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Seriously, just quit it.<\/p>\n
Accusing someone of \u201cgatekeeping\u201d is just an intellectually lazy, thought and discussion-ending enterprise designed to win arguments online as opposed to addressing the very real and systemic issues behind why some artists are favored in the music industry, and some are not in ways that disallow meritocracy and basic fairness from proliferating.<\/p>\n
Just like the term \u201cwoke,\u201d \u201cgatekeeping\u201d can be hard to define. But the basic idea is that certain people are kept out of certain segments of society due to who they are, and what they do in a way that is inherently unfair. In country music, this often comes up when performers who initially made their name in other genres decide they want to start recording country, though it can also be used to describe perceived biases against someone due to race, gender, sexual orientation, or place of origin.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s definitely the case that in the history of country music, it\u2019s been harder and easier for certain people to break through. That\u2019s certainly still the case today when it comes to country women. But the way this \u201cgatekeeping\u201d claim is most commonly deployed is against people who are actually trying to defend imbalances and injustices in the country genre slanted towards established and wealthy performers from outside of country attempting to tap into country\u2019s increasingly lucrative marketplace, while artists native to country continue to get shaded out due to these high-profile interlopers.<\/p>\n
For example, far and away the performer we\u2019ve seen characterized as the biggest victim of \u201cgatekeeping\u201d in country music is Beyonc\u00e9. Yet her album Cowboy Carter was allowed to chart at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart despite Beyonc\u00e9 herself saying it wasn\u2019t country. Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s song \u201cTexas Hold \u2018Em\u201d charted #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and was played on mainstream country radio when promoted to it. And Beyonce won Grammys in two separate country categories in 2025, including Best Country Album.<\/p>\n
The idea that Beyonc\u00e9 was the victim of \u201cgatekeeping\u201d in country music is ludicrous. Previously the complaint had been that the Grammys themselves we\u2019re gatekeeping Beyonc\u00e9 even though she was the most nominated and awarded artist in Grammy history since she had never won the all genre Album of the Year. Lo and behold, she even accomplished this with Cowboy Carter. Yet still, the insistence that Beyonc\u00e9 is somehow a victim of gatekeeping persists.<\/p>\n
But this isn\u2019t just about Beyonc\u00e9. Lord knows that who argument has been hashed out ad nauseam. Last week, hip-hop artist BigXthaPlug had the #2 album in country music with his straight hip-hop album I Hope You\u2019re Happy. He\u2019s also had a #1 song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and was invited to the CMA Fest. Yet despite all this success in country, criticize BigXthaPlug\u2019s, and people will present him as a victim of the country experience due to supposed \u201cgatekeeping.\u201d <\/p>\n
In truth what\u2019s happening is that the individuals and institutions that are actually in a position to be gatekeepers and are entrusted to keep at least some semblance of order in the country genre are selling out their own constituencies and exacerbating institutional distrust by being so completely permissive and subservient to any and all artists who want to claim affiliation with country. They often do so in fear of getting slapped with this gatekeeping accusation. They know this stuff isn\u2019t country. But instead of taking even a moderate stance or drawing some sort of line, they simply acquiesce and let it pass through, if not outright promote it. <\/p>\n