Rissi Palmer has a hit song “Country Girl” Why does it matter that she’s Black?

         Rissi Palmer’s debut album is out and she already has a hit song “Country Girl” rising up the billboard charts. The song “Country Girl” isn’t meant to be political but it is Rissi Palmer’s plea basically saying “just give me a chance.” I think that’s all Palmer is trying to say. In numerous media reports Palmer’s race has been pointed out because she’s the first black female singer trying to make it in Country Music.  Since race always matters in America the topic is unavoidable and it shouldn’t be ignored. Why is Rissi’s gender being ignored? Country Music has a history of misogyny.  Hopefully for Rissi Palmer the music will shine through. Palmer has a strong voice and clearly has a lot of talent and the looks to become a star.

        Some people may say why is a young black woman singing Country Music? Well why not? Rissi Palmer was first offered a record deal when she was younger by Janet Jackson’s producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis but she refused the deal. I commend Rissi Palmer for doing that. As Rissi says why should she be “another Beyonce.” Isn’t that boring? White people can cross musical genres and they are praised. Nobody makes a big deal about the white female singers Nelly Furtado, Fergie, and Gwen Stefani singing hip hop/R&B soul music.  Why is it when a black person tries to cross musical genres its thought of as a science experiment? Let girlfriend do her own thing I say! You go girl! I mean seriously, I think Rissi Palmer is brave because I don’t particularly like  Country Music there are a lot of double standards and hypocrisy in this particular genre of music. 

                 Country Music has an abhorrent history of misogyny, homophobia, hypocrisy, and racism. K.D. Lang was a very popular and successful Country Music singer back in the late 1980s. Once Lang came out of the closet in the early 1990s  Nashville rejected her. Lang declared she was a lesbian and removed herself from the shackles of compulsory heterosexuality. Lang loved women and she didn’t care to sing songs about loving men. The Country Music genre is all about women loving men singing songs about falling in love and serving men. Lang wasn’t about that she didn’t care to sing those kinds of songs.  Lang’s lesbianism shouldn’t of been an issue for the Country Music audience but it was. K.D Lang should of been judged on her vocal talent not her love life.  Lang found success as a pop star and still has a career. Lang is an incredible talent with amazing vocal range.  Real talent will rise to the top and K.D. Lang became an international superstar after she moved on from the  bigoted Country Music industry.  The Country Music establishment is still very homophobic and sexist.

               Shania Twain another Canadian singer also  had problems with the Country Music establishment because of her “image” and “lyrics.” Twain changed the image and perception people have of “Country Music”. In the past “sexy” in Country Music was looking like Dolly Parton. Parton was not sexy at all but she was popular with her drag queen image of platinum blonde hair, too much make up,  over-sized breasts, and sequin gowns. Twain “crossed over” from traditional Country Music to other radio and TV formats because she demonstrated a woman can be “sexy” and “talented” without looking  tacky. Twain was also outspoken she believed in herself and her musical talent and had total control over her image. Shania Twain wasn’t the “classic” image of what a female Country Music artist was supposed to be she also was a foreigner making her the other.  

        Twain became the “Madonna” of Country Music all by herself Shania Twain transformed Country Music she made it cool,  exciting, sexy,  and the Country Music industry had to realize her talent.  Twain’s record sales soon crossed over and she no longer needed Nashville to be a star. Nashville could not deny that a “foreigner” made Country Music a global success. Shania Twain made CountryMusic famous all over the world. The Country Music industry can thank Shania Twain for making Country Music a global success. In the past Country Music was only popular in North America the record sales were limited over seas. Due to Canadian superstars such as K.D. Lang and Shania Twain Country Music became a global music genre. Twain and Lang’s albums sold millons of records in foreign markets such as Europe, Australia, and Asia. 

         When Twain started out in the Country Music business  the controversy was  over the fact she was an attractive woman and  her belly button was exposed in a music video. Yes folks, this is how conservative Country music is. Now Shania Twain is the blueprint many female Country Music artists have attempted to copy to become successful.

            The Dixie Chicks  encountered the most backlash from Country Music fans when Natalie Maines the lead singer made a controversial statement about the war in Iraq and President Bush. Unlike Twain, and K.D. Lang, the Dixie Chicks are Americans they weren’t foreigners. However, the Country Music industry still sends the same sexist messages to  women that they must be “demure” they must conform to middle class standards of respectability. Men have more leverage in Country Music they can be alcoholics and sing about lewd sexual conquests but women can only sing about heartache and love.

            The Country Music  radio stations and fans immediately rejected the Dixie Chicks. The turn around by Country Music fans was incredible and also very disturbing from death threats to the sheer negativity of the business side of the industry.  Country music radio stations that once played the Dixie Chicks stopped playing their music.The Dixie Chicks were so successful and yet the fans suddenly were so fastidious.  The Dixie Chicks were “forced” to  “crossover” to a mainstream pop culture and formats.  The marketing team behind the Dixie Chicks have been very shrewd creating a film to document the time after the backlash to maintain the public interest in the group.

     The main reason the Dixie Chicks won so many Grammy Awards this year was because it was a political statement a way for the mainstream liberal media to “get back” at Nashville. The Grammy Awards has its own covert racist elements where black entertainers are segregated in the R&B/hip hop category not winning the big awards.  Mary J Blige deserved the top  Grammy Awards this year and not Dixie Chicks. Blige album “The Breakthrough” was a superior album and she was robbed of her glory.

       The Country Music genre has demonstrated over and over that if women speak up they will be punished.  Unfortunately, in Country music women are expected to conform to male domination and male supremacy. Male country music singers such as Toby Keith are very outspoken and discuss their heterosexuality, masculinity, and their sex drive. Toby Keith criticized Natalie Maines yet he wasn’t scorned. Keith also had a controversial song “Courtesy, of the Red, White, And Blue” Why? Just because Keith is a man with a penis? Why must women in Country Music be quiet? Don’t women have a right to give their opinion without receiving death threats? Why must women be perfect but men can have flaws?  In Country Music women are just supposed to be pretty and sing and then when they get old they get tossed aside for the next young pretty female Country Music artists that come along.  Women are supposed to be “polite” and not “outspoken”. It is the reason the Dixie Chicks, K.D. Lang, and Shania Twain were “scorned” by Nashville when they dared to challenge the misogynst ideologies of gender and sexuality.  Rissi Palmer is now taking the battle for women’s rights in Country Music to the next level she’s attempting to break the race and gender barrier.  Notice all the people attacked by the Country Music establishment recently have been women.    

         I don’t believe Country Music really “wants” to be more “inclusive”  to  new people that don’t fit the stereotypical image of the genre. Country Music radio, TV formats, magazines, is still very white, conservative, racist, Christian, pretentious, hypocritical, and pious.  Foreigners such as Keith Urban and Shania Twain have managed to have multi platinum sales and they aren’t even American. Rissi Palmer is American but for some in the Country Music industry she’s still viewed as “the other” as an “outsider” looking in because she is an African American woman. In the American south there is a racist attitude of treating black women as inferior to whites.

        Palmer really does have an uphill battle trying to convince the  white Southern “audience” that she’s “real country”. Palmer’s music is indeed “Country Music”. Country Music has a history of misogyny and turning on women that “speak out” about polemical  issues. Country Music actually has a history of incorporating aspects of the blues, jazz, and soul. Its obvious Country Music actually originated from African American culture. In the 1920s due to the racial divide in the USA Country Music morphed into a white music genre and it has remained this way ever since.

         Rissi Palmer must really “love” Country Music because I just find the genre to be so racist, sexist, homophobic.  Rissi music must “convince”  the white American south that they should buy her albums? Good luck, Rissi.  If Rissi Palmer says something that the conservative white Southern country music scene doesn’t like will they turn on her too?  Nashville has a history of being very intolerant and very racist.  

           I wish Rissi Palmer well but I just hope girlfriend doesn’t end up as a “novelty act”? The question is  will “white” Country Music give Rissi Palmer a legitimate chance? Or will Rissi Palmer be treated like Cowboy Troy? It costs a lot of money to market a new artist these days. Will the Country Music channels and radio formats play Palmer’s music? Cowboy Troy an African American male singer he tried to break into  Country Music  a few years ago with mixed results.   Since Palmer is the first black woman in this genre unfortunately a lot of the media discussion will focus on Rissi’s race and gender instead of the music. I just hope girlfriend stays strong and believes in herself and her abilities.

           I think the mainstream media will be much harder on Palmer and nit pick at her more. However, its not impossible for Palmer to succeed though in mainstream formats.  Tracy Chapman, Lenny Kravitz, and Ben Harper are examples of black singers that have “crossed over” to a larger “mainstream” audiences. Chapman, Kravitz, and Harper’s fans are mostly white people and not blacks. White people buy their Cds, go their concerts, and purchase the DVDs.

     Will the black media give Palmer any attention at all? We will see. Will the black media such as Essence, Ebony, Upscale, Vibe, discuss Rissi Palmer? Will Rissi Palmer be on BET or on black radio in America? Or will the black media ignore Rissi Palmer the same way they ignored Meshell N’Degeocello, and Tracy Chapman? Rissi Palmer’s marketing team shouldn’t just focus on success in the Country Music genre? Shania Twain didn’t waste her time just on Nashville she was smart enough to try to conquer other radio and television formats as well. Rissi Palmer has talent the truth about the entertainment business is its not just about “talent” a lot of it has to do with the business side. Rissi Palmer seems to be on the right track though she already has a hit song.