When Beyoncé dropped Cowboy Carter late last month, there was pushback from racist fools who felt some misbegotten claim to the entirety of country music. The dominance of bro-country has emphasized a long-held truth about the genre: It was white, it was male, and it was pretty embarrassing about it. But country music contains multitudes, and is owned by no one. Beyoncé’s Houston roots are more “authentic” than most chart-toppers in the space, and this history set the tone for Cowboy Carter‘s claim-staking approach. Now, a new documentary is providing additional context for those interested in this ongoing conversation around country music, Blackness and the South: Call Me Country: Beyoncé & Nashville’s Renaissance.
A CNN FlashDoc, Call Me Country: Beyoncé & Nashville’s Renaissance heads to the capitol of country in order to better interrogate this reclamation — and we at Paste have an exclusive look. Offering commentary from contemporary musicians and critics alike, the doc asks all the right questions while giving space for artists like Denitia to perform her own country tune.
Check it out:
“I’m not sure that the music culture had been pressed enough to diversify so that I could find my place,” Denitia says, reflecting on living in Nashville in the early 2000s. Things have changed now, for the better, allowing mainstream hitmakers like Lil Nas X to thrive.
Denitia, also from around Houston, joins contributors like Rhiannon Giddens (banjo player on Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em”), John and T.J. Osborne of Brothers Osborne, Rissi Palmer and Aaron Vance. On the commentator side of things, voices like Touré, Larisha Paul, Chris Molanphy, Kyle Coroneos and Keith Hill lend their expertise.
Call Me Country: Beyoncé & Nashville’s Renaissance hits Max today, April 26.
Jacob Oller is Movies Editor at Paste Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at @jacoboller.
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