Country imports will always spar a variety of fiery reactions from fans. On one hand, you have people that welcome outsiders with open arms. Artists like Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson were very open minded to the idea of Beyoncé. Additionally, Nashville essentially rolled out the red carpet for Post Malone's debut in the genre. Conversely, there are those who vehemently despise 'outsiders' in country music. The worst of these people carry a lot of problematic undertones. But others earnestly feel like these newcomers don't actually care about country. Now, Kelsea Ballerini is giving her two cents towards the big debate.
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Recently, The Voice coach spoke with Elle to discuss everything from her acting career and upcoming album to her personal life. Given her status in country music, the publication found it necessary to ask Kelsea what she makes of artists rushing to try their hand at country music.
Whether it's Beyoncé, Post Malone, Lana Del Rey or Zayn Malik, it seems like everyone wants a taste of Nashville flavor. Is that a bad thing, to let just anyone waltz in? Let Ballerini call it, not at all. In fact, she even encourages it and wants country acts to give other genres a whirl too.
Kelsea Ballerini Advocates for Artists to Try All Different Kinds of Genres
"If we, as country artists, feel like we can have a collab on top 40 or have a collab with an R&B artist, why wouldn't we give a welcome to someone else? I think that's where people who are pushing back really need to check themselves, because music is for everybody. And specifically country music, the marquee of it is it's the people's story," Ballerini stresses.
I hear what she's saying. Guys like Jelly Roll are more than comfortable in Nashville and he came from a hip-hop background initially. However, there are also artists who don't really do it the right way. They don't do their due diligence in understanding the history, studious in understanding what makes country great.
The same goes on the other foot; if an artist like Ballerini wants to pivot in rap or R&B or dance, you have to know what you're doing. Otherwise, you're making this amorphous sludge that doesn't really mean anything. That's the mark of a bad artist.
