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The Freedom to Explore Across Music Genres
Introduction by LaShawnda N. Fields
I grew up in the 80s, and while I was a Black girl from an urban area, several genres of music were always a part of my life’s soundtrack. I enjoyed disco, country, funk, and more. I was a preteen during the height of the big-hair rock era and was once hellbent on a wedding dress inspired by Stephanie Seymour’s in Guns-N-Roses’ November Rain video. Art often reflects a society’s social and political climate. As we navigate these highly divisive times, music and the responses reflect these attitudes of us-versus-them.
Lately, freedom is discussed more than I can previously recall, but rarely is it associated with creating and disseminating music. This series comprises six essays that challenge readers to question, critique, and stretch themselves regarding freedom and music genres. Most of us give little thought to how and which songs find their way to different stations, charts, and other segregated entities across radio, streaming services, or whatever medium provides access. Rarely do we question why these limiting designations exist and how they impact our listening experiences and artists’ freedom in their creative processes.
One of the most significant barriers to creative freedom in music is the concept of genre. Genre is an artistic, musical, or literary composition category characterized by a particular style, form, or content. In addition to genres, musical styles can impact how music is categorized, promoted, and experienced by listeners. Music styles are generally viewed as subcategories of genres. For example, jazz is a genre and ragtime is a style of jazz. As has been the case throughout history, these labels, groupings, and acts create distance, rankings and assigned value; however, they are arbitrary social constructs. The music hierarchy places a higher value on music created by white artists in comparison to artists of color. This inequity can be seen not only across genres and styles but also when white artists create music considered to be “Black.” Recognizing these inequities is important and reminds us that genres are not scientific and originated along racial divides.
While it can be helpful to identify similarities in music, genres can do a disservice to both the creators and the consumers. For instance, some genres face stigmas and are devalued by consumers and organizations because of the artists and the cultures they represent. Industry awards can devalue genres by failing to create categories for music from particular genres, or by refusing to nominate acts in certain categories. This was the case in the lack of recognition that Old Town Road, Lil Nas X’s collaboration with Billy Ray Cyrus, received in the Grammy categories for country music.
The business of music is yet another barrier to artistic freedom. We must never forget that capitalism often benefits and influences segregation by race or ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, gender, or other identities to determine who has access to inclusion, resulting in continued exclusion for those who have been historically marginalized. Robyn Lee Greens discusses these barriers and how artists circumvent them in Why Major Labels Are Failing Artists in 2025.
On Beyoncé’s album Cowboy Carter, Willie Nelson says, “Sometimes you don’t know what you like, and then someone you trust turns you on to some real good [ish].” Artists’ exploration is a great way to expand listeners’ music interests and consumption beyond the limitations of genres. Art is subjective, and we don’t know what might resonate with us, inspire us, or ignite significant change within us. These personal and powerful experiences could be increased if artists and consumers were left to venture through music organically without categories and corporate manipulation. Numerous artists have taken the leap and offered music across genres; some have faced critics, fans, and peer resistance. Some of these attempts are disappointing, poorly executed, and disrespectful acts of cultural appropriation; however, gatekeeping is also often involved. Gatekeeping grows out of a sense of ownership artists, organizations, and fans have toward their genres of choice and this lack of access results in artistic censorship and perpetuates social segregation.
Recently, gatekeeping appeared central to country music fans and organizations’ response to Beyoncé’s aforementioned Cowboy Carter album, released in March 2024. I am a fan of this album and wrote about it just hours after it was released. Obviously, everything is not for everyone, and while some genuinely did not enjoy this album, various social media comment sections were downright hateful, with countless posts saying they would never listen to the album. It has been said that Beyoncé cannot just “throw on” a cowboy hat and call her music country; some have gone so far as to say she’s appropriating a Black art form. Generally speaking, country music is associated with Southerners, specific instruments and arrangements, a strong emphasis on storytelling, and rodeo/cowboy influences. These elements are woven throughout this album and are things Beyoncé has acknowledged and celebrated throughout her career as a proud Houston, Texas native.
The often race-related reactions to Beyoncé’s 2016 Country Music Awards performance, in addition to the current attacks, are representative of the everyday experiences of Black women. As a race and gender scholar, I have studied intersectionality and the experiences of Black women navigating both racism and sexism while being placed at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Neither fame nor wealth has been able to protect arguably one of the top entertainers of our time from this phenomenon. Throughout its history, country music has been dominated by White, straight males. Post Malone’s country album F-1 is another venture into exploring and blending genres by a mainstream artist. Country music fans have primarily welcomed Malone with open arms after years of him being labeled a hip-hop artist. The vitriol in the public discourse for Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed album starkly contrasts the conversations surrounding Malone’s experimentation across genres.
The six essays in this issue (listed below) provide a rich history of genre creation, their impact on artistic freedom, the limitations consumers encounter, the reflection of social and political climates, music as activism, art imitating life and various power dynamics. They speak to the power of music as a tool of resistance, a megaphone for social justice movements, and a spotlight for historically silenced identities and experiences. I’ll end with the words of Linda Martell, who says, “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes, they are. In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand, but in practice, well, some may feel confined.”
LaShawnda N. Fields, PhD., MSW, studies the experiences and outcomes of Black women in higher education through an intersectionality lens as they navigate sexism and racism. Dr. Fields is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Arkansas.
