Terrence Says, a black moderate blogger, highlights the first black woman to appear on the Country Billboard Singles Chart in 20 years. Her hit song is called "Country Girl", and her self-titled album drops October 23: "At the age of 19, Palmer reportedly turned an offer from Flyte Tyme Records (superproducers James 'Jimmy Jam' Harris III and Terry Lewis) because she felt that country music was her first love. Woah. What a confident move.....Is St. Louis [where Ms. Palmer was raised], a region with a storied R&B, gospel, jazz, rock, and blues history, adding a country twist to its musical repertoire? First, St. Louis rapper Nelly came on the scene with his debut album, 'Country Grammar', in 2000. Then in 2004, Nelly did a collaboration, 'Over and Over", with Country music sensation Tim McGraw, which was on Nelly's 'Suit' album, which was half of the first double hip-hop CD (Sweat & Suit) to be released in history. "Over and Over" flew up the charts to #1 upon its release. And female country sensation Gretchen Wilson, a self-proclaimed 'redneck woman', from Pocahontas, Illinois (rural/suburban St. Louis), has seen lots of success in recent years as well."
My response: How does a person born outside Pittsburgh and raised in suburban St. Louis come to love country music?! That singing twang can't be natural, although she does sound more soulful than the typical country singer. But the song's lyrics are interesting, that one does not need to be from Georgia to have what she calls country values. Hell, if Shania Twain (from urban Canada) pulled it off, why not Rissi Palmer? Especially since her grandmother, Mamie Shropshire, is from Georgia and has a cameo appearance in the video. I like "Country Girl", and may add it to the few country songs on my iPod. I love the video scenes of the black gospel choir, black women in the hair salon, and women from around the world who proclaim to be country girls. Ms. Palmer is implicitly declaring that a black person does not mainly have to love hip hop or soul to be authentically black. Also, that country music's roots nor old-school values hardly rest with white folks. As a black woman who is mainly a hard rock fan and comes from an old-school black family, I can appreciate the message. Do your country thang, sista. How likely will BET play this video? Yeah, right.
Rissi Palmer: "A Country Girl"
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3 comments:
It's a shame that I have been in the states for months and I haven't heard anything about this beautiful baby sista. Now back overseas I found her on the web and looking for more downloads and the cd. I love your music and style keep rockin. STL baby Jeannnetta
How can a woman like this participate in such an inherently racist activity like country music? I'm really horrified that this girl has no idea of her own culture - so much that she apes the dominant culture instead of celebrating her own. I'll bet that her university had a really weak or nonexistent diversity programme.
anonymous at 5:22 AM wrote the most irrational, self-contradictory comment: country music is a genre and is no more or less "racist" than hip-hop or opera. Projecting your value perception on "a woman like this" is pointless, as she's a free-thinking individual making her own choices. As for "culture", which definition are you talking about and since when does any cultural 'norm' define an individual? Finally, wouldn't a university diversity programme introduce all to the variety of interests, skills and creative talents that make us all human? Who's to limit someone else's creativity and exploration? You weakly contrast some "dominant culture" with another to be celebrated and leave no room for the very open-mindedness you pretend to promote. Tolerance must start somewhere. Why not with you?
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