Music Industry Double Standards

So since we’ve been discussing Beyonce most of this week, I was reminded of how aggravated I was following last year’s CMA awards. Obviously Beyonce performed her song “Daddy Lessons” with the Dixie Chics. People freaked out. For a million different “reasons,” of course. Some people were angry that Beyonce clearly “didn’t respect law enforcement,” but the pertinent issue was that people felt Bey had crossed a line. That she was unjustly and inappropriately moving out of her league of hip-hop. But is Bey even remotely the only star to switch genres and industries? And I’m not even talking in history, I mean RECENTLY. (Gross overgeneralization) But we know that country typically appeals to a white audience and hip-hop or rap genres appeal to a black audience. So to keep it relevant, let’s look at another mega musician who crossed over from an industry that appealed to whites to an industry that appeals to black people. Taylor Swift? She literally OUTGREW the country music industry and just hopped over into hip-hop (bad hip hop but whatever). No one blinks an eye at Taylor Swift’s desperate attempts to appeal to an audience that is completely irrelevant to her. Moreover, country music DOES pertain to Beyonce. Beyonce was raised in Southern Houston. ALSO, Beyonce did not attempt to cross over to the country industry??? She made ONE guest appearance and people panicked. So what’s the difference? Why did it go almost unnoticed when Taylor Swift completely changed her platform and industry, but people go into an uproar that Beyonce needs to stay in her lane when she makes a single guest appearance? I want to say that the backlash was due to Beyonce’s controversial Super Bowl performance, which aired a bit before the CMAs, but for some reason I just feel like the reasoning is simply racial based.

#Tabatha