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Off the Charts
By Gene Johns 4/14/24
The phrase “off the charts” usually refers to something that exceeds the normal limits or expectations, is better than most, is successful, and is accomplished. It generally means something very good. But that is not why I titled this essay “Off the Charts.” This essay is about how country music has been hijacked by today's country music executives, producers, and radio station programmers heavily influenced by the pop and hip-hop genres. As a result, leaving many outstanding real country music artists off the airplay list of country music radio station programmers and subsequently “off the charts.”
Before I continue with my "off the charts" commentary, I think it's important to define pop and hip-hop music to clarify what I am talking about.
Pop music is a melting pot of styles and genres and appeals to a wide audience. As defined by musicgrotto.com, today's pop music will nearly always have a danceable rhythm or beat. It tends to have repeated choruses and hooks and is written in basic formats, such as verse-chorus-verse-chorus. Today's pop music often uses electronic instruments (techno music) such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers. Pop music borrows from and overlaps with rock, urban, dance, Latin, and country music. The simplest definition of pop music is that it is music with a wide appeal and the largest audience.
Hip-hop music is a mélange of rhythmic tunes and rhyming words that articulate personal pain and is often accompanied by hand clapping or finger snapping. The most familiar aspect of Hip-Hop is rapping lyrics to a background of lively music.
Country music is a form of popular music originating in the rural southern US. It is traditionally a mixture of ballads and dance tunes played characteristically with the fiddle, guitar, steel guitar, drums, and keyboard. Traditional country music has a recognizable melody featuring the singer's vocal skills and a distinctive country sound. In the early years of country music, it also included western ballads, which resulted in the name Country and Western music. Sadly, western ballads are no longer included with country music, and the term country and western has been shortened to country.
A critical review and critique of the songs played today on country music radio and television will discover the heavy influence of pop, hip-hop, and techno music. Gone are the days of traditional country music with the sounds of the fiddle, steel guitar, or both, and an easily identifiable artist. Today's so-called country music artists reflect a hip-hop singing style with a pop sound including techno instrumentation.
I don't necessarily blame them. After all, it is a business, and the number one goal of business is to make money. I get it! Just don't use country music radio to promote your fake country crap! Create a new genre, call it Americana or perhaps even the obvious name, pop country; just don't call it country. Develop a new radio network for pop hip-hop country and get out of country music radio and off the country music charts. Make country music country again!
As I mentioned earlier, plenty of "real" country music artists continue to produce outstanding "real" country music. You can find them on the internet or any music platforms, such as iTunes, IHeart, Spotify, and even Amazon!
The songs played on today's country music radio and television are shamelessly presented by the Academy of Country Music (ACM), Country Music Television (CMT), and the Country Music Association (CMA) as the best in the genre. Clearly, most of the music played on country music platforms, including awards presented by the ACM, the CMA, and CMT, is mislabeled as country music. It's only a matter of time before fake country artists and songs are inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It will be a sad day in country music history when that happens.
I will tell you that I like some songs and artists on today's country music radio, even though they are not real country singers or songs. It may surprise those who know me that I like other music besides real country music. I have a problem with calling those artists and songs country when clearly they are not.
I suppose one could say the success of Carey Underwood after winning American Idol is off the charts. She was promoted as a new country music artist and exploded into the world of country music. In a relatively short time, she became a superstar in country music. Her style and selection of releases for airplay and promoting her artistry have produced (at the time of this writing) 16 number ones on the Billboard Country charts. Her popularity and success have earned her a net worth of over 140 million dollars. Not bad for a “country” girl from Muskogee, Oklahoma.
There is only one thing wrong with Carrie Underwood's success: apart from a few releases (Jesus, Take the Wheel, and Before He Cheats), her string of hits is mostly pop in style, not real country music artistry. The Pop and Hip-hop sound has hijacked country music, and Carrie Underwood has become the Queen of Hijacked Country.
Carrie has plenty of company in the takeover or (do I dare say) the insurrection of country music. Other fake country artists include Sam Hunt, Kane Brown, Chris Lane, and Dustin Lynch, to name a few. They and numerous other so-called country stars today have (paraphrasing Barack Obama) fundamentally changed country music. It makes me sick when I review today’s Billboard Top 40 Country. It’s full of fake country.
There are a few holdouts from the world of real country music that still chart on the Billboard Country Charts, such as Blake Shelton, Cody Johnson, Jon Pardi, Miranda Lambert, and a recent surprise, the very talented real country music artist Lainey Wilson. Please, Lainey, do not go the way of Carrie Underwood and drift over to the pop side.
I’m sure I have left out a few others off my list of real country music artists still managing to make the Billboard Country charts. I haven’t listened to county music radio in years because of the insurrection of country music by the pop and hip-hop takeover of the world of country music.
Scotty McCreery (an American Idol winner) has charted a few of his releases on the Billboard Country charts, but Scotty is too country for the lost world of country music on the radio. I think Scotty is an outstanding real country music talent and, in the world of real country music, is a superstar. Keep going, Scotty!
Over the years, I have discovered tons of real country music talent by searching YouTube and Amazon Music. I found Cody Johnson years ago on Amazon Music before his recent noteworthy hits like Human and Working Boots. In the years before the pop takeover, Cody would have been a huge country star. In today’s world of so-called country music, I think George Strait and Alan Jackson would have trouble even getting airplay on country music radio if they were starting their career today.
I won’t list all those great real country music artists I have discovered on YouTube and Amazon Music. Still, I want to highlight a few of my favorites: Randall King, Dillon Carmichael, Mo Pitney, Ashley McBryde & Carly Pearce, Mitch Russell, Kylie Frey, Kyle Jennings, Kyle Park, and the group Midland.
There are plenty of real country music artists that I did not name above. In the future, I plan on writing a new book about country music and listing all those real country music artists I discovered buried beneath the trash pile of pop, hip-hop country. In the meantime, I will continue to dig deep down into the fertile fields of the internet and enjoy real country music that is off the charts.
We applaud Randy Travis for his first release in over
ten years. Great job, Randy, and a really good song!
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