RCA As the country music industry makes strides toward being more inclusive, “Worldwide Beautiful” hitmaker Kane Brown couldn’t be more pleased.
The struggle reminds the Chattanooga, Tennessee-native of his teen days when he worked to make country converts of his friends.
“Country music’s such a broad scene,” Kane reflects. “Once I got to high school, because I went to so many, you know, there were some of them that I would put country music on and they’d be like, ‘Aw, man, come on.'”
“But then I’d have that other friend that would get in the car,” he continues, “and they would put country music on. And I was like, ‘Heck yeah!’ You know, it’s something that your friend groups don’t listen to all the time, but you gotta love it.”
“My friend groups that didn’t listen to it at the time, I pulled them into it now,” he adds. “So they’re learning about all these different artists.”
Though there’s still work to do, Kane’s pleased that the number of Black artists finding success is on the rise.
“It’s just great the way that country music is being so diverse right now,” he says, “especially me and Darius Rucker and Jimmie Allen and Mickey Guyton. And, you know, I mean, there’s Black artists coming in and trying to be a part of the country genre, which I think is awesome.”
“It’s different, but it’s cool. I mean, I’m different, so it’s awesome just to see it, you know,” he smiles.
Kane’s own “Worship You” is now climbing the chart alongside “Famous Friends,” his duet with Chris Young.
Kane vies for Album of the Year for Mixtape, Vol. 1 and Video for “Worldwide Beautiful” at the ACM Awards, where he’s also set to perform. The show airs live Sunday April 18 at 8PM ET on CBS.
By Stephen Hubbard
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