Current:Home > My'She's put us all on a platform': Black country artists on Beyoncé's new album open up -FutureFinance
'She's put us all on a platform': Black country artists on Beyoncé's new album open up
SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-07 17:22:37
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter included four emerging Black female country artists on her new cover of The Beatles' "Blackbird," further feeding an avalanche of conversation around Black women in this landscape.
Three of those Music City-based artists, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts, spoke with USA TODAY about Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" album and its impact on their burgeoning careers.
The fourth, Brittney Spencer, was busy Friday working on a forthcoming performance at the CMT Music Awards next month, but she shared her feelings on social media.
Spencer said it was an honor to be a part of this historic moment, adding that she's been hoping for an album like "Cowboy Carter" since Beyoncé released her country track "Daddy Lessons" in 2016.
"I'm in awe of Beyoncé. Her genius, creative mind, and thoughtful, generous approach represent so much more than we can probably even fathom and put into words right now," she wrote. "(It) validates the feelings, stories, and experiences often left in the shadows and outskirts of the mainstream country world and the music world at large."
'All of us will rise'
In the last five years, Adell, Kennedy, Roberts and Spencer have been CMT Next Women of Country Class members, performed the national anthem at sporting venues, graced award stages, been magazine cover models and released nearly a dozen albums or mixtapes between them that received critical and viral acclaim.
When reflecting on her shared admiration for Beyoncé, Roberts says she had long admired her artistry, voice, and the uniquely creative manner in which she blends genres.
Listening to a multitude of genres of music since childhood led Roberts to synergize her sound, as many developing Nashville artists – Black females and otherwise – are often into "fun, (self-defined) music."
All of Beyoncé's No. 1 songs ranked,including 'Texas Hold ‘Em' and 'Single Ladies'
Adell's appearance on "Blackbiird" fulfills her lifelong dream of working with Beyoncé within an unexpected whirlwind of just a few months.
Her performance was a "special moment" she said she "kept as close to her person as possible" to avoid "destroying the good energy" of the moment.
Kennedy adds that Beyoncé created a shared moment for herself and the other artists on "Blackbiird," while at the same time sending a message about the importance of sharing transformational moments.
Roberts summarized everyone's feelings: "All of us will rise because there's space for everyone."
The history of 'Blackbird'
"Blackbird" was written by Paul McCartney, and it's fitting a quintet of country music-inspired Black women are covering it.
In 1968, McCartney said he wrote the song while visiting Scotland and hearing about nine African-American students who were harassed and threatened by white students while enrolling in and desegregating Little Rock, Arkansas' Central High School in 1957. Contemplating America's Civil Rights Movement at a violent peak, he wrote a song dedicated to people affected by discrimination.
Beyoncé features Willie Jones on'Just For Fun': Who is the country, hip-hop artist?
In previous interviews, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has also stated that the idea of "you were only waiting for this moment to arise" being symbolized by a blackbird was not about a blackbird whose wings are broken but rather symbolized Black women's plight during the Civil Rights Movement.
"I didn't know the history of that song when we recorded it, and so it made it even more special, learning that afterwards," Kennedy says.
Roberts believes that Nashville's Black, female and country-led musical community is already unified by "care, growth and love." Its next steps, featuring Beyoncé's influence, have the potential of unprecedented power.
Kennedy agrees.
"She's put us all on a platform we can only dream of. There are young girls who will grow up without doubts if they can (achieve Beyoncé-level) success," she says. "I'm really excited to see the impact it'll have on younger generations because I don't just want it to stop here. I want it to continue."
veryGood! (24)
Related
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- Jewish refugees from Israel find comfort and companionship in a countryside camp in Hungary
- Man arrested in Nebraska in alleged assault of former US Sen. Martha McSally
- Two days after an indictment, North Carolina’s state auditor says she’ll resign
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- Pakistan is planting lots of mangrove forests. So why are some upset?
- Andre Iguodala takes over as acting executive director of NBA players’ union
- Baby shark born to single mother – without a father – after apparent parthenogenesis
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- Congress no closer to funding government before next week's shutdown deadline
Ranking
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Israeli strikes hit near several hospitals as the military pushes deeper into Gaza City
- Southern Charm: You Won't Believe Why Taylor Ann Green Slept With Ex Shep Rose
- RHOBH's Crystal Kung Minkoff Says These Real Housewives Were Rude at BravoCon
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Internet collapses in war-torn Yemen after recent attacks by Houthi rebels targeting Israel, US
- Clashes over Israel-Hamas war shatter students’ sense of safety on US college campuses
- NASA, SpaceX launch: Watch live as Falcon 9 rocket lifts off to ISS from Florida
Recommendation
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
EU plan aimed at fighting climate change to go to final votes, even if watered down
Jared Leto scales Empire State Building to announce Thirty Second to Mars world tour
Biden and Xi will meet Wednesday for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught US-China relations
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
Former top prosecutor for Baltimore convicted in perjury case tied to purchase of Florida homes
AP Week in Pictures: North America
Donald Trump Jr. to be defense's first witness in New York fraud trial