Cassadee Pope Is Leaving Country Music and Returning to Rock So She's No Longer 'Shamed for Speaking Out'

The winner of 'The Voice' season 3 opened up to Rolling Stone about her decision to leave the country music industry

Cassadee Pope is opening up about her decision to transition out of the country music genre and back into rock.

The Voice winner, 34, spoke candidly to Rolling Stone in an interview published on Thursday about why she's decided to leave Nashville behind in favor of pursuing the alt-rock music she got her start making. She attributed the decision in part to the sexism she has experienced within country and the genre’s lack of widespread progressive politics.

“I realize every genre has problematic people in it. I’m not saying there’s not a frontman in a band who hasn’t been accused of something in rock music. But I guess rock is in my bones more. You’re not completely ostracized and shamed for speaking out,” said the singer, who went country after winning The Voice in 2012 on Blake Shelton’s team.

Related: How Cassadee Pope's Boyfriend Sam Palladio Inspired Her New Song: 'I Wanted It to Be a Little Naughty' (Exclusive)

The lead vocalist of the pop-punk band Hey Monday told the outlet that she’s found herself frustrated with the mechanisms of the country industry as she’s educated herself more on topics like intersectional feminism and racism.

She also explained that getting told she had to “get in nice” with programmers at country radio or risk not getting airplay, as well as the reaction to her viral response to a transphobic post made by Jason Aldean's wife Brittany, led to her leaving country behind.

“In that moment, I felt so proud,” Pope said of when she responded on social media in 2022 to an Instagram post made by Aldean thanking her “parents for not changing [her] gender” amid her “tomboy phase” as a child. “I had no feeling of regret. I just kept my head down and kept going.”

The “Wasting All These Tears” singer continued, “It’s only been the past few months that I’ve let my guard down in therapy and said, ‘Wait, I actually wasn’t OK.’ But I think that kind of comes with the territory of including activism in your life. You’re not going to please everyone.”

Related: Cassadee Pope Says She's 'Moving Away from the Country Space' with Levi Hummon Collaboration 'RSVP'

Eyeing a spring release for her upcoming all-rock fourth studio album, the musician told Rolling Stone that it has felt liberating to not only feel like she’s “at the right place at the right time” in a genre that better suits her, but able to sing about empowerment and topics like sexual pleasure.

“Leaving a genre where you don’t really hear women singing about that kind of thing, or, God forbid, they wear something scandalous, it just felt really fresh and exciting,” Pope added.

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According to Rolling Stone, Pope ended up becoming an independent artist by 2020, as her former country record label Big Machine dropped her and scrapped one of her projects. She last released a full-length LP, Thrive, in 2021.

Related: Cassadee Pope Debuts '80s-Inspired 'What the Stars See' Music Video Featuring Lindsay Ell and Karen Fairchild

Since then, the singer-songwriter has offered fans a tease of her new rock sound that’s to come by dropping a handful of singles.

In late 2022, she teamed up with Nashville artist Levi Hummon to release the genre-defying track “RSVP,” which features elements of both country and rock.

At the time, the “Say It First” singer told PEOPLE that she saw the song as marking her departure from country. "I'm moving away from the country space and going more into pop rock where I came from initially," she said.

"I'm glad that ['RSVP'] kind of straddles those lines. It's a great kind of bridge for me between what I did before and where I'm headed with my next solo project."

Related: Maren Morris Praises 'Brave' Female Musicians Who Refused to 'Shut Up and Sing' in Variety Changemaker Speech

Pope also shared the risque, pop-punk-inspired song “Almost There” last July.

While she told PEOPLE upon its release that it was largely inspired by her longtime boyfriend, actor Sam Palladio, she also revealed that she felt ready to write something a bit edgier.

Pope said, "'Almost There' was written because I am in a very loving, very respectful relationship. We've been together for about five and a half years, and I wanted to write a love song, but I also wanted it to be a little naughty and a little edgy. So I came up with the idea to kind of give a love song a dark edge, and I'm really proud of being able to strike that balance."  

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