Country singer Jimmie Allen had some choice words for Black Entertainment Television.
Jimmie Allen’s Predicament
Allen vented out his frustrations at BET Tuesday morning for refusing to play his music videos. He praised the Nashville scene at the same time.
Jimmie Allen is considered as a huge breakout star in the Nashville scene, based on the success of his No. 1 Country Airplay chart. He certainly has not much trouble crashing commercial radio’s proverbial glass ceilings as a prominent country singer who is black.
Yet, as he vented out his frustrations, reiterating in his tweet that
For You
“last time I checked I was black…”
BET seemed to be hesitant in letting him have television airtime on their channel.
It’s already evident that Nashville has not only let him in, but Allen has done more than that. He had broken barriers and reshaped the rich history of African-American performers in country music. This is a spotty history, with a strong lineage that spans from early Grand Ole Opry star Deford Bailey to the contemporary hitmaker Kane Brown, whom Allen toured earlier this year.
This isn’t his first time encountering a hurdle. But, he recalls in an interview that he’s a firm believer of standing up for what he knows in himself as true, especially with his identity and his music.
“Country is the one format where I could be completely me. I could be the guy that’s, yeah, I’m from a small country town, but I’ve had the privilege to travel, and get into different fashions, and different musical tastes. Country was kinda the one place that embraced every part of me, you know?”
