On February 2, 2021, country music star Morgan Wallen was caught on film saying the n-word. He told reporters that he and a group of his friends were on a 36-hour bender out in Nashville and had performed a quick show prior to him coming home. The group came home around midnight and was being very loud. They were seen and heard honking their horns and shouting near Morgan’s house by his neighbors. One of his neighbors started recording them, and this is when the profanity was caught on tape. In the captured video the country music star was saying good bye to his friends and told them to, “Take care of this pussy ass n*****” using the hard “er” on the end of the word. This caused an uproar around the country because it was clear that this wasn’t his first time using the word. Morgan Wallen received a lot of backlash, and people demanded that he be held responsible. He issued a five-minute apology video saying that he was sorry and was going to start working with black organizations to see the error of his ways. After this incident, all of his music stopped airing on the radio, he lost all of his endorsements, and he was dropped from his record label, Big Loud. However, his music sales rose roughly 1,220% reported by Rolling Stone. This is absurd that people are willing to support a man who said a racial slur by buying his music. I don’t know if they bought his music out of fear that they won’t be able to listen to his music any longer or if they just wanted to buy his music because he said the n word. I know that I saw people on social media saying, “I’ll still listen to his music though.” That’s just an absurd thing to say after an incident like this happened. This shows the systemic racism that is rooted in the country music industry.
https://www.tmz.com/2021/02/02/morgan-wallen-n-word-nashville-neighbors/
Going into one of the concepts that we have talked about in class is the “one” vs the “other.” Looking at this situation, we would classify the “one” as the white country music stars that have received all the recognition from the industry and fans. They don’t have to face backlash as often for their music and don’t have to deal with a lot of criticism, unless maybe you’re female. We would classify the “other” as black country artist who don’t usually receive the recognition that a lot of the white country artists do even though they could go note for note with them. Also, black country artists face a lot of criticism for their music and have often heard racial remarks towards them. Female artists, such as Mickey Guyton, have even said that a lot of hurt had to happen to them before they saw any success in the industry.
I agree this is a systematic injustice because although he was reprimanded, his music sky rocketed. It seems he was rewarded for his racist actions. I’m not sure if people started listening to his music more because they supported his actions or because they heard about the incident and were curious to hear his music. Either way Wallen shouldn’t have received the positive recognition of people listening to his music more after his terrible actions. I also thought it was interesting to mention black country singers because as I thought about it, I cannot name one.
I really liked your post. I agree with what you said, often people seem like they are reprimanded but in reality they usually aren’t and they aren’t usually taught a lesson. Even his apology didn’t seem sincere or like he really cared. I also remember when he was supposed to be quarantining because he was set up to go on SNL and he was at a college bar with underage girls. It seems like he doesn’t consider his actions and how they will ever impact other people. I also liked that you mentioned black country singers because I have also seen and read articles before about how black country singers say it is very hard to be taken seriously and get the recognition they deserve.
This was a really well written post. The fact that he benefitted from these blatantly racist remarks by increasing his music sales is absurd and shows the problems we as a nation have. Country music fans have shown that they have no problem with racism, and it even benefited him. This truly shows how deeply engrained racism is in our nation and how there are many Americans who have no problem with it. You also mentioned Black country music artists, and I could not name anyone if there was a gun to my head. I think your post did a really good job showing us how some people truly do not care about racism and are willing to make it a secondary issue. People, especially those with a platform like Morgan Wallen should be careful as to what they say and should face repercussions if they say things like this.
I heard about Morgan Wallen and how it sales rose, that is is just, I don’t even know how to respond, but I do agree with you about how the white male country singers as “One” and black country artists are the “other”, In situations like this, there are advantages and loopholes that they go through and everyone thinks its ok to send out an apology video or statement thinking it will be ok, then after they do not do the work to better themselves and they’re all talk and don’t show any growth, but still get support with doing little to none evolving.
I appreciate you bring attention to this issue and covering this recent issue here. I was reflecting on this issue when Charlie Pride died last year. He, like many artists dealt with racism as a Black country artist. Many people do not realize that it is the African characteristics of American music that make so much music unique and great. Most great American music has roots in the Blues. Country would be another form of European folk without its Blues component. The banjo is an instrument that originates in Africa.
Music industry is one of Americas largest industries and is racist much like a number of other institutions.
Morgan Wallen profits from this history and I imagine he profited more in the sick way racists are gravitating to each other more and more as they feel threated by the way our country is progressing in awareness. Being drunk is no excuse for him or anyone else. Alcohol amplifies ones personality.