In first position this week on the country music charts: the song Texas Hold ‘Em by Beyoncé. Yes, the queen of R&B, soul and hip-hop is into the western.
She becomes the first black singer to reach number one on the prestigious magazine’s Hot Country Songs Billboard. It was time. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy about it. There are even some who cry cultural appropriation and ask country radio stations to remove the song from the airwaves.
Queen B has just entered their saloon, slamming the swinging doors and it bothers them. Close-up on the eyes of the cowboys staring at her. Like in Sergio Leone’s films.
Where is she from ? What is she doing here? It’s not his place. It’s ours. Foreigners took our country, they will not take our country either. This is our last refuge. To find each other again. Just between us. From Hank Williams to Luke Combs, it’s always people like us, who sing for us. Above all, we must not change the only thing that has not yet changed.
Gang, how should I tell you that? Get off your high horse. Beyoncé sings country and that’s good for country.
You can put the cultural appropriation argument in your gun holster. The roots of country music, like those of most popular music, go all the way back to Africa. The banjo, the instrument at the source of the country sound, is a derivative of an instrument used by black slaves. If so, it’s you who appropriated the music of Beyoncé’s ancestors.
That said, everyone has the right to sing whatever they want. Elisapie sings Metallica. Well done ! And if Metallica wants to sing Elisapie, bravo too! If a K-Pop group wants to sing country, go for it! And if Willie Nelson has the inclination to get into Korean pop, great good to him. Culture is not a possession. Culture is a gift. That each person receives and gives back in their own way.
Cultural appropriation is reprehensible when those who appropriate a culture do not recognize those who originated it. Ultimately, it is cultural dispossession that must be proscribed. Otherwise, a culture must be happy that people from elsewhere join it. A culture that mixes is a culture that stays alive. Wanting to be the only users is to dry it up. It’s killing her.
This is why country fans should throw their hats in the air, to express their joy, hearing Beyoncé sing their favorite music. For too long, country music has been shunned by a large part of society. She was snubbed. We didn’t care. It was the music of the countryside. It was associated more with agriculture than culture. All this time, it was the snobs who were in the field. Country music is as valuable as any other music. She rocks, she cares, she elevates, she brings together, she consoles and she heals. Country music is the invisible friend everyone needs. Thanks to whom we are never alone. Like all music.
Country music allowed millions of human beings to express who they were. She allowed them to exist. And those who are to be pitied are those who did not take the time to listen to them. Because the more we know the nature of others, the better we know our own.
Beyoncé’s new song is a country triumph. This artist at the crossroads of all trends, who never stops searching, exploring, wanting to initiate trends, this artist, always sensitive to the spirit of the times and the time of the air, felt that country was experiencing a renaissance. We are finding more and more country songs on the pop charts. Country performers are no longer in their bullpen. They jumped the fence. Their land is Earth. And the fact that Beyoncé joins them will accelerate the decompartmentalization of this musical genre. And will put an end to prejudices.
It won’t be long before it’s going to be as cool to like country as it is to like hip-hop, rock or classical. As it always should have been.
Music is not there to divide. Music is there to unite. Black keys and white keys live in perfect harmony on the keyboard of a piano, it wasn’t me who said that, it was Paul and Stevie.
And the tune Texas Hold ‘Em, in all of that ? Because it’s all well and good that Beyoncé decides to do country music, but it still has to be good. Otherwise, what’s the point? Queen B could have lost her crown. Look unrelated. Look opportunistic. Not in his place.
Beyoncé Knowles was born in Houston, Texas. She has worn cowboy hats since she was a child. She sails through the country like a fish through the Mississippi. Texas Hold ‘Emthe first extract from his upcoming album, as well as 16 Carriagesthe second, are very successful country songs, combining tradition and modernity.
Beyoncé doesn’t just make country, she makes great country. Which will make more people want to listen to it, and more artists to sing about it.
At the Madrid rest stop, on the 20, it seems that there are already truckers who know Beyoncé’s new song by heart.
Hee haw!