Charley Crockett Defends Beyoncé, Slams Morgan Wallen & Other Country Music Artists

Charley Crockett has never been shy about speaking his mind, and this week the Texas-born singer made headlines for calling out double standards in country music while defending Beyoncé’s place in the genre.

On August 19, Crockett posted a lengthy statement on Instagram responding to criticism of Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter project. He argued that the backlash was misplaced, pointing instead to decades of “bro country” and its reliance on hip-hop production.

“Hey country folks. @beyonce ain’t the source of your discontent. It was 25 years of bro country,” he wrote. He added that the top-selling country artist in the world “listens to nothing but rap” and “doesn’t really know any country music,” comments that many fans took as a not-so-subtle reference to Morgan Wallen.

Wallen recently admitted on Theo Von’s podcast that he doesn’t listen to much country, though he praised newer traditionalists like Zach Top. His “I’m the Problem” album has dominated the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks.

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Crockett also appeared to take aim at Gavin Adcock, who has openly criticized Cowboy Carter during his live shows, later claiming that the controversy boosted his streaming numbers. Adcock said he didn’t believe the record should be labeled country, telling audiences, “It doesn’t sound country, it doesn’t feel country.”

For Crockett, those arguments miss the point. “I don’t need to put down a Black woman to advance my music,” he said in his post, calling such tactics “embarrassing to the idea of America.”

He praised artists like BigXthaPlug, whose upcoming album features country collaborations with Luke Combs, Ella Langley, and Darius Rucker, as examples of authenticity and innovation.

Crockett also took a swipe at the Nashville system itself, recalling how executives once tried to push him into prepackaged records. “Hot today, forgot tomorrow,” he wrote, adding that outlaw country was born from resisting that kind of rigid control.

The response was immediate: artists like Kaitlin Butts and Chris Housman applauded his words, while Adcock fired back with insults online.