Earlier on in the week, Beyoncés new country song got denied request to play by a fan in KYKC, a country music radio station based in Oklahoma.
Many have attributed it to a longstanding history of racism in country music genre following a good number of blacks who have released country songs in the past decade and have been denied playing rights in local country music stations for some reason.
Beyoncé’s one of two new songs, Texas Hold ‘Em, was requested to be played by a fan in a local station in Oklahoma after a surprise Super Bowl commercial on Sunday.
The local station, KYKC refused to grant his request but instead sent him a “standard” email according to Roger Harris stating that they do not play Beyoncés songs on KYKC owing to the fact that they are a country music station. “I requested Texas Hold ‘Em at my local country radio station (KYKC) and after requesting, i received an email from the radio station stating “We do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music station. “
The fan who tweeted his encounter on his X formerly Twitter account sent fans into an uproar as the tweet made rounds on Social Media.
When contacted about it , Roger Harris, the general manager of Southern Central Oklahoma Radio Enterprises (S.C.O.R.E.) explained why Oklahoma county station turned down a fan’s request to play Beyoncés song, “We are a small market station. We’re not in a position to break an artist or help it that much, so it has to chart a little bit higher for us to add it,” He added, “But we love Beyoncé here. We play her on our [other top 40 and adult hits stations] but we’re not playing her on our country station yet because it just came out.”
He however said the station would play Beyoncé’s new songs in the future.
He said he was interested in a fresh take on the genre.
“I’ve heard that [the songs are] leaning toward being country music, and I that like that,” Harris said. “I think that’s cool because we get tired of playing the same old beer drinking, truck driving… things like that. So, yeah, I’m really excited about somebody different doing a country music song.”
S.C.O.R.E. is comprised of five radio stations, ranging from FM to country. Harris said the KYKC station hadn’t played either of Beyoncé’s new singles because it follows trends from bigger stations.
The country music genre has been accused of racism with the dominance of white performers and musicians. This has raised concerns about racism among black musicians who foray into the country music genre.
History, however traces the root of country music to West and South African during the slavery era.
Where do you think country music originated from? Chime in below
