Last Friday, Beyoncé dropped her latest album, Cowboy Carter. Stylistically a new direction for Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter is a country music record, and it has been making shockwaves since it was announced during the Super Bowl on February 12. The lead single, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” debuted on Billboard’s Hot Country chart at No. 1 a week later. Until that date, no Black woman had ever held the No. 1 spot in Hot Country.

All this despite the fact that Black artists were essential to the development of country music; artists including Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemons have been instrumental in telling that history in recent years. Nevertheless, as the New York Times puts it, “the [country music] industry has been famously inhospitable to Black performers.”

Fortunately, that seems to be changing as more and more Black artists creating country music are gaining recognition and airplay, joining legions of artists who have come before but didn’t always — if ever — get the credit they deserved. Now, with the success of megastar Beyoncé’s new album, which also features the contributions or samples of a stellar list of other Black artists, the effects could be seismic when it comes to diversity and representation in country music. 

So for today’s 9:30 Coffee Break, what country songs, past or present, by Black artists do you want to hear?

Respond with your song ideas in the comments below.

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Songs Played
Beyonce - Jolene
Darius Rucker - Wagon Wheel
Charley Pride - Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’
Ray Charles - Hey, Good Lookin’
Linda Martell - Bad Case of the Blues
The Pointer Sisters - Fairytale
Bonus: Valerie June - Smile