Beyonce blasts music industry gatekeepers after country charts success

Beyonce genre-bending hit Texas Hold 'Em reached the top of Billboard’s Hot country songs chart. Photo / @beyonce

Grammy-winner Beyonce has declared “music industry gatekeepers” aren’t happy with her experimenting with different genres.

The 42-year-old has gone from R and B sensation to having astonishing success with her country album Cowboy Carter – with the Texas Hold ‘Em singer reaching the top of Billboard’s Hot country songs chart – but she has now spoken out about how she believes executives in her business don’t like the “bending” of musical forms.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: “The music industry gatekeepers are not happy about the idea of bending genres, especially coming from a black artist and definitely not a woman.”

Beyonce became the first black woman to reach the top of Billboard’s Hot country songs chart since its 1964 inception, while Cowboy Carter also topped the all-genres Billboard 200, making it the singer’s eighth No 1 album.

READ: Beyonce’s new country album has caused a storm with critics. Are they right?

But Beyonce insisted she no longer looks at “charts and sales” for motivation when making music, and that paving the way for other black country singers is what now drives her.

Referring to how her Texas Hold ‘Em hit dipped to the No 2 spot on the country chart only after Shaboozey, 29, released A Bar Song (Typsy) two weeks later, she said: “When you are breaking down barriers, not everyone is ready and open for a shift.

“But when I see Shaboozey tearing the charts up and all the beautiful female country singers flying to new heights, inspiring the world, that is exactly what motivates me.

Beyonce has had success with her country album Cowboy Carter. Photo / @beyonce

“There was a time in my life when charts and sales excited and motivated me. Once you have challenged yourself and poured every ounce of your life, your pain, your growth and your dreams into your art, it’s impossible to go backward.

“I’m very grateful and humbled for the extraordinary success of the new album.”

When Beyonce and Shaboozey were in the country chart, it was the first time two black artists held the No 1 spot consecutively.

Before she released Cowboy Carter, Beyonce said on social media the record was “born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed … and it was very clear that I wasn’t”.

She added: “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive.”