Beyonce’s move into country music with her upcoming Act II has provoked a wave of varied reactions throughout the country music scene. While some country musicians embrace Queen Bey, others quickly categorize her music as pop, resulting in a sharp divide among fans and industry insiders.
The incident occurred recently in Oklahoma, when a local country music station, KYKC 100.1 FM, owned by The Chickasaw Nation in Byng, refused to broadcast Beyonce’s new country single, “Texas Hold’Em.” The dispute started when a listener named Justin requested the song, only to receive an email from the station that plainly stated, “We do not play Beyonce on KYKC as we are a country music station. Thank you.”
KYKC’s refusal to play Beyonce’s new country singles has irritated the BeyHive. Many Beyhive members turned to social media to express their displeasure with the radio station’s decision not to play Beyoncé’s new songs.
Regardless of whether Country radio stations broadcast Beyoncé’s new tunes. She’s still projected to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart when her album is released on March 29th.