Country music artist and record producer Breland thinks he knows why Beyoncé wasn’t welcomed into the country music genre with open arms. As you know, Beyoncé released her so-called “country album” Cowboy Carter (that she clarified “wasn’t a country album”) back in March of 2024. It was certainly a cultural moment, and one could argue that it was successful out of the gate in terms of chatter. The project even landed Beyoncé her elusive “Album of the Year” award at the 67th Grammy Awards, but it really didn’t have any staying power as it fell off the charts relatively quickly. Anything Beyoncé does will immediately shoot to the top of the charts, but the numbers don’t lie… the album fell off a cliff quickly. Though it did bring Beyoncé some nominations and awards, Cowboy Carter didn’t stick with the country music community. At least not like how Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion did, or more recent country projects from artists outside the genre like BigXthaPlug’s I Hope You’re Happy. According to Breland, who spoke about all of this on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now, those albums were more widely accepted by Nashville because those artists came to town and “played the game.” Post Malone worked with Nashville-based writers and producers on F-1 Trillion, and BigXthaPlug had an impressive collection of big-named country artists that collaborated with him. Beyoncé didn’t do either of those things, and Breland thinks that hurt her: “What you didn’t see that with was the Beyonce album. Even though, sure, she had Post Malone and Dolly Parton on it. She chose to put a bunch of artists on there that people weren’t as familiar with, and she didn’t come to town and play the game that everyone else did. So it’s really easy for the institutions in Nashville to be like, ‘She’s not with us, because she didn’t come here and take all the same steps that someone like Post Malone or BigXThePlug did.'” What would Beyoncé have done if she came to Nashville? Or a better question might be… what would have been expected of her to give her that “gone country” title? Breland says she would have needed to do writer’s rounds, participate in the the CMAs and CMA fest, collaborate with well-known country artists, and create the Cowboy Carter album in town with songwriters and producers that are in town. He also thinks it wouldn’t have hurt for her to make her Grand Ole Opry debut. He thinks if she would have done all that, country music fans and those within in the industry would have looked on Cowboy Carter more fondly: “I promise you that if Beyonce would have made her album in town and had written with writers and producers that were here in town and popped out somewhere on Broadway and did CMA Fest and debuted at the Grand Ole Opry, people’s reception of her in Nashville would have been a little different. But part of her album was saying, ‘Hey, I’m not gonna do this the way the establishment wants me to. Because I’m Beyonce and I’m gonna bring my own audience and we’re gonna do it that way.’ I think that’s honorable, but I think that’s where you see the biggest disconnect.” He’s not wrong, but of course, she explicitly said it wasn’t a country album… why would she play the corporate country music game? She made a point to NOT do that… And it’s not the first time we’ve seen someone from the country music world with that take. Breland’s comments on Beyoncé were very similar to comments that country music star Luke Bryan made. During an appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, the host asked Luke Bryan his thoughts on the CMAs not nominating Cowboy Carter and Beyoncé – and Luke had an interesting perspective on it, seeming to imply that Beyoncé hasn’t done much to try to make friends in country music: “Everybody loved that Beyoncé made a country album. Nobody’s mad about it. But where things get a little tricky and, and you know, if you’re gonna make country albums, come into our world and be country with us a little bit. Like, don’t, like Beyoncé can do it exactly what she wants to. She’s probably the biggest star in music. But come to an award show and high five us. And have fun and get in the family too. And I’m not saying she didn’t do that.” Of course, Luke got a ton of blowback for that argument, but once again… he’s right. So maybe Beyoncé should consider running it back and getting more involved in Nashville if she truly wants to be accepted by the country music community? But something tells me, that’s not at all what she’s trying to do… not at all.The post Breland Explains Why Country Music Didn’t Embrace Beyoncé’s Dip Into The Genre: “She Didn’t Come To Town” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.