Oklahoma country radio station plays new Beyoncé songs after fan outcry

Wesley Stenzel
·2 min read
40

Reps for KYKC tell EW that the station added the songs to their rotation as soon as they received them.

Beyoncé’s new singles "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages" are unambiguously country songs, but some country radio stations haven’t started playing them despite their popularity.

When a fan requested Oklahoma country station KYKC play "Texas Hold 'Em," general manager Roger Harris replied, writing, "We do not play Beyonce' on KYKC as we are a country music station." The response quickly went viral after it was shared on social media on Tuesday, prompting the Beyhive to spring into action calling on the station to change its tune.

A representative from S.C.O.R.E., the station’s parent company, clarified the situation to EW, explaining that Harris "was removed and didn’t know otherwise" that Beyoncé had pivoted to making country music. Harris tells EW via email that "up until now, she hasn't been a ‘country artist.’  So..we responded to the email in the same way we would have responded to someone requesting a Rolling Stones song on our country station."

<p>Johnny Nunez/Getty</p> Beyoncé

Johnny Nunez/Getty

Beyoncé

The station later shared on its X account that "Texas Hold 'Em" would debut on KYKC following an outpouring of requests for the song. "We literally just learned about the new song...but we didn't have the actual song in our possession," Harris explains. "Normally we would watch a new song to see how it does on the charts before we added it. But...we apparently were targeted in a big campaign to add the song.  As soon as we received the file, we did add it to the playlist of our country station." A rep for the station confirms that "16 Carriages" is also now in its system.

The station’s rep says that Sony Music, which released the singles under Columbia Records, withheld the songs from country radio stations until recently. He also tells EW that the country song "Daddy Lessons" from the singer’s 2016 album Lemonade never made it to country airwaves for the same reason. Reps for Columbia and Beyoncé did not immediately respond to EW’s requests for comment.

The country music industry has previously faced criticism for its treatment of Black artists. Billboard removed Lil Nas X’s "Old Town Road" from the Hot Country Charts, arguing that the track lacked sufficient country elements to be included on the charts (which it topped). Before that, Beyoncé herself was subject to controversy after she performed "Daddy Lessons" at the 50th Country Music Awards, as some viewers complained that a non-country artist shouldn’t be included in the genre-specific ceremony, and others called such comments racist.

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