When Beyoncé dropped “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” the first two singles for what the world would later come to know as “Cowboy Carter,” her foray into country and Americana music, Beyoncé wasn’t exactly welcomed by everybody into the genre.
To even say the entire Black community was on board would be an overstatement, but the country world was definitely more concerned about her stepping into their world. Early on, country stations reportedly weren’t playing “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the more dancey and upbeat of the two records, though any attempts to quash her dominance were short-lived: “Texas Hold ‘Em,” as “Cowboy Carter” would eventually do, topped the country charts making her the first Black woman to ever top Billboard’s country music chart.
The album, which celebrates Black artists’ space in the genre and takes the listener on a journey through all forms of Americana, folk and country music, has become, effectively, legendary. Its success has introduced many listeners to the Black roots of the genre and introduced a lot of new artists to consumers.
“Cowboy Carter” also earned Beyoncé her coveted “Album of the Year” Grammy in 2025, as well as the award for “Best Country Album” at the same ceremony—again, making her the first Black woman to do so.
While the celebrations for Beyoncé and “Cowboy Carter” continue as she’s currently on tour—her next stop is perhaps symbolically in Washington, D.C., for a July 4th show—not everybody in country music has been supportive or excited for her journey. There have been more than a few country artists unhappy with the space Beyoncé was taking up.
The latest is Gavin Adcock, who had some very choice words for Beyoncé after announcing that her album is—still—charting above his on the Apple Music charts.
At a recent show, he pointed out to his crowd that Beyoncé’s album was ranked number 3 on the Apple Music country chart and his album was number 4. He was none too pleased about that album in particular being ranked above his.
“…albums in front of me in the Apple Music Charts. And one of them’s Beyoncé and you can tell her we’re coming for her f—– a–,” he said to delighted screams from his fans.
“That sh– ain’t country music and it ain’t never been country music and it ain’t gonna be country music,” he continued, again, to delighted screams from his fans.
As you can imagine, coming for Beyoncé, especially because you’re rated below her on a chart (no word on if he is upset about the albums occupying the top two slots) and because you don’t deem her album to be country, requires … follow-up. In a subsequent video, Adcock took a more measured tone.
In a video posted to X, captioned simply “it ain’t country,” Adcock had this to say:
“I’m going to go ahead and clear this up. When I was a little kid, my mama was blasting some Beyoncé in the car. I’ve heard a ton of Beyoncé songs, and I actually remember her Super Bowl Halftime Show being pretty kick-a– back in the day. But I really don’t believe her album should be labeled as country music. It doesn’t sound country, it doesn’t feel country… I just don’t think that people that have dedicated their whole lives to this genre and this lifestyle should have to compete or watch that album just stay at the top just because she’s Beyoncé.”
It seems that Adcock’s biggest concern is that he has to compete with Beyoncé for chart positioning on an album he doesn’t view as country. Which begs a question that many inside and outside of the genre have been grappling with for years now (Y’all remember the “Old Town Road” non-troversy?): Exactly what is country?
That answer isn’t likely to be answered any time soon, so for now, Adcock and others who take issue are likely to have to deal with the continued run of “Cowboy Carter” on the charts. For what it’s worth, comments like Adcock’s are why Beyoncé claims to have made “Cowboy Carter” in the first place.
As of yet, Beyoncé has not responded to Adcock’s remarks.
