I hate to say that I saw this coming. After many Beyoncé fans were upset that she was "snubbed" for not receiving any CMA Award nominations, and the Grammy Awards responded by heavily nominating her crossover record, Cowboy Carter, I knew this meant she would be taking home some awards. However, I hoped that the Recording Academy would not give her the esteemed Best Country Album award. She did say verbatim that it was not a country album. "This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album. This is COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!” https://www.instagram.com/p/DFl-vGWR4nF/ While yes, Beyoncé was inspired by the history of country music while making the record, and collaborated with some heavy hitters like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, any genuine country fans took one listen to this record and shook their head that nope, it was not country. While I know our readers were less than thrilled to see Taylor Swift say her name when presenting the award, Beyoncé did look truly shocked to receive the award. https://twitter.com/consequence/status/1886237129283432471 During her acceptance speech, the Texas native said that genre is simple a concept used to keep artists complacent in their music, which is why she branched out to make the country-inspired record: “I really was not expecting this. Wow. Genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists ... I’m still in shock. Thank you so much for this honor.” While I think the walls of genres are bending more than ever, that does not mean the roots that initially defined that genre are being abandoned. This might be a hot take (if you're a fan of Cowboy Carter, please don't cancel me), but I am sure that some people would be really offended if a country record were featured in the Best R&B Album or Best Rap Album categories. I don't see the hatred toward Beyoncé because people don't like her music; I personally like some of the songs on the album. I see the hate directed toward the fact that this album would be a better fit in other musical categories. Because of this, social media is abuzz about her receiving the award. Check out some of the posts. https://twitter.com/whatsdabizness/status/1886235879049396579 https://twitter.com/JoblessALT/status/1886234659543277952 https://twitter.com/StevenHowe365/status/1886239603247686101 https://twitter.com/jesusgamergang/status/1886239510888927330 https://twitter.com/RedFlower1866/status/1886239248677843398 https://twitter.com/NovaOctane/status/1886239211621412881 https://twitter.com/purrfectlyme143/status/1886238987917955146 https://twitter.com/themoonmija/status/1886238955575644394 https://twitter.com/KayleaCrawford/status/1886238944066674968 https://twitter.com/ems_b/status/1886238901297381810 https://twitter.com/NotKennyRogers/status/1886238881818820977 https://twitter.com/eric_crosthwait/status/1886238829331222745 https://twitter.com/johnrich/status/1886236441325248551 While country fans weren't exactly thrilled about the win for Cowboy Carter, it seems everybody was pumped to see Sierra Ferrell become one of the stars of the night, taking home four wins for Best American Roots Performance for “Lighthouse,” Best Americana Album, Best Americana Performance and Best American Roots Song. Sierra has been one of the most underappreciated and underrecognized artists in country music for a while now, but her sophomore album Trail of Tears really seemed to cause people to stand up and take notice of Sierra as one of the best talents in country music. Of course awards shows like the CMA Awards and the ACMs would never recognize an artist like Sierra Ferrell, so while it's frustrating that Beyonce is winning awards in the country category, it's nice to see real country artists like Sierra get the recognition they deserve but don't get from the country awards shows.