Good point

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Her name was Taylor Swift

im glad taylor swift is stil selling them countrry records

said no one after 2006

*Orville Peck

There was a woman country rapper going viral a while back

Zach Bryan is the artist you're describing in the op

Did she change it like that tho? She's uber popular however

Edit: Actually you know what, you could be on to something with that. Someone mentioned Lil Nas X and that's something I was thinking of. T-Swift ain't far off tho

@op tbh I'm not really big on Country, but if they do, then they might already have it with Taylor Swift.

He is Alt-Country even progressive and has made a big impact But I'm on the fence on how he's altered it

I feel like justin timberlake tried that with his man of the woods album and failed miserably

It's an interesting idea that I think can work, I just think no one has actualized the sound very well or they are reluctant to do so because of cultural/racial/political reasons. Society will have you believe that black people don't want to listen to country music and that country music is only for racist white people.

I don't listen to country music because I feel most of the lyrics are corny and the genre is very stereotyped, but some of the acoustic and vocals are good. I think JT's idea with MOTW was a decent one but again very poor execution and I think he did it when he was past his creative prime

As far as country music goes though, Brandi Carlisle is super dope

that's fair, but if that's the case isn't it a lead a horse to water kind of situation? because you have this transcendent artist who matches the description of the kind of artist you're describing in the op, but if the rest of the genre doesn't respond to the challenge it's kinda on them

if Youngboy becomes a country artist then its over

Hell yea

sorry for wall of text

he's the figurehead of a significant wave in country music that's going on right now. a big reason country is so huge is the blending of the 'indie country' wave (which partially a reaction to bro-country) into the mainstream. Zach Bryan became a full-fledged country superstar in a way that defied the Nashville machine in the biggest way since perhaps the 70s. first totally social media driven superstar in the genre. No one expected him to get this massive, it's kind of a lightning in a bottle moment. He organically went from underground artist to one of the biggest artists in the US within only a few years. just anecdotally i've found a lot of people who would have never listened to country suddenly being Zach Bryan fans

Need to keep in mind the equivalent of Mary J Blige in your example will always have some polar opposite things because of the history/characteristics of country music. country has always been a push and pull between traditionalism and modernity, authenticity and manufacturedness, grassroots popularity vs. the nashville establishment. most of the big developments and movements in his history are an extension of that. the current movement Zach Bryan is a part of represents artists that are perceived as emotionally authenticity, emotional connection, a focus on songwriting, and a return to traditionalism compared to bro-country era. It used to be night and day between mainstream and underground country but now the underground has melded into the mainstream

a parallel that makes more sense is comparing it to the rise of alternative rock in the late 80s-early 90s as something that took the rock world by surprise and eventually became one of the core embodiments of the whole genre. no one thought there was room for this wave of country to exist alongside and playing off the mainstream wave with Wallen, Combs, etc. but here we are. there are also interesting parallels to draw with types of latin music (regional mexican genres atm) and some stages of rap music

Tyler Childers is Zach's og in this respect pretty much so he might even be the better answer. even though he didnt reach the same commercial heights he still has plenty songs with 100million plays on spotify and can headline some festivals. all this while drawing heavily from. Zach shouldn't be credited for innovating this whole wave he's more the biggest result of it. Chris Stapleton and Kacey Musgraves are also some people who helped set the path towards it but they also don't represent as big of a shock to the landscape as Zach Bryan

there are already a bunch of Zach Bryan sons popping up experiencing success where they would have been nobodies even 5 years ago

Damn this might be the one He brought a different audience to it. Can't deny that.

Is there another link? Zshare is down presumably forever

in 2021 he was playing a mix of smaller concert halls and clubs with like 500-2000 people capacity. now in 2024 hes doing a tour of like 2/3 arenas and 1/3 football stadiums. pretty wild

@RVI Brought it up. ZB does have that reach that I was thinking of from a transformative and cultural shift.

My ass was thinking about some country vocalist wearing a durag, boot drenched air force ones, and some ralph lauren apparel
just sanging over Hip Hop inspired beats (Think of how Neo Soul came about) but moreso bridging the old and new from the genre. With a plethora of other influences too and has the stage presence to match. A person with an urban aesthetic yet still feels authentic to the genre. That's asking for a lot lol

for that part I think Morgan Wallen is the closest. incorporates pop, R&B, hip hop influences in a way thats different than the bro-country era (but still an extension of it). and not totally separate than what zach bryan is bringing to the table, lot of crossover in fanbase. luke combs fits into it too but hes more mainstream 90s country while still having the grassroots appeal and authenticity

and lowkey i even think its a bit like:

Zach Bryan = Kendrick
Morgan Wallen = Drake
Luke Combs = J Cole

This is the closest I could find

I hear it.

Is Noah Kanan the equivalent to Travis Scott?

lol idk but even though he's not country he's still definitely a part of that wave in a way. his success is related to zach bryan's. i think you could say the movement is happening in a broader folk sense in general which includes things under the country-americana-folk umbrellas.

noah kahan is very pop but he's also got the emotional connection with his audience based on his perceived authenticity + songwriting focus.

i think you could also even include stuff like phoebe bridgers/boygenius and mitski in this broader convo as well (outside of country)