‘If that ain’t country, tell me what is’: Why “going country” has become a common pivot for pop stars

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The Commercial Appeal of “Going Country”

While country music has always had a robust following, its popularity has increased significantly over the past several years, with a number of hit songs that have crossed over into the mainstream. For instance, Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs are two country artists who released chart-topping singles in recent years that out-performed a slew of songs from musicians of other genres. With this in mind, it makes sense why record labels would encourage pop artists to consider incorporating country sensibilities into their music.

The commercial accessibility of country music paid off for many of the aforementioned artists who went country this year. In its first week of sales, Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” earned 407,000 units. According to Billboard, that number is 75,000 more units earned than those of the first week sales for the Grammy winner’s critically acclaimed house-influenced “Renaissance.” 

Furthermore, the two longest-running number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this year were Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” a drinking anthem from one of Beyoncé’s genre-bending collaborators on “Cowboy Carter,” and Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” which was his first official foray into the genre. To sum things up, the point is this: country music sells. Its broad appeal is a great avenue for boosting sales and expanding one’s audience. It is no coincidence that so many pop artists have released their takes on country music this year; rather, it is a careful and strategic business move with the weight of industry behind—and the math is mathing.

Why “Going Country” is a Perfect Era

But there is another reason why “going country” is in vogue right now. In the pop music world, we are in the era of “eras,” in which artists—more often than not, female artists—are expected to pivot from one clearly defined and cohesive aesthetic to another with each new album they release. Perhaps we have Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour to credit for this trend or, at least, for revitalizing it. Though Swifties would love to believe their icon invented the music industry, critics would argue Madonna was primarily responsible for shaping the concept of eras in modern pop. Regardless, in 2024, when pop artists announce their new eras, expectations, and standards are at an all-time high. The songs need to sound different yet connected, while the vision for the cover art and music videos needs to be distinct and precise. It is the perfectly intertwined marriage of sound and visuals that makes a pop era work well.

Country music is unique in the fact that it is one of those musical genres that is accompanied by a timeless aesthetic and legacy—from the instrumentation to the songwriting structure to the whole cowboy look of it all. The sound of country conjures a clear image in the mind, which makes the genre about as cohesive as it gets. In other words, it perfectly fits the criteria for the modern pop star era.

But eras come and go, and for a pop star, “going country” is usually a temporary phase, one that often lasts merely the lifespan of an album cycle. Pop stars who “go country” rarely “stay in” country. Nobody is expecting Beyoncé’s next album to have the same sound as “Cowboy Carter;” in fact, they’ll want a whole new era and would probably be disappointed with a “Cowboy Carter 2”.

This is wildly different from the trend of country stars who transition into the pop world. Once Taylor Swift released “1989,” she mostly stayed in the pop sphere, only to return to country for her ongoing re-recording project and the occasional country-influenced song. Even “Folklore,” which was considered by many to be a return to form for Swift, was more of an experiment with indie folk and still ultimately deemed a pop album by the Recording Academy. It seems that “going country” is like moving to a different place for a short period of time but always with the intent of returning home elsewhere, while “going pop” is like moving across the country and never coming back.

Finding Creative Freedom in Country Music

In the risk of not sounding too cynical, “going country” does not solely have to be about commercial viability and what we’ll call “era suitability.” The pop artists whose country-leaning experiments have gone over well with both critics and fans are the ones who have pushed creative and social boundaries within the genre.

Most obviously, “Cowboy Carter” uses country—the acoustic instruments, the image-fueled songwriting, even the gray horse on the cover art—to call for a reckoning regarding the systemic exclusion of Black artists within the genre despite their contributions to its legacy. Sure, “Cowboy Carter” topped the charts and became a headline-grabbing era for the artist, but what makes the album stand taller than, for instance, Zayn’s 2024 country album is the way in which she found new purpose within the genre, using its form to express something new. 

There is a similar sense of excitement with Chappell Roan’s new country single. “The Giver” certainly feels inspired by late-90s Shania Twain, but what makes the song feel fresh is the lyrical content and the person singing it. After all, when have we ever seen an openly queer artist lean into a country aesthetic to make a song about intimacy between women? In a now-viral moment during her SNL performance, Chappell broke into the following spoken-word aside: “All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right. Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right!” Like Beyoncé, Chappell is using country tropes about masculinity and southern charm to express a new perspective within the genre, this time with a more tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.

Of course, not every pop star who goes country needs to imbue their music with social commentary. However, the storied legacy of Americana within the genre allows for that kind of commentary to be made, especially by artists who previously were not afforded a seat at the metaphorical “country music table.” After all, country music is a genre primarily associated with the United States; it should come as no surprise that artists would consider using the genre to say something about it.

Regardless of whether or not a pop artist wants to push those boundaries thematically, do not be surprised if the trend of “going country” continues into 2025 and beyond. After all, country music has been and, by all accounts, will continue to be an aesthetically cohesive genre with broad commercial appeal.

Thumbnail attribution: Pop Crave

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