Far from being historical anomalies, these records not only document the remarkable, though too-often unacknowledged participation of African Americans in this genre of American music, but they also reflect the significant amount of interracial musical cooperation that produced these recordings. Historian Patrick Huber attempts to shed light on this gross and willfully neglectful in his essay, “Black Hillbillies”: 'Examining these prewar records on which African Americans performed can tell us much about the commercial hillbilly music of the 1920s and 1930s. Meanwhile, white artists were able to play on soul records with fairly little resistance. Mcclinton made important contributions to the genre, but never charted particularly high. In many ways, Lil Nas X finding it hard to gain acceptance in the world of mainstream country mirrors a time when influential black artists found it difficult to get airplay on country radio. Lil Nas X being singled out makes little sense in the context of artists like Florida Georgia Line and Brantley Gilbert. Hip-hop beats, pop rap cadence and a treated vocal style associated with contemporary R&B are often used by artists at the forefront of country music's recent evolution - albeit white artists. With no real breakdown of why the song was yanked from the Top Country 100, the public's natural inclination was to theorize it had something to do with Lil Nas X being a black artist. While the sun was setting on America's minstrel era, the music industry became more covert about exploiting artists of color. It has weighed in on what should and should not be considered country music for approximately 80 years, beginning back when it referred to the genre as 'hillbilly music.' The publication removed songs from its charts for what it deemed inappropriate lyrical content, which it called 'double-meaning records.' According to journalist Nick Tosches, author of 'Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock 'n' Roll': 'When Billboard on Mapublished its first list of hillbilly records, it did so with a note that 'double-meaning records are purposely omitted from this column.'

This plucking and pruning of the charts is not new for the monopolistic Billboard. Such stretching and exploring will both grow the audience and help to resolve some of the issues from country’s dark past. In the process, they are pushing the limits of this very traditional genre - in good ways. Musgraves, Ramsey and now Lil Nas X are living, breathing memes - able to rob the spotlight from other manufactured and vetted pop acts.

Lil nas x is for country book