<\/p>\n
\n\tThe country music industry has made greater effort in recent years to understand \u2013 and court \u2013 potential minority consumers. In that context, the decision by a handful of country artists to perform during Turning Point USA\u2019s \u201cAll-American Halftime Show,\u201d<\/a> an alternative to the NFL\u2019s official Super Bowl halftime entertainment, threatens to undermine the country industry\u2019s efforts to widen its appeal.<\/p>\n \n\tTPUSA chairwoman\/CEO Erika Kirk announced plans to hold the show specifically after Bad Bunny<\/a> \u2013 a bilingual superstar from Puerto Rico, an American territory \u2013 was announced as the Super Bowl\u2019s halftime headliner. Over the ensuing months, TPUSA lined up Kid Rock<\/a>, Brantley Gilbert<\/a>, Lee Brice<\/a> and Gabby Barrett<\/a> for its counter-programming. Kirk has subsequently referred to her organization\u2019s event as a \u201cpro-American\u201d alternative, a characterization that implies Bad Bunny is somehow un-American.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThis is one of the most divisive events that I can think of,\u201d says Middle Tennessee State University Media and Entertainment dean Beverly Keel. \u201cIt\u2019s clear what they\u2019re doing. It is the white alternative to an American artist of Puerto Rican descent, so they\u2019re not vague in their messaging, the event programmers.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s not clear if the three country artists on the bill fully understood the impact of their decision to perform. The participation of Kid Rock, who is a multi-genre artist with a penchant for provocation, seems on point for his brand. The country acts declined to comment for this story. Brice, however, spoke<\/a> to Fox News, saying the event provided an opportunity to \u201cbe a part of something that I believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe specifically cited the memory of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed in September during a public event at Utah Valley University in Orem.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cCharlie Kirk wanted everybody to have a microphone,\u201d Brice said, calling the alternative halftime show \u201ca celebration of what he believed in and what he brought to the table. And I\u2019m just proud, you know? I\u2019m proud to be an American, and I\u2019m excited. I\u2019m a musician. I get to go play music.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tKirk, however, was more controversial than that characterization suggests. He was generally edited in conservative media in a way that made him an icon for freedom of speech, but some of his speech created critics who viewed him as racist, homophobic and misogynistic.<\/p>\n \n\tThe artists performing on the \u201cAll-American Halftime Show\u201d have every right to be there, but fears exist that they will be seen less as individual artists by some consumers than as a representation of country music. If those consumers see Kirk in the harsher framework and associate him with the whole of country, it could damage the genre as a whole.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAn artist has a right to do whatever they want to, as long as they understand the pros and cons and the consequences that come with that,\u201d says Triple 8 Management artist manager Scott Stem. \u201cMy concern on this one is did they [know the direction] that Turning Point was going to take, as far as saying it\u2019s a \u2018pro-American\u2019 thing when Turning Point is trying to turn it as an anti-Bad Bunny thing? Bad Bunny is most definitely American. He\u2019s Puerto Rican.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSeveral other country acts were approached about participating in the Turning Point event, notes F2 Entertainment president\/CEO Fletcher Foster, and they balked at the opportunity, presumably believing the likely controversy outweighed the benefit of performing on national TV. Every artist has to make decisions about their participation based on their own circumstances. They are not required, said several people interviewed for this story, to factor in the impact of their decisions on the industry overall.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHopefully, most artists know who their base is already,\u201d Foster says. \u201cWhether it be extreme left, extreme right, right in the middle, you know, are they happy with that? Or do they want to grow it? I think that\u2019s a lot of the questions. Are they fine with potentially alienating another audience?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn the current cultural atmosphere, it is difficult to avoid those issues without appearing wishy-washy. The political parties are extremely bifurcated, and art reflects the society in which it\u2019s created.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf music is going to be honest and authentic, then in a polarized society, it\u2019s gonna go left [or] right,\u201d suggests Culture at Large podcaster Marcus K. Dowling. \u201cThere\u2019s no way you could say, \u2018OK, I\u2019m making a song that occupies the middle.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tCountry music executives are working to make the genre an inclusive, big-tent format, and while that specifically means outreach to progressive-minded fans and\/or non-white demographics, that also means that the industry should not knock the conservative voices in its midst.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\u201cYou can\u2019t exclude somebody from that tent,\u201d Dowling says. \u201cNow, they could all stand in a corner of the tent, of course, because it\u2019s the biggest tent. That\u2019s the issue. I think that if you are a liberal-minded, non-conservative country music fan, when you say it\u2019s the biggest tent, it\u2019s the most inclusive it\u2019s ever been. Inclusivity works both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tGilbert posted<\/a> a message on Instagram on Friday (Feb. 6) that sought to separate his motivations from the hostility that birthed the event.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI respect that some people may see this differently, but I\u2019m not playing this show to be divisive,\u201d he said. \u201cI was offered this opportunity and imagined my kids watching their daddy perform at halftime during the biggest game in American football.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe way I treat people isn\u2019t conditional based on what our differences may be,\u201d he added. \u201cI believe \u2018united we stand, divided we fall,\u2019 and my prayer for our country is that we stand united.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tUnfortunately, country music has a history that is less than welcoming. Until 2008, Charley Pride was the only Black artist to become a consistent hitmaker, and even then, Darius Rucker faced pushback from skeptical gatekeepers and fielded racist social media commentary, too. He succeeded despite those voices, and since then, country\u2019s mainstream has also opened to Kane Brown, BRELAND, Jimmie Allen (whose momentum tanked after he was sued for sexual abuse), Blanco Brown and Shaboozey, who has notched two No. 1 singles on Billboard\u2019s Country Airplay chart. Shaboozey gave an emotional speech after winning<\/a> a Grammy during the pre-show ceremony on Feb. 1, noting the sacrifices made by his mother, a recently retired Nigerian immigrant who worked as a registered nurse in a hospital psychiatric ward while raising her children.<\/p>\n \n\tHe dedicated his win to immigrants: \u201cThank you for bringing your culture, your music, your stories and your traditions here. You give America color.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tReflecting the whole of America, numerous firms and organizations \u2013 including the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music \u2013 have developed programs in recent years to heighten opportunities for women, LGBTQ+ creators, and artists and executives of color. The fear surrounding the \u201cAll-American Halftime Show\u201d is that the baggage that many associate with Turning Point might taint perceptions of country\u2019s willingness to welcome everyone into its tent. One hope that\u2019s been expressed repeatedly is that fans associate the event with Kid Rock as the headliner and are able to separate country from the TPUSA brand.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI firmly believe that everybody loves a country music song, even if they don\u2019t always want to admit it,\u201d Stem says. \u201cAnd I think that if you\u2019re interested in exploring the genre, you\u2019re going to explore it. The great thing about country music is it\u2019s wide, and there\u2019s a huge diversity there. There\u2019s conservative artists and there\u2019s liberal artists, and there\u2019s songs for everybody all the way between.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe challenge for the genre is to make that message clear, even when events or individual artists\u2019 partnerships feed some of its stereotypical narratives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n