Beyoncé’s CMA snub comes as no surprise, but it’s still upsetting
When Beyoncé’s country album dropped earlier this year, she said, « This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album. »
The pop diva made the distinction clear — that even if « Cowboy Carter » could be confided to a genre, it would still be a Beyoncé album. However, Beyoncé’s individuality and genre-hopping skills have not bent the ear of the Country Music Awards. Despite the musician having the biggest country album of the year, she has been completely shut out from nominations for the 58th CMA Awards.
During « Cowboy Carter’s » run, Beyoncé became the first Black woman to hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Country charts. It spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 and featured traditional white country stars like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, who both gave her more respect than the CMAs have managed to muster.
While « Cowboy Carter » smashed records and even catapulted Black country collaborators like Shaboozey, who has been nominated for best new artist and single of the year for the song « A Bar Song (Tipsey) », the CMAs still did not nominate the industry veteran and pop music shaper.
