As Aldean and Combs top country music charts, the genre's Black history reemerges

Just a few weeks ago, country music star Jason Aldean released a new song, Try That In A Small Town, to relatively modest fanfare. 

Then its controversial music video was released, juxtaposing real-life footage of city vandalism, theft and violence — and clashes between Black Lives Matter protesters and police — with the lyrics "That might fly in a city / But try that in a small town / See how far you get."

Critics have said the music video threatens vigilantism and promotes racial violence, pointing to the use of Black Lives Matter protest footage — and the fact that part of the music video was filmed in front of a courthouse known for being the site of the 1927 lynching of a Black teenager.

WATCH | The controversial video for Try That In A Small Town:

All the while, another popular American country singer named Luke Combs released a recording of Tracy Chapman's 1988 hit, Fast Car. The song has soared to the top of the country charts, but some listeners have lamented that Combs' success is built on a Black woman's artistry. 

The success of each song has prompted discussion of who country music is for and what kinds of artists succeed in the genre.

"Country often does not recognize the impact or influence of Black artists in the genre," said Christopher Wares, a Canadian professor and assistant chair of the music business management department at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He said both Aldean's music video and Combs' recording are "bringing up some very important conversations about recognizing the influence of Black artists and Black culture and history in country music."

The genre has a long history of institutional and systemic racism that can be traced back to the 1920s and 30s, Wares said, when music created by Black artists was dubbed "race records" and music by white artists was called "hillbilly records." 

The latter category was a precursor to modern country, leading to the perception of country music as being created by white artists for a white audience — even though, like rock 'n' roll, its influences are often rooted in music by Black artists.

"Many of the biggest country artists were mentored by Black musicians … Even the banjo, which is a cornerstone in bluegrass and country music. That instrument was based off of a West African instrument," Wares said.

As a result, radio stations and record companies often didn't know how to market Black country artists, making it difficult for Black artists to break back into the mainstream institutions of a genre that they played an important role in creating, he added.

The discussion around Combs' cover of Fast Car relates to "a historical issue in the music business about credit and recognition, where across all genres, Black artists have consistently been unrecognized," Wares said.

WATCH | Luke Combs' cover of Fast Car: