Why The Beyoncé Radio Snub Was Racist

C'mon, we were all thinkin' it.

Happy Black History, family.

Oklahoma’s KYKC (👀) Radio Station believed Beyoncé does not make country music. Apparently, this is a statistical impossibility of universal magnitude.

This is why they did not Google her name before responding to a listener request for one of her latest 2 singles—both of which were dropped immediately after the Superbowl:

…we do not play Beyonce’ on KYKC as we are a country music station.

Is because she’s a black woman who has historically made “black music” (read: hip-hop and R&B)?

Maybe.

What even is “black music?”

The blues, but it’s a long story.

TLDR: black people invented the banjo. We invented Bluegrass. We also invented genres like Country and Rock. #BlackHistoryMonth

According to Jake Blount, a banjo scholar and creator of the Afrofuturist folk album The New Faith,

“Many of the black musicians who were teaching early white country musicians did not get recorded themselves. And that is just one iteration of this pattern we see where the music industry:

• Extracts artwork from black communities

• Uses [the artwork] to generate a ton of money

• And then directs absolutely none of the money back into the community that invented the music it’s selling.”

The fact that we don’t collectively know this as a society is the result of deliberate programming.

If you’re disillusioned about the origin of country music, watch this video, and you’ll have a better understanding.

Regardless, I urge you to take 5 minutes to read the following 2 articles. They are a 2-minute read each, and they’ll fill you in on the important highlights.

Beyoncé news

The follow-up reaction shortly thereafter

According to Michael Sun of The Guardian, there is precedent for her being snubbed in the category.

“In 2016, Beyoncé’s heavily country-inspired track Daddy Lessons was rejected by the Recording Academy’s country music committee, making it ineligible for country Grammys.”

So, was the Beyoncé snub racist? Yes.

In my humble opinion, I think the most racist part of this whole situation is that powerful institutions like S.C.O.R.E. are allowed to gatekeep forms of art they do not fully understand.

I’m glad they’re finally playing her music.

The confidence with which they showed their ignorance is what upsets me the most.

Read the articles and watch videos that I’ve linked above. Let’s learn black history and continue to do better.

---

Building in Public

ThatViolaKid Productions

• Had a meeting with a social media manager. I’m looking to take my business to the next level. If only I had a bit more money to spare…

• I made some social media content with my friend @graceplaysviolin. She’s teaching me so much, and I’m excited to learn more from her!

• I spoke with a PR agent to better understand what they do.

• I wrote and recorded strings for an Indie artist in the UK named Kane.

• I was an idiot. I went to a recording session on some shady shit.

  • No discussion of payment beforehand. I went in with 3 other string players. We all wrote our parts. We recorded the parts and even shot a video.

  • Afterwards, I hit the guy and said that it was cool if there was no budget. I asked him for credit and some publishing when the song goes out. We agreed to this via text.

  • However, when I asked for this in writing, he stopped responding to me. I knew better, but I really want to write strings for artists. I want to build this part of my business, so I guess I have to take an L now and again…

    • I’m gonna text him every day from here on out. I’ll make it part of my routine. Lemme know if you want me to show ya’ll screenshots next week LOL

wholesoul/Whole Soul Music, LLC

• Held weekly meeting, but only Daniel showed up. He’s my ride or die <3

  • Created a collaboration agreement for our business. Will make things run more smoothly moving forward.

• Had a meeting with Vi Jordan. We are discussing our upcoming collaboration. Very excited.

  • Struggling make Plan A work. Juggling 7 different schedules is a nightmare, and I’m dismayed that I have to figure it out. I need to practice.

  • Plan B is to spend money, and I think that’s what we’re gonna do. I think we’ll be spending the rest of our profit. We must make it count.

    • Found the studio, found the videographer.

    • Need to find the shoot location, and need to find the dates to record and shoot.

• wholesoul (joined by our friend Aiko Jimena Richter) recorded for JLo’s “The Greatest Story Never Told.” It will be out on Amazon Prime Feb. 27th!!! My homie Ezinma wrote the score for it!!!

Drew Alexander Forde, Violist

• Very little work going on right now. Times are tough.

• Did a recording session for Jazz pianist Yuko Mabuchi’s upcoming album. She’s SICK, and she’s one of the most gracious artists I’ve worked with. She’s a joy.

• Celebrated Nala’s birthday with my girlfriend Michelle.

  • She also helps me proof-read every newsletter. She couldn’t proofread this newsletter because she’s working tonight. Sorry I procrastinated, ya’ll.

  • We also had a budget date night last Friday (cuz I’m broke rn). We went to Tea Master and Villa Tacos—best tacos in LA.

    • If you have a different opinion, you’re wrong. Fight me.

• I attended an AFM Zoom to see how the negotiations are going. I feel pretty powerless, but I’ll keep showing up.

• I closed my Chase Total Checking Account after they erroneously charged me. Yes, I could have called them to get it refunded, but I needed to send a message.

---

Thanks for reading, fam. Talk to you next week.

Drew