How is Beyoncé’s new country music project going? I’m glad you asked.
Beyoncé did her best to break the internet with her new music announcement during the Super Bowl, which coincided two new song drops with a Verizon commercial that aired during the “Big Game.”
At the very root of things, no one in the country music industry is necessarily upset about the pop star crossing over. Artists and songwriters often dabble in different genres, and Beyoncé is one of many that are trying out country at the moment.
However, despite it being called a “country music project,” Beyoncé and her label decided not to service it to country music radio stations. That just means that they sent the song out to a variety of different stations, as you can see below (Pop, Hot AC, Rhythmic), and it’s clear that they aren’t trying to get it played on country radio… at least, yet (UPDATE: the song has now been sent to country radio).
So with that being said, it should come as no surprise that Beyoncé’s new “country songs” aren’t being played on country stations. Why? Because it wasn’t ever sent to them, and for the most part, country radio stations only play the songs that the mainstream country labels send to them. Just ask Cody Jinks, Turnpike Troubadours, and Tyler Childers about their country radio play…
Despite that, there are still a lot of people upset that her songs “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” aren’t getting country radio play. One of the biggest examples of that is a radio station in Oklahoma that has come under fire and been labeled “racist” for not playing Beyoncé’s songs.
A fan of Beyoncé sent in a request for “Texas Hold ‘Em” to be played on their local Oklahoma country radio station KYKC, and the station responded by saying this:
“Hi – we do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music station. Thank you.”
The station also followed up in another email, recommending their pop and hip-hop sister stations.
That reply obviously got the “Beyhive” (Beyonce’s fan base) furious, with a lot of them alleging that the station wasn’t playing her new song because they were discriminating against the singer/songwriter.
Even the social media user who first brought the issue to light fired off this post on X (formerly Twitter):
This station needs to be held accountable for their blatant racism and discrimination against Beyoncé.
— JUSTIN 🫧 (@jussatto) February 13, 2024
And it took no time at all for this radio station to get blasted, swarmed with calls, requests and slander.
But as always, there’s another side of the story. KYKC wasn’t playing the song because… they had never heard it, and to take it a step further, didn’t know it existed.
TMZ reported that the Oklahoma country station wasn’t playing it simply because they were never sent it. Once again, because it wasn’t serviced to country radio. It was also initially released to iTunes and Apple Music as a “pop” song in it’s primary genre. It has since been changed to country.
KYKC sent another email back to the original request saying:
“We will check it out. If it’s appropriate to the format, we will play it.”
Station manager Roger Harris also told Fox 25 that they never add new songs right away, citing Blake Shelton as an example:
“Most times they wait a few weeks… [Harris] told Blake Shelton that his song was not going to play automatically just because it just dropped.
Harris said the station has received over 2,000 emails and 1,000 calls from the Beyhive, what Beyonce fans dub themselves. He said some even called them racists.
‘The Station is not racist. We love Beyonce.'”
And they apparently checked it out rather quickly (after they were bullied to do so) because it wasn’t too long after that they tweeted/posted for the first time in four years to announce that “Texas Hold ‘Em” was going to be played on their station after a wave of calls came in asking for it:
Tucked right in between Carrie Underwood’s “Wasted” and “Tishomingo” by Zach Bryan. Would you look at that?
So at the end of the day, the whole thing was likely blown out of proportion, especially with the Oklahoma radio station eventually playing Beyoncé’s song. We’ve found out today that rage and backlash can sometimes get a song played on country music radio, even if the reason for that rage and backlash is unfounded.
And sure, the song (which Beyoncé needs no help getting ears to), got played on one terrestrial country radio station in Oklahoma, but at what cost? A panicked and frustrated radio station bending the knee to a slanderous mob on Twitter? Can you imagine them trying to find the Twitter password so they can log in for the first time in 4 years and clear the air? It’s almost comical…
And now it’s safe to assume the whole ordeal has left a sour taste in their mouth, and hardly any excitement at all for Beyoncé’s potential voyage into country music. Word will get around to other country radio stations who will most likely just keep their distance to avoid controversy, because if there is one thing country music hates… it’s controversy.
Off to a great start, Beyhive…
