logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
23m 35s

Beyoncé and country’s Black roots

CBC
About this episode

When Beyoncé took the stage at the 2016 Country Music Awards, alongside the Chicks, the racist backlash was immediate. 


Eight years later, she alluded to that experience when she announced her new album, Cowboy Carter. 


In recent years, we’ve seen some pushback against the genre’s whiteness. And with Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé is reminding us once again that at its roots, country music is Black. 


Today, music, pop culture, and politics writer Taylor Crumpton joins us to talk about how for decades, country music has been packaged for a white audience. And how that’s starting to change. 


For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 


Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Up next
Aug 22
Escape, immortality, AI: Silicon Valley's blueprint for the future
Elon Musk wants a million people living on Mars within 20 years. Jeff Bezos imagines a trillion humans in space, living in a constellation of space stations the size of major cities within a few generations. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is preparing for a future where rogue AI coul ... Show More
33m 35s
Aug 21
How Christian Zionism became a key force in U.S. politics
Christian Zionism — the belief that the modern state of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy — has existed as a theological concept for well over a century. But in the past couple decades its political power and influence in the United States has surged, with many of Donald Trump's ... Show More
38m 59s
Aug 20
Are Canadian summers as we knew them over?
This summer is on track to being the second-worst wildfire season in Canadian history. It started earlier than usual with emergencies declared in the spring in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and is hitting locales that aren't typically fire-prone like Vancouver Island and Atlantic Can ... Show More
30m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
Beyoncé's Country
Renaissance Act II truthers, your time has come: There’s new music from Beyoncé, and boy, is it country. Her two new singles dropped two weeks ago, and in the time since, they’ve both climbed up the chart and taken the internet by storm. There’s the barnstorming stomp and holler ... Show More
44 m
Mar 2024
Beyoncé country
Beyoncé has a new country album. The first single has already broken records and drawn criticism from those who think of country music as a “white” genre. Except it’s not. Author and songwriter Alice Randall tells the story of country music’s very Black roots.This episode was pro ... Show More
27m 15s
Apr 2024
Does Beyoncé Need Country?
And does Country need Beyoncé? The likely answer to both of those questions is no. But the discussion Beyoncé sparked seems to be the larger point of her new album, Cowboy Carter. Sidney Madden is a reporter for NPR Music, and has delved deep into the intricate dynamics of race, ... Show More
35m 19s
Apr 2024
Beyoncé "TEXAS HOLD 'EM"
In this episode of Riffs on Riffs, join Toby and Joe for a lively discussion about Beyoncé's latest single, "TEXAS HOLD 'EM.” They discuss Beyoncé's career and celebrate her work ethic and talent, particularly her ability to transcend genres and challenge musical conventions. The ... Show More
50m 15s
Mar 2024
Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter, and Unpacking Country Music History (With Sam Sanders)
Grab your hat and saddle up! Before the release of Beyonce's "Cowboy Carter," Chelsea and Sam Sanders (co-host of the Vibe Check podcast) talk about the times Beyoncé has come closest to memoir-level vulnerability. They share insights on the history of country music, make a few p ... Show More
46m 5s
Apr 2024
US-Country-Charts: Beyoncé reitet an die Spitze
Afroamerikanisches Empowerment? Das ist Beyoncés Spezialität. Mit ihrem Album "Cowboy Carter" hat sie es nun auf den ersten Platz der Country-Charts in den USA geschafft.**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Top Country Albums (aufgerufen am 09.04.2024)Hot Country Song ... Show More
6m 13s
Feb 2024
Taylor Swift, de la chanteuse country au phénomène planétaire
En décembre dernier, Taylor Swift est désignée personnalité de l’année par le magazine américain Time, succédant au président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky. La chanteuse américaine de 34 ans, actuellement en pleine tournée mondiale, fascine les américains. Elle est devenue en l’es ... Show More
26m 23s
Sep 2023
Beyoncé’s Global Impact
Beyoncé's impact on music and pop culture is undeniable. The Daily Show dives deep into Queen Bey's global influence. Trevor Noah covers the media freakout over Beyoncé's "Lemonade" album and former correspondent Jessica Williams dissects the political messages in Beyoncé's 2013 ... Show More
14m 50s
Aug 2022
Beyoncé's ‘Renaissance’ Era
Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is one of her most ambitious albums yet. On this week’s episode of Switched On Pop, we discuss Renaissance with beloved guest Sam Sanders, host of the new Vulture podcast Into It. In Sanders’ words: “it’s trying to do a lot” – but in the best way. ... Show More
31m 43s
Feb 2023
Beyoncé’s Renaissance
Today on Post Reports, culture writer Helena Andrews-Dyer breaks down our current Beyoncé moment: After breaking the record for Grammy wins and ahead of her upcoming world tour, we talk about why Beyoncé is more relevant than ever. Read more: Beyoncé is having a moment. She jus ... Show More
28m 40s