We all know that Beyoncé is practically from another planet. Each album, song, and even word that she utters immediately becomes a masterpiece. But it takes a whole other force entirely to unite the world of black music and country music. I don’t know, perhaps its the fact that country music has a history of racism or maybe just the age old stereotype that this genre is just not for the Black community, but country music has a certain demographic and it rarely tends to include us. This line blurred dramatically tonight when Beyonce was set to perform at the 50th annual Country Music Awards(CMA). While this may appear as a mundane occurrence, it’s actually much bigger. It’s not every day that you see a person of color as a country singer. It’s even rarer that this POC would be invited to perform at such an important country music event. But to have this POC with a status as larger-than-life and as iconic as Beyoncé’s is monumental.
Especially when racial tensions are this high, Beyoncé’s performance was not welcomed by all of country music’s predominantly White audience. No one is saying that she will chant ‘black lives matter’ the whole time or stand with her fist clenched in the air for an hour but her presence alone will be an attitude that the CMA so desperately needs. Of course, just the announcement of her performance brought about threats and racist slurs, but I don’t think that anyone can really take away from the hype of this moment.
A black woman will be performing in a field where black women are largely unrepresented. Her performance is one step closer to bridging a gap between the seemingly separate universes of music.
Her performance will hopefully even open the minds of country music listeners who tend to have a certain conservative and outdated views. Her invitation to perform likely roots from the release of her song “Daddy Lessons” with country overtones, but quite frankly, Beyoncé could sing her grocery list and still blow the crowd away. And, much like every other performance we have the privilege of viewing, Beyoncé will undoubtedly be the best thing to ever bless the CMA’s stage.
