To get a sense of how wide the country music landscape — and the divides within it — are in 2025, consider the varied reactions to an announcement the Recording Academy made in June: The best country album trophy was being retired and replaced with a pair of more precise honors, for best contemporary and best traditional country album.

Some casual observers immediately thought of Beyoncé, the last artist (for now at least, last as in final) to claim that prize. Any news that involves her has the potential to mobilize an online army. And when Andrea Williams — who chronicles the experiences of Black talent in the country music industry — noticed some online commenters interpreting the Grammy change as a backlash to Cowboy Carter‘s best country album win in February, she offered a rebuttal

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