What happened last night at the CMAs?

Man, I'll tell y'all what.

We were saved. 

Ok! I can finally talk about one of the greatest weeks of my life! Thank you @Beyonce ! You slay. All day! pic.twitter.com/XJCOrdweih

— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) November 3, 2016

The 50th anniversary of the CMAs offered country music an opportunity to dig deep into its (whitewashed) recent past and bring some of the genre's most storied names back on stage.

You almost forget about whiny pop-country acts like Luke Bryan, Florida-Georgia Line, and their ilk when Reba, Clint Black, George Strait, Alan Jackson, "Mr. and Mrs. Yearwood," and Randy Travis pop back out there and sing. It's a heartening reminder for those of us who feel like we are drowning in white boys in white t-shirts, embroidered jeans, and snapbacks. Dolly Parton picked up a lifetime achievement award. Garth Brooks won entertainer of the year. Randy Travis sang after his stroke. This was a good year.

And then Beyoncé G. Knowles-Carter showed up. And she brought the Dixie Chicks, whom country music hasn't really forgiven for bashing George Bush back in 2003.

Texas. 

Image Group LA/Getty Images

Even country music doesn't exist in a vacuum, so I'm sure this audience knows a few songs off of "Lemonade." We know Miranda Lambert does, and her love for her fellow Texan has been well-documented.

If you have been living under a rock, "Daddy Lessons" is a stomping, brass-led beauty of a song that touches upon some of country music's favorite standbys--guns, bad relationships, and advice from your daddy.

The online reaction was mixed. Celebrities and Beyhive members were floored, inspired, enthusiastic, and ready to crown Bey queen of Nashville.

Some country fans, however, were less than impressed--perhaps still smarting from Beyonce's purported anti-police views, they feel it was "disrespectful" for country music to welcome her to the stage. Simply wade into any of the posts on the CMA Facebook page, and there you have it.  

On the surface, some of the complaints are that Beyonce's music does not belong on this awards show. But any country music fan--or artist--who scowled during this crossover simply based on its musicality is kidding him or herself. How can you allow Taylor Swift back on stage in 2016, then, if country music is suddenly such a sacred entity? Why do we allow Luke Bryan and Florida-Georgia Line to infuse hip-hop, and even make call-outs to hip-hop, in their music, without batting an eye? How are Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean permitted to rap in their songs and still win awards? Aldean even has performed on stage with Ludacris! Nelly has re-done Thomas Rhett's "Die a Happy Man." And last year, Justin Timberlake (a southern boy, yes, but no country artist) sang on stage with Chris Stapleton at these very awards.

Suddenly, a black woman performing a country song on her album is such an egregious offense?

Surely, given all that country music has taken from hip-hop lately, this argument is null and void. And thus, we get to the heart of the argument--it's political at best, and racial at worst.

I think the Associated Press sums it up nicely (emphasis mine):

Not everyone was prepared to welcome Beyonce with open arms. "Let me have my country music in peace" wrote one critic on Twitter. Another suggested that whoever had invited her should be fired. Still another threatened: "I was going to watch, but not now." 

But many others sounded thrilled, including country singers Brad Paisley (who tweeted "Welcome") and Cassadee Pope (who said, "I'm gunna explode."). The CMAs have previously invited non-country artists before, as they did last year with Justin Timberlake.

Jennifer Nettles was just happy to hear the song: "Everybody loves the harmonies, loves the music. Don't get it twisted. It's about the music. If you make it about it about something else, you're wrong," she said after the show. 

Beyonce has been criticized by some for her half-time show at the Super Bowl that referenced the Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, as well as her video for "Formation" that includes images of a hooded black child facing police and graffiti scrawled on a wall that reads "Stop Shooting Us."

The problem, if there is one, is not with country music. It's with its fans. As referenced above and in some earlier media coverage, country artists responded well to "Daddy Lessons."

The fans are the ones with a problem. The fans are the ones who can't let go of what Natalie Mains said in 2003. The fans are the ones who can't stomach someone on stage who feels differently than them. The fans, also, are the ones who continue to buy and request country crossover songs by Bryan, Aldean, Hunt, FGL, Chase Rice, and a whole host of other men desperate to cash in on the latest trend--appropriating a traditionally black sound for their traditionally white audience because it "sounds good."

Does it really sound good?  

If country music is looking to hip-hop, "Daddy Lessons" is the song to look to--and after all, let's not forget that the roots of country music run much deeper than the last 50 years with Dolly Parton. And, some of the original trailblazers look a lot different than the white-bread fellas and gals we see at every country awards show.

One of country's biggest couples calls it quits

Time to break out the "Kerosene" and "Gunpowder and Lead" albums, guys. Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are purportedly getting divorced.

Credit: Taste of Country

The two have been dating since 2006 and were married in May 2011--Blake, as you may know, was married at the time he met Ran in 2005.

As a diehard Miranda fan, I often have to brush aside rumors of them fighting or being pregnant or drinking too much or cheating. But I believe TMZ if they have their hands on divorce docs. I'll reserve judgement on who did what for now, and can only hope it's going to be amiable. They have a long road ahead as two of country's biggest.

Best songs of 2013

"Q.U.E.E.N.," Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu

Monae continues to show her proclivity for futuristic android metaphors and funky empowerment anthems on the lead single from "The Electric Lady." In an interview with Fuse, she described the song title as an acronym. "Q" is for the queer community, "U" for the untouchables, "E" for both emigrants and the excommunicated, and "N" for those labeled as negroid (which is, as I understand, an anthropological term for those of African descent).

The duo combine for a fantastic look into  society as they call for their fellow electric ladies (and gentlemen, presumably) to fight sexism, racism, stereotyping, homophobia, classism, political greed and so much more. Janelle gives some of her best weird as fuck facial expressions and even breaks into some spoken word/rap at the end of the song that should get your booty right off the couch and onto Change.org to try and make a difference.

"I'm Out," Ciara feat. Nicki Minaj

This blast of sass features one of Nicki's finest verses this year (and she has done plenty of them). The song would be perfect for dancing in the club after a shitty breakup--and that's what Ciara sets out to do. She taunts her ex for trying to get back with her, while Nicki takes a more direct approach of threatening his new girl. The theme is overdone, but the delivery is spot-on and delivers the perfect amount of sneering sexuality.

"Alien," Britney Spears

This song slowly propels you into Brit's eight studio album "Britney Jean" with ethereal instrumentation and a smooth vocal line. Our Princess of Pop reflects on how alone she has felt during more than 15 years of being a recording artist--but an unnamed "you," possibly fans or a loved one, are there to support her and remind her she is not alone. The alien metaphor could have been overdone, but it's just enough here to get the point across.

The album overall is the first album in 10 years where Britney is listed as a writer on every song in the list. For me, as an admitted fan, this makes me feel a hell of a lot closer to the message since I know it's from her own mind. I can only imagine how ostracizing it must feel for someone who has been in the spotlight since she's been a kid. And perhaps she feels like a creature from another planet sometimes when she realizes how much her life is directed by medication, guardians, schedules, paparazzi, etc. It would be enough to make me want to leave the planet for a while.

"Follow Your Arrow," Kacey Musgraves

Kacey first impressed me with her frank look at small-time life called "Merry-Go Round," in which she remarked on people who stay in their hometowns just to get pregnant, get married, get high, and get nowhere but where they have always been.

THIS piece of artistry stood out to me because Kacey straight-out (all right, kind of subtly), embraces homosexuality in a nonchalant manner as she tells her listeners that they should feel free to just do what the hell they want in the rest of life. And again, she remarks on society. If you eat too much, you're fat. If you don't eat enough, you're on crack. "You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, so you might as well just do whatever you want," she sings. Get married, don't get married, have lots of sex, smoke a joint, just stay at home all day. Kacey's cool with it.

"I Don't Know How," Best Coast

For those unfamiliar with this duo, they have a lovely surf-rock feel that was most prominent on their debut album "Crazy for You," which was very lo-fi and processed to alter Bethany Cosentino's vocals and add tons of reverb to Bobb Bruno's guitar and bass. Their sophomore effort "The Only Place" sounded a bit more mainstream while remaining in the beachy stoner genre.

The EP "Fade Away" is where you'll find this song, and I think it's got all of what makes Best Coast unique. Bethany's simple, yet powerful lyrics about love and heartbreak (and a hell of a lot of long notes) mixed with Bobb's mastery of the strings. Plus, the music video is as cheerful as ever. These guys know how to have fun, even when their hearts are breaking.

"Same Love," Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, feat. Mary Lambert

I know that this was released last year, but it really only got major radio play in 2013. What can I say about it that already hasn't been said? I really can't recall may songs that have been solely about homosexuality on Top 40 radio. I think it's a wonderful start to a major social change.

"Black Skinhead," Kanye West

One of these days, Ye will give himself a heart attack performing this song because it is so frantic and the lyrics are spat with such ferocious velocity. The song may not be complete without the video above--so, check it out and then go look at his performance on SNL. He touches on racism and slavery, and seems to be painting himself as a warrior against such evils. Call him what you will, but this man knows how to push the meaningful buttons when he wants to.

Also considered:

"Boss-Ass Bitch," Nicki Minaj

"Beat This Summer," Brad Paisley

"New Slaves," Kanye West

"All Kinds of Kinds," Miranda Lambert

"Britney Jean" works, bitch

Here we go again!

Britney Jean: 7/10 

I'm into this album. For me, as a fan, I feel more connected to this "Britney Jean" because I know Brit has been putting work into it. She wrote very little of "Circus" and "Blackout"  and none of "Femme Fatale" that I can see. This is the most she has written for one album since "In the Zone." It feels better to me, it feels more real. She's been promoting it as more personal, and I love that. There are personal moments, but they are shaken up by will.I.am and his dance beats. And her voice can shine through instead of being chopped up and robotized (on most tracks). She's criticized for her breathy sound, when people actually admit she still sings, but she uses her range well on this album.

Still, there are songs I don't like. It's that way with every album of my favorite artists. "Britney Jean" starts out very strong. "Alien" sounds like one of those songs that you put at the end of an album because it's a little weird and not quite your style. It works well here, an introspective start to her eighth studio album, as she talks about loneliness. "Work Bitch," an absolute slammer, is next. That song can still make me get off my ass and do anything. "Perfume" delivers some spot-on vocal work, even if the lyrics about "trying to be cool" make me raise an eyebrow.

The next three are meant to be dance songs, which is fine, but I could do without "Tik Tik Boom." "It Should Be Easy," featuring the ubiquitous (and unexciting) will.I.am, and "Body Ache," which are both not bad, sandwich her repetitive collab with T.I.  The songs are fast-paced without being too frantic.

"'Til It's Gone" is a thumping, well-sung piece and I think it and "Alien" are the best ones on the record. I'm not sure why I love it so much--perhaps the interesting chorus, perhaps the simple message that she delivers honestly. Whatever it is, it feels good and I wish the iTunes First Play would let me listen over and over.

"Passenger," which she co-wrote with Katy Perry, starts with a weird beat but transitions into a good midtempo ballad about being able to let go and let someone else drive in a relationship, about not trying to control too much and driving around "without a map."

Skip her collab with her sister--it's called "Chillin' With You" but I'd rather chill alone without this song. It feels awkward, going from guitar strums to a gentle beat with equally peaceful vocals, then weirdly turning into a bare beat and some vocalizations of chillin witchu.

Same with "Don't Cry," the final song on the record. This one could do with a few stronger lyrics, but it gets the point across-don't cry, I'm leaving, we lost our love, it hurts. It ends on a melancholy note--or does it? After all, there is strength in being able to walk away after a failed relationship.

Overall, it's a solid album. There's sex, of course--sex sells, and sex is just a part of Britney. But I also see signs of growth, as an artist and as a person, and signs that she is willing to open up to her fans and the world.

Britney Spears music used to fight off Somali pirates

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/27/britney-spears-songs-used-to-scare-off-pirates-in-somalia-4163217/

We all knew she was a angel sent from Heaven, but this just takes the cake. What an icon!

Country music has been changing, and I'm not very okay with it

All right.

Another country music awards show is coming up, and yet again I'm mad that Taylor Swift is even included in the genre any more. Granted, "Red" could maaaaybe be considered in the genre, but the three other singles off of the "Red" album cannot even be close to country. "We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together," "I Knew You Were Trouble," and "22" are pop to the core.

The face of good TV ratings, and of genre betrayal.

I've been saying this for years, mind you, and she only gets worse. Of course, she's America's media darling and her fans drive the TV viewings way, way up.

The "Female Vocalist of the Year" category includes another very-questionable nominee in Kelly Clarkson, who has made a few forays into country but still puts out pop hits. Are they struggling for female vocalists to nominate? Perhaps, because there haven't been as many women who have made hits in the last year or so.

But Taylor and Kelly are just a few of the stars who are chipping away at the dam holding pop away from country. Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban (a longtime staple), and even old favorite Tim McGraw are switching banjos and twang for autotune and popularity. Carrie Underwood even has some of that pop sound--can you imagine her baling hay or riding a horse any more?

Don't even get me started on the horrendous beast that is Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" remix with Nelly. Someone should have salted that demon before it crawled out of hell.

So, this is me inviting anyone, but women in particular, to pick up a guitar, record a YouTube video, and try like crazy to get a record deal. I like what Luke Bryan said last week about women in country. It's hard for them, he said to be feminine while being one of the guys. There are beauty standards that female entertainers are held to. They can't all throw on a white tee, jeans and a hat and feel good to go out in public. They're obviously still pretty, but does society tell them so? Can women go on their own into dive bars and try to sing as a professional without being jeered at? Probably not...

Granted, I grew up in the 1990s, and pop-country crossovers have been a staple on my radio since I was a kid. But I'm sure I'm not the only one pining for Garth Brooks's sound every time I hear another poppy hit. It may be hip, it may cross genres, but I sure as hell don't like it.

Feminism and country music/violence and country music

I'm sharing this article NOT because it knocks on Taylor Swift, but because it talks about feminism in country music and throws some props to my girl Miranda Lambert. Certainly, there is sexism and some old-school stereotypes in the genre. I think there is an overarching theme of men respecting the women (at least a little more than in pop or rap music) and women being tough and independent, not running around in lingerie.

Some of these revenge songs also make me think. Most songs I know about getting revenge on cheating or abusive partners are sung by women, about men OR by women, about women. I'm hard pressed to think of a man who sang about shooting his cheating wife. BUT, I could name you a whole score of women who sang about killing abusive fathers, boyfriends, etc. or the woman responsible for their husband's infidelity. Is it okay for women to advocate violence and men to shy away from that? Or is that just a product of history, where men have beleaguered and belittled women for years? Are women just taking their justice?

Britney Spears IS America: The Femme Fatale and the land of the free

Original published 7 April 2011

Updated 2 December 2012

With the release of her seventh album, “Femme Fatale,” in 2011 and her successful stint as an “X Factor” judge, Britney Spears has once again proven her worth to any dissenters. Many wrote the pop princess off as another failed teen star, as her personal struggles from 2004-2007 made her the subject of tabloid news. But Britney’s journey -- no matter how many children, shaved heads and marriages it has taken – has picked back up again (for the record, I think that count is 2-1-2, with a third marriage planned).

She celebrated her 31^st birthday today, and I honestly think she’s just going to keep getting stronger and stronger. And Britney’s triumphs and failures parallel that of another young superstar -- the United States. Yes, the land of the free itself: once a young upstart, now the most powerful country in the world. The past 13 years have been instrumental for Spears and for the US, and it’s a bit strange how closely the two stories are connected.

The 90s were when Brit-Brit burst into the scene. “...Baby One More Time” was released in 1999. It was a sexual album, something unique. And the American people love getting sexual...after all, it was in 1998 when Bill Clinton was charged with the Lewinsky scandal. 2000 brought some more controversy. Bush v. Gore, of course, and the question of how the Florida voting system got so badly screwed up. But also that sneaky Britney wearing lewd clothing, grinding around and corrupting the minds of our young children. For shame!

Of course, 2004 was when all the shit hit the fan. The American people started to think the war in Iraq was an unnecessary campaign started by a war-hungry president. Popular sentiment about the war and the government began to take a turn for the worse. And in Britney’s world, things weren’t going well. 2004 was the year she married her childhood friend Jason Alexander in Las Vegas, annulled the marriage 55 hours later and got engaged to Kevin Federline three months after that. Yikes.

Those following years weren’t very good, either.  Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. The economy went into a decline as the housing bubble collapsed, and the Great Recession began in 2007. Britney had kids, checked into rehab and shaved her head. In this time of tumult, economic uncertainty and attacks on the paparazzi, how would America and its pop princess pull themselves out of a deep rut? Change was needed.

And change came.

Barack Obama won the 2008 election on a campaign of hope and, yes, change. He seemed like just the right person to steer America out of the recession and get troops home

.

Also in 2008, Britney Spears released “Circus,” one of the fastest-selling albums that year, to much critical acclaim. It seemed as if everything on both sides of the spectrum would be all right. The next few years were indeed a circus for all parties involved. A media circus took place around the Obama family and everything they did, from Barack’s controversial healthcare bill to what school Sasha and Malia picked to Michelle’s clothes and right down to what they would name that cute little dog.

Britney’s circus was on her 2009 “Circus Starring Britney Spears” tour. With a gross of U.S. $131.8 million, it became the fifth highest-grossing tour of the year. She was also a part of the hit television show “Glee.” An entire episode was focused on her music and her influences in the American pop scene (they attributed another one to her in 2012).

Through 2010 and 2011, the circus was still in full swing, but it shifted a bit. Obama wasn’t the most popular guy on campus anymore, and new Republican senators and congressmen began to make some changes of their own. The media is still as aggressive as ever.

And Britney? She released “Femme Fatale,” an album with a different sound than her past projects. “Hold it Against Me” gave Spears her fourth number-one single on the chart, and made her only the second artist in history to have two consecutive singles debut at number one (Mariah Carey was the first).

 

There were also plenty of changes this year. Brit has been in the spotlight most recently for her work on “X Factor” with Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato and LA Reid. And she is very happily engaged to her former manager, Jason Trawick, whom she seems to have a very happy and healthy relationship with.

The US, of course, wrapped up a presidential election – no matter who wins the presidency, there are always some big changes nationwide. But we decided to continue our own relationship with Barack Obama – that, or he is our own personal “X Factor” winner. You can pick how you want the extended metaphor to go for that one.

There are a lot of things in the works for B. Spears. She still has some trouble shaking off her past, of course. Critics won’t let her forget those marriages or her paparazzi attack, and there are a few lingering court cases or custody battles that we seem to hear about every now and then. But she seems to be on the up-and-up lately and getting her career back in the swing of things.

A lot is in store for the US, too, as we head into Obama’s second term. The economy is still struggling a bit, and the government has a lot on its big ol’ plate. But jobs are returning, slowly but surely, and I think there is still some hope for this country to get back on its feet.

It sure has been a wild time for Britney, and for the country she calls home. And to be honest, who really knows what the next few years will bring? A new president? A new marriage? Some more racy clothes? We can only wonder. And, of course, we can only hope...hope that two of the biggest young celebrities in the world will keep entertaining us for years to come.