Power, Genre, and Reclamation: Beyoncé's Country Revolution

What does it mean to claim a genre — not cross over into it, but claim it? In this episode, host Junius Williams sits down with Dr. Salamishah Tillet, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and distinguished professor at Rutgers University, to unpack the cultural and political shockwaves of Beyoncé's country music era. From the erasure of Black cowboys and artists like Charley Pride and DeFord Bailey, to the radio station that refused to play Texas Hold 'Em while it sat at number one on iTunes, to her historic Grammy win — this conversation reveals how one album drop exposed a war at the heart of American music. Plus, Junius shares a personal story about Nina Simone performing at his birthday party in Newark. Yes, really.