The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

Get my Daily BS twice-a-day news stack directly to your email.


Beyonce is first Black woman to top country chart with history-making single ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’

by

Pop and R&B superstar Beyoncé just added another surprising distinction to her long list of awards.

The multi-Grammy winning star debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with her hit track, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” becoming the first black woman to top the chart and sparking a debate on whether the song qualifies for the country genre.

According to Billboard:

“Texas Hold ‘Em” drew 19.2 million official streams and 4.8 million in all-format airplay audience and sold 39,000 in the U.S. through Feb. 15, according to Luminate. “16 Carriages” rides in with 10.3 million streams, 90,000 in radio reach and 14,000 sold.

Notably, the Hot Country Songs coronation of “Texas Hold ‘Em” grants Beyoncé No. 1s on seven of Billboard’s multimetric song charts as a solo artist: the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Gospel Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot R&B Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. She’s the only act to have notched No. 1s on that combination of rankings.

 

“Plus, Beyoncé makes history as the first woman to have topped both Hot Country Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs since the lists began as all-encompassing genre song charts in October 1958. Overall, she joins Morgan Wallen, Bieber, Billy Ray Cyrus and Ray Charles as the only acts to have led both charts,” Billboard noted.

Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves’ “I Remember Everything” sat on the top spot on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for 20 weeks before being dethroned by Beyoncé.

The “Texas Hold ‘Em” track is being promoted officially on country radio stations and even generated some controversy when one station reportedly refused to play the track initially. It was later clarified that the Oklahoma radio station had not received a copy of the track and soon added it to its rotation.

Other stations seem to have embraced the superstar’s entry into the genre.

“I added the song because it’s a great song, and I’m excited because it just sounds so freaking good on the radio,” 93Q Country’s Travis Moon told Entertainment Weekly. “And if there are some of her fans who listen to the song on my radio station that like some other songs, that’s actually good for my station.”

Singer/songwriter Maren Morris told E! News last week, “I feel like she’s always been genre-less, but I think the leaning into country elements and sort of reclaiming country music back to Black people because they created the genre is such a statement.”

“Obviously, like most people, I’m so utterly excited to hear the whole album,” she added. “I was listening to ‘16 Carriages’ this morning and just marveling at the production and the lyrics and the vulnerability.”

“The success of Beyoncé’s songs is especially significant in the wake of repeated criticism of the country music industry’s treatment of Black artists,” EW reported. “In 2019, Billboard removed Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” from the Hot Country Charts, arguing that the song didn’t have enough country elements to be included on the charts.”

1 Comment

  1. The only thing is why does she have to be half undressed in this? She can’t let the song live by itself? Everything in hip hop is sexually disgusting. If she has a good voice then let the song sell the song not her T&A! The song is not that bad. She is plainly nobody to look up to because she’s a pig like most in the music industry now.

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *