Crossover Is Cool Again
Then again – when has it not been?
Music has always contained multitudes– the broader the influence, the more potent the sound. Whether implicit or overt, it’s an art form that’s one of those stickier substances, tending to accrue dust and glitter from all that came before it.
It feels like a perfect moment to collect tunes from some of our favorite artists who lean into the heterogeneity of it all. Our Crossover Is Cool Again playlist includes some of the most agile shapeshifters who have deemed genre a jungle gym. From Ray Charles to Taylor Swift, this track list is brimming with artists who ventured out beyond their customary genres in search of unhabitual expressions.
With countless examples to mull over, one resounding question remains: What entices artists of such diverse backgrounds to use country as their canvas? Could it be the proclivity for narrative? Melody-centric songwriting? Emphatic harmonies? Slightly melancholic instrumentation?
Below, we highlight various artists who epitomize the charm and appeal of crossover, examining the unique sonic landscape of each.
Named after James Taylor, Swift’s background always exceeded genre limits – however, her passion for country ignited after a documentary about Faith Hill propelled her to pursue a career in the genre.
Her tween and early teenage years entailed many grassroots efforts, whereupon Swift and her mother traversed the Nashville scene, acquiring mentorships, showcases, and eventually a record deal. Her trademark autobiographical lyrics and earworm hooks lured in a wide audience – particularly teenage girls, a subset of country fans previously lacking a standard bearer. In 2006, the lead single from her self-titled album, “Tim McGraw,” inaugurated her onto Billboard’s Hot 100 list.
From cowboy boots to her 6-string banjo, Swift’s country allegiance remained steadfast until the early 2010s, when she began teasing out some pop influences with songs like “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Her narrative-heavy lyricisms lent themselves just as well to the angst and glitz of pop.
After four original studio albums in country, Swift declared her official departure from the genre with the release of 1989. In her announcement of the project, she called it her “very first documented, official pop album.” Following its release, Swift commented to Billboard, “I followed my gut instinct and tried not to think about how hard it would be to break it to country radio… I didn’t want to break anyone’s heart.”
1989 will celebrate its tenth birthday in October. During the decade since, Swift has transformed into one of the most vibrantly famous artists of all time – from her publicly scorned jet fuel emissions to her record-breaking albums, she has firmly settled into a life of popstar notoriety. Though she has shed the capo and cowgirl hat for now, who knows what abundance her future may hold!
In one of the most prolific genre crossovers of the 21st century, Beyoncé shifted the landscape of music forever with her release of Cowboy Carter earlier this year. Though primarily regarded as a pop and R&B luminary, she is famously an icon of complexity. Her discography includes swirls of rock, house, disco, hyperpop, R&B, funk, and beyond. She’d even flirted with country before CC, most notably in her release of “Daddy Lessons,” a track off of Lemonade (2016) that was later remixed with a guest appearance from the Chicks.
In fact, it was the unfortunate reception of that very collaboration which propelled Beyoncé to dedicate a whole album to her country musings. Her 6-minute performance with the Chicks at the 2016 CMA Awards received a torrent of racist backlash on social media. “The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” Beyoncé wrote in an Instagram caption 10 days prior to the release of Cowboy Carter.
Despite feeling initially unwelcome in the country fold, Beyoncé pulled off a feat nothing short of magnificent. Earning her the overdue honor of being the first Black woman to top Billboard’s Country Albums chart, Cowboy Carter is a universe of histories, collaborations, and futurisms that all work to reclaim the Black roots of country music.
Often called the Queen of Country Pop, we would be remiss if we did not pay homage to this crossover connoisseur.
Twain’s career began during her early childhood, when she became a local sensation performing at merely eight years old. Strapped for cash, her parents encouraged her to sing to support her family throughout her adolescence. When tragedy struck and her parents were killed in a car accident in 1987, Twain supported her three younger siblings by singing in a Las Vegas-style show.
In her limited free time, she continued to write her own music, creating a demo that was eventually got her signed to a label in Nashville. Her first album, Shania Twain (1993), was marketed as exclusively country, though her second, The Woman in Me (1995), took some more artistic, pop-flavored liberties with new cowriter Robert Lange.
However, it was Twain’s award-winning third album, Come On Over (1997), that fully bridged the genres, earning her the Queen of Country Pop title. Though Twain was initially nervous about how her crossover would be received, Come On Over earned global accolades, selling over 40 million copies and earning her the Guinness World Record for biggest selling studio album of all time by a female artist. Despite its departure from strict country sonics, Come On Over maintained No. 1 on the US Top Country Albums chart for a combined 50 weeks.
Twain’s legacy only continues to build on this kind of crossover; her latest full length studio album, Queen of Me, still features cover art of the icon horseback and Twain clad in a cowboy hat, whilst brimming with mainstream pop sounds.
When asked by CBS whether she considered herself a pop star or country artist, Twain responded, "I would definitely be considered a pop artist. My roots are country, that's for sure … As long as Dolly Parton always likes my music, then I think I'm safe."
What genres hasn’t Miley Cyrus dipped into? Daughter to country star Billy Ray Cyrus, Cyrus famously has explored a wide array of genres throughout the career she’s been navigating since she was thirteen.
Her breakout role on Disney’s Hannah Montana landed her squarely in the teenage pop star domain, but after two pop-rock albums (both of which reached No. 1 in the US), Cyrus set sail into a vast domain. Since 2007, she has released a total of eight studio albums, including genres such as dance-pop, hip-hop, R&B, experimental, country pop, and rock. For the most part, she has received consisted praise throughout these chameleon-ings and she is largely regarded as one of the greatest success stories involving a child star transitioning to a thriving career in adulthood. Her most recent album, Endless Summer Vacation (2023), was nominated for Album of the Year and its lead single “Flowers” won two GRAMMY awards.
Colloquially known as the Genius of Soul, Ray Charles is often regarded as a titan of R&B, blues, jazz, and pop. Simultaneously, his imprint upon country proves to be immeasurable.
Born during the Jim Crow era of violent segregation and racism, Charles’ music trailblazed the reclamation of country music’s Black roots. He remains one of only three Black country musicians inducted into the Country Hall of Fame, alongside Charley Pride and DeFord Bailey.
Upon recording his first country album, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (1968), Charles had already experienced explosive success in the R&B world. His prowess afforded him rare creative freedoms from his label (nearly unheard of for Black Americans at the time), who reluctantly agreed to let Charles mastermind a country album. Despite their skepticisms, Modern Sounds was a resounding success; at the 1963 GRAMMYs, Charles received a nomination for Album of the Year and the hit track “I Can’t Stop Loving You” won the Best Rhythm & Blues Recording Award. Instead of shrinking Charles’s audience, Modern Sounds garnered new fans in troves. In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and it remains one of the most culturally pivotal albums of all time.
Charles told Rolling Stone in an interview, “I felt [country] was the closest music, really, to the blues. They’d make them steel guitars cry and whine and it really attracted me.” Growing up, Charles had only been allowed to stay up late on nights when the Grand Ole Opry was on – its soundtrack “had been performing inside my head since I was a kid in the country,” according to his autobiography Brother Ray: Ray Charles’ Own Story. In 1983, Charles finally took the Grand Ole Opry stage himself, earning a standing ovation.
Post Malone has made his much-anticipated crossover official with the release of his full length country album, F-1 Trillion. For a while now the rapper had been teasing his entrance to the genre, even tweeting in 2015, “WHEN I TURN 30 IM BECOMING A COUNTRY/FOLK SINGER.” The 29-year old finds himself cashing in this prophecy a bit early with his star-studded, chart-topping album.
F-1 Trillion melds together fifteen of the biggest names in Nashville, such as Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Morgan Wallen, and beyond – even including bluegrass sweethearts such as Billy Strings and Sierra Ferrell. Upon its release, it topped charts across the globe, including Billboard’s Top 200 while simultaneously leading the Top Country Albums chart, where it remains at present.
Throughout his rap and hip-hop career, Malone has faced criticisms for his presence as a white artist in a Black genre, albeit without much effect on his explosive commercial success. He enters the fold of country music with ease and praise, received with a warm welcome unafforded to many Black contemporaries who have spent years trying to find their footing in the whitewashed scene. His success, in part, comes as a reminder that transcending musical genres is often easiest for those with systemic privileges.
While of course most famous for her iconicity in the country stratosphere, Dolly Parton herself is no stranger to the vehicle of crossover. In 1981, her song “9-5” struck gold atop Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. The titular song of its album, a soundtrack to a movie of the same name, it marked Dolly as a crossover creative in more ways than one. The interdisciplinary project showcased her skills as both musical artist and actress, earning her GRAMMY and Oscar nominations.
Parton’s pop musings were further fleshed out in subsequent projects, though her 1977 album New Harvest… First Gathering features hits such as “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” and “(Your Love has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher” that did not strictly adhere to Nashville-centric sounds. It is also worth noting that Dolly famously wrote and recorded “I Will Always Love You” in 1973, the song that would later become pop/R&B icon Whitney Houston’s calling card decades later.
Her most recent crossover triumph arrived just last December when, at the age of 77, she released her album Rockstar. Dolly remains an expansive cultural phenomenon; Rockstar debuted at No. 1 on three different Billboard Charts (Top Album Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, and Top Rock Albums) upon its release.
Just a decade after Ray Charles’ Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music opened many doors for Black musicians in the country sphere, Tina Turner launched her solo career with the release of her 1974 album, Tina Turns the Country On!
The tracklist includes many folk and country covers of industry greats such as Parton and Hank Snow. At the time of its release, Turner had already earned great fame in the ‘60s as a part of Tina & Ike Turner. The duo accrued a total of 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Her then-husband, Ike, devised the country album as a means of exposing Tina to a wider audience.
Though Tina Turns the Country On! did not make the charts, the album earned her a GRAMMY nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (a testament to the industry’s reluctance to accept Turner as a country musician). Throughout her solo career, she would return to country covers on several instances – most notably covering Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson’s 1971 classic, “Good Hearted Woman,” for her 1979 project by the same name. Good Hearted Woman was a compilation of formerly unreleased songs initially recorded for Tina Turns the Country On!
Turner’s solo career only continued to blossom and expand after that. In 1978, she left her abusive husband and music partner and went on to build her five-decade long career. Throughout her success, Turner released 10 more studio albums that traverse the crosshairs of soul, rock, country, and R&B. She received her accolades with a slew of GRAMMYs, totalling eight wins and 25 nominations.
These eight artists represent just a glimpse at the billowing world of musical crossover. Each, in their own right, boldly pushed past naysayers and skeptics in pursuit of dynamic sounds. With every crossover, these artists unearthed deeper layers of abundance and complexity in their own creative expressions. Undaunted by the fear of fluctuating public perception, we tip our hats to artists willing to take a chance in favor of expansion. Checkout our full playlist to discover an even broader collection of crossover stars and sounds, and soak up all the richness genre-fluidity has to offer.
Lead Image: Beyoncé, 16 Carriages.
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