Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ gets support from Charley Crockett as he claps back at her country music haters

Texas singer Charley Crockett’s defense arrives as Beyoncé’s eighth studio album, released in March 2024, continues to cause conversation.

Beyoncé has at least one major supporter in mainstream country music.

This week, Texas singer Charley Crockett came to her defense in a fiery Instagram post that has sparked debate about authenticity and who gets to claim country music.

“Hey country folks, Beyoncé ain’t the source of your discontent. It was 25 years of bro country,” Crockett wrote in the lengthy caption. 

He went on to argue that the real issue lies in the industry’s embrace of formulaic, pop-driven “bro country” at the expense of genuine artistry. Crockett said the genre’s machine has repeatedly ignored or erased marginalized voices. Calling out Morgan Wallen, he added how the “#1 country artist” doesn’t even listen to country music. 

“The machine points to a [B]lack woman who’s making a statement about marginalized people being removed from the conversation altogether, and somehow we all act like the entire pop industry didn’t just ambush roots music. These “country boys” been *singing* over trap beats for years. So what’s different now? Authenticity,” he continued. “That’s just embarrassing to the idea of America and I got no respect for it.”

Crockett, a Grammy-nominated artist from San Benito, Texas, known for his neo-traditional sound, was responding to the continued backlash Beyoncé has faced since releasing her country-inspired eighth studio album, “Cowboy Carter.” 

While the album has been chiefly lauded as a breakthrough and a commercial success, many within the country establishment have dismissed it as “not country enough.”

During a live performance in June, rising country singer Gavin Adcock bluntly said “that s—ain’t country” about “Cowboy Carter” topping the charts. 

“You can tell her we’re coming for her f—’ a—,” he said on stage, per Variety. “That s— ain’t country music and it ain’t ever been country music and it ain’t gonna be country music.”

Not all reactions from the country music world have been negative. Lainey Wilson, one of the genre’s biggest stars, who also lost out to “Cowboy Carter” during the Grammys, praised Beyoncé’s project.

“I love it,” Wilson said in February 2024 before the album officially dropped. “The more the merrier. I’m like, again, it’s about that storytelling. It’s just about making people feel at home… and everybody wants to feel at home.”

The singer demonstrated her continued support after losing the Grammy for Best Country Album to Beyoncé. 

“We both share a deep appreciation for what each other does,” Wilson said in March. “I think that she’s introduced a lot of people to the country genre that maybe ever even knew that they liked it, and country’s on fire right now.”

Despite resistance, “Cowboy Carter” continues to make history. After debuting as number one on the Billboard 200, making her the first Black woman to top the Top Country Albums chart, the album won Album of the Year and Best Country Duo/Group Performance in addition to Best Country Album at this year’s Grammys. 

But beyond the accolades, Beyoncé has been clear about why she made the album. After her 2016 performance of “Daddy Lessons” at the Country Music Awards was met with backlash, she said she “did not feel welcomed.” “Cowboy Carter” was born out of that experience as her way of reclaiming that space and recentering the Black roots of the genre itself. 

The continued discussion and outrage are interesting, as she put it in her own words: “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”