While award season takes hold of Hollywood, it is hard to contain my excitement for what this moment means – the Grammys are near. Quickly, I searched the nominations for my favorite artists. There were your expected nods for Doechii, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Ellis, Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar. Even a well-deserved nomination for Leon Thomas as he pushes through the rejuvenation of R&B. However, following the history setting wins for Cowboy Carter, I really wanted to see how the country categories were ushering in their rejuvenation of the genre.
Then I saw it: the Recording Academy, for the first time in its history, split the Best Country Album category into Contemporary and Traditional – all in response to the record breaking work of a Black woman. I’ve listened to Beyonce’s album “Cowboy Carter” for some 30,000 minutes, placing me in the top .005 percent of fans in 2024, according to Spotify — keeping that energy alive throughout 2025 based on the last Spotify Wrapped report.
At a time when our nation feels more divided every day, the symbolism was hard to miss: the Grammys had created “separate but equal” country awards.
It’s painfully ironic that this bifurcated system was in response to an album which, in its entirety, reminds listeners how little the Black experience has changed in the United States.
Opening with Ameriican Requiem, Beyonce pays homage to past artists whose sound had been mimicked and whose words had been stolen over the years. She then pivots, telling the industry that she comes in peace and love (though seeing that she received zero nominations from the Country Music Association, I’m guessing her message was not well received).
Alliigator Tears offers listeners Beyonce’s best reflection on being Black in America. Since being brought to this country, we as African Americans have had to fight for belonging. When told to build the great monuments of today, our ancestors put on their boots. When told to assimilate, our ancestors changed religions. When told to move past our pain, our ancestors dried their tears and mobilized national actions.
It’s a fight that continues to this day as millions of Americans witness their health care cost skyrocket overnight; as ICE agents terrorize American cities, indiscriminately attacking Black and Brown bodies under the directive of the current administration; going as far as detaining a child care teacher in front of our babies without remorse.
Meanwhile, billionaire restaurateur and investor, Tilman Fertitta, purchased a $450 million megayacht because it was “one of those things [he] always wanted;” and the idea of paying your “fair-share” in California is scaring multi-millionaires enough to uproot their families and move out of the state.
Yes, it’s hard to miss the symbolism of this moment in music history.
In the announcement of the nominees for Best Traditional Country Album, a contributor to the Grammys noted “country music is a house divided,” that the Academy wanted to honor the “traditional forms” of country music. Can we hear the whistles?
It’s sobering to think that there was a time when America aspired to depart these segregationist tones; when white and Black Americans linked arms and marched together; when years of resistance culminated in President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And yet, here we are in 2025, reliving glimpses of our painful past.
Now it’s worth mentioning that Beyonce is not among this year’s nominees. Cowboy Carter debuted in March 2024 which is outside the eligibility period for the 2026 Grammys. That said, congratulations are well deserved for Charley Crockett, Lukas Nelson, Willie Nelson, Margo Price, and Zach Top. But “traditional” and “contemporary” country music fans must be mindful of the precedent being set. A separate but equal country album category does not broaden the genre’s influence; rather it reflects an ugly truth about America.
Terrell Couch is a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project in partnership with the National Black Child Development Institute.