This is not a judgment of "Texas Hold 'Em," it's a great track, nearly a one listen hit. But if you think the country audience has embraced it...
You've got another think coming.
We do not only have duplicity in politics, we've got it in music too. Those who are not students of the game, who are exposed to this headline, which is everywhere, will believe that race relation issues have been exterminated, that Black Beyonce has been embraced by White Country.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
It all comes down to Lil Nas X. After signing the man, Columbia ginned up a fake controversy. Saying that "Billboard"'s charts were racist, that the entire country community was racist, because they didn't acknowledge the success of "Old Town Road," they were boycotting it.
And what did "Billboard" do? Say "Old Town Road" wasn't country, therefore it wasn't on the country chart. As for country radio, have you ever listened to it? "Old Town Road" fits not at all.
Columbia laughed all the way to the bank. This fake controversy gained media traction and it blew up Lil Nas X even bigger. Let's be clear, "Old Town Road" was pretty gigantic before this fake controversy, but after it the track became ubiquitous. Billy Ray Cyrus, who hadn't had a hit in eons, glommed on to the controversy, cutting a duet on the track with Lil Nas X... It was another music business victory, no harm, no foul.
Well, not really. Actions have consequences.
Now Beyonce's "Texas Hold 'Em" is a lot more country than "Old Town Road," and it's possible that country radio may embrace the cut, BUT THIS HASN'T HAPPENED YET!
Check the latest Mediabase Country chart, there are forty cuts, AND "Texas Hold 'Em" is nowhere to be seen! Doubt me? Check it out for yourself": rb.gy/14213h
So what is a country hit?
Well, according to "Billboard," it's a combination of airplay, sales and streams, a secret sauce. And one thing is for sure, Beyonce is a superstar, she had ton of sales and streams, but seemingly no country radio airplay, not a spin to be found.
Now if you want to have a chart with all genres included, be my guest. As a matter of fact, it exists, it's called the "Hot 100."
Now that chart is a miasma of obfuscation, talk about a special sauce... It includes single sales, radio airplay, digital downloads and streams. DIGITAL DOWNLOADS??
I get the e-mail all the time, some track is number one at the iTunes Store. That's like telling me how many DVDs a movie sold. It's all streaming now. Even worse, digital downloads and physical sales heavily outweigh streams in the formula employed by "Billboard."
So let me get this straight... Almost all of consumption is streaming, but when it comes to the chart...streaming is a second-class citizen.
Now on the Hot 100, Jack Harlow's "Lovin On Me" eclipses "Texas Hold 'Em." That's a bad headline, #2 only worked for Avis.
Now the definitive statement when it comes to streaming, when it comes to consumption, is the Spotify Top 50. On that "Texas Hold 'Em" is also number two.
Now "Texas Hold 'Em" does appear on Spotify's Hot Country, but it is not number one, it's number ten.
So "Billboard," fearful of getting into an "Old Town Road" kerfuffle, considered "Texas Hold 'Em" to be country, where it promptly went to number one, where the big pond eclipsed the little creek. It's like bringing a major leaguer to a Little League game.
But to what degree has the country audience embraced "Texas Hold 'Em"?
Now some country fans may be listening to Beyonce, to "Texas Hold 'Em," they may even be listening to Metallica. But the Nashville based scene... So far, it doesn't look like Beyonce is a factor whatsoever.
BUT SHE'S NUMBER ONE!
Let's be very clear, "Texas Hold 'Em" is a hit, a very big hit. But is it a COUNTRY HIT?
What are the criteria for a country song?
That's murky, but I'd say to be a country hit a track must "fit the format" and be embraced by the audience. We can debate whether "Texas Hold 'Em" fits the format, but one thing is for sure, it has not been embraced by the country audience in any significant way.
Is it because the country audience is racist? Or because the country audience hasn't heard the track on the radio, the last bastion of a controlled ecosystem?
Or maybe the country audience doesn't see "Texas Hold 'Em" as country. They see Beyonce as pop, as living in a different domain.
This is all gray. And even by discussing it one risks being called a racist.
But come on, how come we can't face facts here. The music business is as bad as Kellyanne Conway and her cronies. To say "Texas Hold 'Em" is the number one country cut is to employ alternative facts.
And who does this behoove?
Beyonce. Period.
And "Billboard" is nothing without the labels, piss them off at your peril. Hell, "Billboard" has the backbone of a jellyfish.
Could everyone agree to consider "Texas Hold 'Em" to be country, could it be embraced by the country community?
That could certainly happen, but it hasn't happened yet.
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