as it did Jimi Hendrix), then you should be free to enjoy it and play it and be inspired by it.

The best music, like the best literature and the best art, is transcendent and unifying because it says something about what it is to be human, and makes people feel heard. That’s not about culture or colour, it’s about humanity.

I think several artists have ventured into country genre, but not all are successful or even accepted. Take Elton John and Bernie Taupin's Tumbleweed Connection album from the 70's. It was popular on the charts, but I don't think any of the songs ever made it onto country music charts. I think it was seen as more of a theme album.

I'm sure Beyonce would have had some country music influence growing up in Texas, but whether she will be seen as a country music singer is yet to be seen. Somehow I don't think she's properly be accepted into the club, not because of her colour, but because of her pop music history.

How's Eminem gonna get flak for being white the first every white rap group were the first every signed to a record label (def jam) way before Dre was signed and even before Run Dmc were signed to that label.

Vanilla ice certainly did ,I seem to remember a story about one of the LA.crip gangs extorting money from him in the 90s.

Beasty boys I should of added

Daniel Ratcliffe did

Beyoncé from Texas so also a nod and wink to her home maybe?

I think ‘This ain’t Texas’ would get a crowd going in a stadium setting.

Lemonade is probably her most artistic and challenging album, brilliant but wouldn’t necessarily fill an arena.

I don’t see this country album as her trying to be controversial, just having a bit of fun with her music because she is so well respected that she can.

I do think her play on ‘Jolene’ is highly questionable however. Jay-Z might be a multi-millionaire but nobody wants ‘her man’.

The Joĺene cover is awful. It's like she's singing too many words ( which she is) and can't keep up with the music.
I have no problem with whoever doing whatever genre of music. Elvis sang gospel 70 years ago, Whitney Houston coveted Dolly Partons original I will always love you' so Black people singing country is fine by me. Anything that puts White Conservatives backs up is fine by me.

Beside the point, but Fast Car isn't about a woman leaving an abusive marriage, but a young carer. Hence covers by men also sort of 'work'. And, to follow up on another PP, when it was released, it definitely wasn't country. The contemporary country sounded very different.

I think it was something called BBC OS which is available on BBC Sounds, dated 29th March. I was getting dressed at the time so not listening closely, but I did shout "bollocks" a couple of times as I thought they were really stretching the idea to suit their point, whichever one it was talking at the time. Personally I think folk music, imported by European immigrants, had a big part to play

I think this is more of an American cultural response. George Michael received a lot of criticism from Black American artists when he won an R & B award. The implication was that was traditionally a “black artist” award and he had no right to the award as he could win the main category that a black artist would never win.

I don’t think the UK really cares in the same way about music genres being limited to a defined group.

@mids2019
This photo might be useful, I can't see how to do a link

According to Metro Weekly critic Chris Gerard, the song tells a grittily realistic story of a working poor woman trying to escape the cycle of poverty, set to folk rock music.

She starts as a carer for her dad

See, my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle, that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
His body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did

but then shes married to a drinker

You got a fast car
I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me'd find it
I got no plans, I ain't going nowhere
Take your fast car and keep on driving

I think he's abusive

I don’t think the UK really cares in the same way about music genres being limited to a defined group.

I agree with this, if the music is good, then we like it

Personally - I'm not a Jolene hater, I quite like the sassy 'tude.
Dollys Jolene was wistful, and defeatist - Please don't take my man,

Beyonces is back off bitch - I dont really see it about Mr B I think its just a song even though I know Dolly said hers was true

Is "Jolene" based on a true story?
Yes, “Jolene” is based on real events from Dolly’s own life. The song was mainly inspired by a red-haired bank teller who flirted with her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, all the way back at the beginning of their marriage.

"She had everything I didn't, like legs—you know, she was about 6 feet tall. And had all that stuff that some little short, sawed-off honky like me don't have," Dolly revealed in a 2008 NPR interview.
https://www.countryliving.com/life/a36190/dolly-parton-jolene/

Cultural appropriation is a ridiculous idea. On that basis, every ethnic minority should get out of the country because they have “appropriated” my culture by coming here, speaking the language, eating a roast dinner and going to the pub.

Nobody “owns” any idea. I think people can patronise and mock others though. A white person performing rap could possibly, depending on the context, fall into this category. That is of course wrong.

My understanding is that Beyoncé is from Texas ; she was born & grew up in Houston. Shr is also mixed race. Therefore it seems perfectly reasonable for her to perform country music which is part of Texan history & culture.

In just the same way that it would be reasonable for a white or Hispanic person from the Bronx to perform hip-hop music.

I suppose one could be hypocritical through music, eg by inheriting a genre and then singing about issues not relevant to them. So the lyrics are important. But music and melodies themselves are fair game once they're out in the public, as they were intended to be.

People do though. Just like clothing styles or hair styles. It seems crazy to me.

For anyone who is interested this Amethyst Kiah. We were lucky enough to see her a couple of years ago.

"can anyone ever say a particular genre of music can 'belong' to an ethnicity?"

IMHO no and I believe all this cultural appropriation nonsense just adds fuel to the racism fire rather than putting out the flames. If we want to play that game though, maybe white artists should be banned from singing/playing rock'n'roll or any of the genres derived from it.
If people don't like a track, an album or an artist then they have the choice to simply not listen. Trying to dictate what music someone can perform or enjoy on the basis of their ethnicity is racist nonsense. Next someone will be trying to tell me I can't make a lasagne because I'm not Italian.

There was no issue until she tampered with Jolene 😭no one can beat Dolly's version. Beyonce's message was a bit stronger than begging a woman not to take a man until the "I raised him and his kids bit" 😅 but overall she didn't nail that classic tune