Beyoncé’s release of Cowboy Carter sparked an intense debate within the country music community, raising the question: would Nashville embrace this innovative genre fusion or dismiss it entirely? The skepticism surrounding her performance at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards (CMA) highlighted the challenges she faced with her country-western venture. Now, rapper and producer Breland offers insights into why Nashville struggled to accept Beyoncé’s country phase.

Breland explained why Nashville had trouble embracing Beyoncé’s country music era

“Country music is open to artists crossing over if they collaborate with trusted figures in the genre,” Breland explained on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast. He referenced rapper BigXthaPlug’s successful collaborations as an example. “BigXthaPlug partnered with various pop and country artists, creating a successful collaborative album by fully immersing himself in the genre.”

Breland pointed out that Beyoncé’s approach with Cowboy Carter was different. “Even though she featured big names like Post Malone and Dolly Parton, she also included lesser-known artists and didn’t engage with Nashville’s scene in the usual way,” he noted. “This made it easy for Nashville’s establishments to distance themselves because she didn’t follow the traditional path of integrating into the community like Post Malone or BigXthaPlug, who actively participated in local events.”

According to Breland, if Beyoncé had recorded her album in Nashville, collaborated more with local writers and producers, and engaged with more Nashville institutions, she might have found a warmer reception from the city’s music community.

Breland said that if Beyoncé had made her album in Nashville, had written it with more writers and producers in the city, and had shown up at more Nashville institutions, the people of Nashville would’ve been more receptive.

Country star Charley Crockett previously called out ‘Cowboy Carter’ haters

Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” era continues to spark conversation long after her tour has ended.

As noted by TIME’s Made by History, pushback against Beyoncé’s turn to country stems from a legacy of gatekeeping that has often cast the “cowboy” identity as white and male. Thus, when a global pop star and Black woman stepped into that territory, it disrupted ingrained expectations. Yet others viewed “Cowboy Carter” as a bold reclamation of country’s roots.

Country star Charley Crockett publicly defended Beyoncé and her groundbreaking work. In August 2025, he took to Instagram to defend the R&B queen’s country music debut and call out “bro country.”

“Hey country folks,” he began in his post. “@beyonce ain’t the source of your discontent. It was 25 years of bro country. … The machine points to a Black woman who’s making a statement about marginalized people being removed from the conversation altogether, and somehow, we all act like the entire pop industry didn’t just ambush roots music. These ‘country boys’ been *singing* over trap beats for years. So what’s different now?”

Beyoncé acknowledged not feeling ‘welcomed’ by country music

Ten days before the release of Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé took to Instagram to discuss her experience with country music. She admitted that the album was “born” from a negative experience in the music industry.

“This album has been over five years in the making,” she wrote. “It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed … and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”