Earlier this week, Beyoncé performed "Daddy Lessons" at the Country Music Awards with the Dixie Chicks. It was an incredible performance. But something struck me as off when the Dixie Chicks, rather than the Queen, sang the entire second verse.
I think it was the realization that while "Daddy Lessons" is a country-style song, it belongs to an artist who is not a country artist. Having Beyoncé perform a song of hers at a country music awards show, regardless of the style of the song in question, is inappropriate. I was almost indignant. Why was Beyoncé given a position of authority in an awards ceremony for a genre that she has never been involved with until "Daddy Lessons"? Performers at an awards show should be icons that are relevant to the art being honored. So a country artist should have performed, and not Beyoncé. Granted, I hate country music, but it should be allowed to stand on its own. It does not need an "endorsement" from a totally different contemporary prominent artist.
This is the same flavor of indignation that I feel when Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize in Literature. Or when Macklemore releases "Same Love". (Hell, if Macklemore releases any "hip hop" music.) Or when Bono wins the "Woman of the Year" award. Or when a white artist performs at the BET Awards. What gives these people the right to claim authority in areas outside their field?
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