Right, here’s why a country radio station refused to play Beyoncé’s new song

Beyoncé had all of our jaws on the floor on Superbowl Sunday when she announced new music. And not just any music— country music, no less. This era is for the Daddy Lessons girlies. We should have seen it coming with all the disco cowgirl hats at the Renaissance world tour, tbh. Yee haw.

Anyway, things all took a turn for the unexpected at the start of this week when a country radio station in Oklahoma refused to play Beyoncé’s new track TEXAS HOLD ‘EM after a listener requested it.

“Hi, we do not play Beyonce on KYKC as we are a country music station. Thank you,” the 100.1 KYKC host told them via email. And endless messages of complaint from Beyoncé fans followed, with some even claiming the station was “racist”.

I requested Texas Hold ‘Em at my local country radio station (KYKC) and after requesting, i received an email from the radio station stating “We do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music station. @BeyLegion pic.twitter.com/eQksQemk6m

— JUSTIN ★ (@jussatto) February 13, 2024

The incident sparked outrage as Black musicians have often been excluded from the country music scene: “This station needs to be held accountable for their blatant racism and discrimination against Beyoncé,” the fan whose request was denied claimed. “This is absolutely ridiculous and racist. You guys should be ashamed. I grew up listening to your station.”

However, another disk jockey at 100.1 KYKC has since told reporters the request for Beyoncé’s music had been sent to a staff member who was unaware Beyoncé had released country music – despite the fact they work at a country music station.

Following the backlash, 100.1 KYKC did a dramatic U-turn and agreed to play Beyoncé’s country single on air after all. “Lots of calls coming in for Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ‘Em,” they wrote on Twitter/X. “It’s coming up in minutes,” they promised alongside a photo of the song in their queue.

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“Guess we have to teach them the hard way. again,” one fan reacted. “You’d think they’d learn after the Old Town Road incident and the protest led to it being the biggest billboard song of all time.” 

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Featured image credit via Parkwood/Colombia