I guess she’s not ready to leave the “toxic arms” of country music behind just yet…
Of course by now everybody knows that Maren Morris originally said that she was leaving country music as she dropped her latest EP, The Bridge, saying in an interview that the genre was “burning itself down” and that she couldn’t handle it anymore:
“I don’t want to say goodbye, but I really cannot participate in the really toxic arms of this institution anymore. I couldn’t do this sort of circus anymore, feeling like I had to absorb or explain people’s bad behavior. And you know, laugh it off.”
But that was short-lived, because Maren then clarified that she’s NOT leaving country music, and that the headlines were just “click-bait.”
“I will sort of just clarify: I have not left country music; that was just the headline. I like what I said was that I was just leaving behind the kind of toxic parts of it – and that’s in any part of the music industry. But just like the things that I am in control of. Yeah – I want to take the good parts with me.
I’ve always written everything like very genre-bendy for years.
I don’t think people label it as much anymore. I’m from Texas, I grew up on all of that music, so the way I write, the way I sing, that’s just how it comes out -whatever genre I’m doing or whatever feature I’m doing.
So yeah, that was just a headline, clickbait that got blown up. I just make music.”
Just leaving behind the toxic parts of it? Thanks for clearing that up.
Maren said that the “drama” tends to follow her wherever she goes:
“There is so much contention and drama…and maybe I attract some of it, but certainly, my heart is always in the right place.”
So I guess she means she’s just going to stay out of the drama from now on? Give up the “toxic” parts of the country music industry and just focus on making music?
Well, apparently not.
After Beyoncé announced that her upcoming country-themed album, Cowboy Carter, yesterday in a lengthy Instagram post, Maren was the first to chime in and encourage the pop star for calling out the country music industry.
In her post, Beyoncé said that the album was the result of a negative experience she had with the country music industry years ago:
“This album has been over five years in the making. It 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. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.
It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.
The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
This lead fans to quickly recall her 2016 CMA Awards performance, when as part of her Lemonade album promotion, she performed a song called “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks (formerly Dixie Chicks). They remixed it some for the show, though it did already have a little bit of country flair, though it was ultimately rejected by the Recording Academy for consideration in the country music category.
It stirred up a bit more controversy when Alan Jackson got up and walked out during the performance (allegedly), which occurred on the night the show was celebrating 50 years of the Country Music Awards. Who really knows (he’s never publicly addressed it), but more than that, many country fans were upset because they didn’t feel Bey had a right to perform at the show on such a special anniversary, and the public backlash from fans was quite loud.
And Maren was quick to encourage Beyoncé to continue calling out the country music industry, commenting on her Instagram post:
“Drag them, Queen.”
I guess she’s still enjoying the drama.
This isn’t the first time Maren has publicly supported Beyoncé’s venture into country music.
She recently shared her thoughts on Beyoncé going country during an interview ahead of the Billboard Women in Music 2024 event.
When asked what she listened to while getting ready (because that’s obviously the most important question here), Maren revealed that she had been listening to “Texas Hold ‘Em” by her fellow Texas native.
And she also said she thinks it’s “important” for Beyoncé to represent black people in country music:
“I think her really, in a very purposeful way, reclaiming country music to black people, because they invented the genre, is so astounding and important. So, I mean, slay.”
So it’s not really surprising that she’s enjoying watching Beyoncé call out country music.
