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Beyoncé’s Country Pivot With ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ a Hot Topic During Country Radio Seminar: ‘We’re the Coolest House on the Block’

Beyoncé and "Texas Hold 'Em" were among the much-discussed topics during CRS, as the industry continues a broader, ongoing discussion about inclusion in country music.

Though Beyoncé wasn’t in attendance, the singer-songwriter (and her chart-topping hit “Texas Hold ‘Em”) has been a much-discussed topic during the annual Country Radio Seminar being held this week in downtown Nashville. There are people who won’t want to hear it.” She noted that listener reactions to “Texas Hold ‘Em” are very similar to those they saw with the 2019 Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus smash hit “Old Town Road.” “It was the most-panned and the most-hearted,” Wright said. Fellow “Spilling the Diversi’TEA'” panelist Jada Watson, an assistant professor of Digital Humanities in the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa (and the principal investigator on the SongData project), noted that since the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em,” there have been increased numbers of consumption and engagement on DSPs and social media platforms for Black country artists — including Rissi Palmer, Tanner Adell and Reyna Roberts — but that largely hasn’t translated to radio support.

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