Mickey Guyton – "Black Like Me"

[Kurt]

Out now.

[jamatthews83]

[broken record]It's a travesty she's not a superstar[/broken record]

[bigfan101]

This should be everywhere. Absolutely chills.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

This is not just a very relevant and important song for country music, it's actually a really GREAT song, period. It's huge 'win' in all fronts.

I'm so happy and proud of Mickey for sharing her perspective, one that enriches the country music landscape so damn much (even if it probably doesn't get the recognition it deserves)... I love everything about this ❤️

[SoMuchToSay]

I love the message and lyrics, and it’s super timely. But all I can hear is Die A Happy Man when the chorus hits.

[sabre14]

This was sent to country radio today by Capitol Nashville.

[avalyn]

[.indulgecountry]

I still am so bummed about them doing absolutely nothing with "Tell Her" after the big response it got initially with the industry, and granted it may very likely have suffered the same fate as her debut single for similar reasons, but man that was a song worth pushing imo. That said, this one is too and I am THRILLED to see they at least sent this to radio to give them the option to play it. I would sadly not be the least bit surprised if this got little traction given her lack of success thus far combined with the fact that this isn't the comfortable back road uptempo jam country radio salivates over, but f**k yeah @ them at least trying with it. This song absolutely needs to be heard by as many people as humanly possible. "Black Like Me" is incredibly touching and relevant right now, and Mickey 100% deserves to be a star at the format in some capacity (whether it is with or without radio -- see: Kacey Musgraves).

[SHOOTER]

Totally unexpected but if they’re truly committed to doing their part in fostering change, then I need Capitol to put their money where their mouth is and push this one with everything they’ve got!

[austin]

This is a great song and I think more radio-ready than "Tell Her" (which I also adore.) I hope this is HUGE!

[Cowboy Chase]

This is such a powerful song! I hope radio actually gives Mickey a chance with this one

[jab820]

I came across this song when I noticed Mickey's face as the cover photo for Spotify's Hot Country playlist. This is the first song on there. It has already racked up close to 400K streams. I agree with the above sentiment that as the music industry is SAYING they stand with BLM, let's see them show it: PUSH THIS SONG.

[avalyn]

Jun 5, 2020 13:33:58 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

I still am so bummed about them doing absolutely nothing with "Tell Her" after the big response it got initially with the industry, and granted it may very likely have suffered the same fate as her debut single for similar reasons, but man that was a song worth pushing imo. That said, this one is too and I am THRILLED to see they at least sent this to radio to give them the option to play it. I would sadly not be the least bit surprised if this got little traction given her lack of success thus far combined with the fact that this isn't the comfortable back road uptempo jam country radio salivates over, but f**k yeah @ them at least trying with it. This song absolutely needs to be heard by as many people as humanly possible. "Black Like Me" is incredibly touching and relevant right now, and Mickey 100% deserves to be a star at the format in some capacity (whether it is with or without radio -- see: Kacey Musgraves).

if I remember correctly they were sending what are you gonna tell her to radio this month. that plan shifted obviously and was replaced with black like me.

[AmazDrag]

I am very impressed with the quality of this song. I wasn't a fan of her debut and haven't checked her out since and I must say I am impressed. I think this message is very much needed now.

[Deleted]

Yet another great song by Mickey. I admit, I prefer What Are You Gonna Tell Her?, but I am up for any song that puts her back on the map. And since I don't find this song too country sounding, maybe it could be promoted to other formats. That'd be swell!

[tryexp]

I am really glad she has released this and even though there is a 0% chance country radio will play this IMO but I really hope the message spreads. It's 2020, the world needs to change.

Also, unrelated but I really love her voice on this one.

[carrieidol1]

This needs to be everywhere.

If country radio has any ambition to be on the right side of history, this should IMMEDIATELY be put in heavy rotation. If they don’t, fuck them, honestly.

Country radio listeners need to hear this more than anyone. They’ll lose a shit ton of support, but radio is nearly obsolete anyway - at least they’ll go down for the right reasons.

[House Lannister]

I've been on board with her since Better Than You Left Me, so yeah, I'll definitely root for this one.

[raylatch98]

Jun 6, 2020 16:10:16 GMT -5 carrieidol1 said:

This needs to be everywhere.

If country radio has any ambition to be on the right side of history, this should IMMEDIATELY be put in heavy rotation. If they don’t, f**k them, honestly.

Country radio listeners need to hear this more than anyone. They’ll lose a s**t ton of support, but radio is nearly obsolete anyway - at least they’ll go down for the right reasons.

See this is where I feel like radio is in an impossible bind with this song since I suspect a lot of country radio listeners are your MAGA, AllLivesMatter, racist against minorities type of people, but at the same time I imagine a decent amount of it's listeners are more on the other end of the spectrum. 

I want this song to succeed because in 2020 it is not a good look for country radio to 1. Be underrepresented of females. 2. Have 3 artists who are non white (Darius Rucker, Jimmie Allen, and Kane Brown), and 3. Have only one women of color signed to a label in Micky Guyton

Country music, the people who listen to the radio and county radio in general needs to better support women, minorities, and especially both, and stop promoting faceless male artist who gets maybe one hit a year (see Travis Denning, Riley Green, Jon Langston, Jameson Rodgers, Matt Stell, etc) but has little to no lasting buzz to them. 

[Deleted]

“...stop promoting faceless male artist who gets maybe one hit a year (see Travis Denning, Riley Green, Jon Langston, Jameson Rodgers, Matt Stell, etc) but has little to no lasting buzz to them”.


I’m sorry but if you’re asking for fairness, it's a 2 way street. YOU need to constantly stop demeaning male artists who are struggling to make a career out of their music.

I am not a fan of any of the artists you named (but most likely of a few included in the ‘etc’) but they have as much a right to succeed as any of your favorite female artists (who btw have had a lot less than one hit a year).

But to call them “faceless” is a stretch and may just put you in a way, in the same category as what you listed above as MAGA, AllLivesMatter and racist against minorities types of people (in your case Male artists who don’t fit your mole).

As far as Mickey Guyton, not a big fan but still wish her the best.

[bboat11]

Jun 6, 2020 19:11:23 GMT -5 @twittyc said:

“...stop promoting faceless male artist who gets maybe one hit a year (see Travis Denning, Riley Green, Jon Langston, Jameson Rodgers, Matt Stell, etc) but has little to no lasting buzz to them”.


I’m sorry but if you’re asking for fairness, it's a 2 way street. YOU need to constantly stop demeaning male artists who are struggling to make a career out of their music.

I am not a fan of any of the artists you named (but most likely of a few included in the ‘etc’) but they have as much a right to succeed as any of your favorite female artists (who btw have had a lot less than one hit a year).

But to call them “faceless” is a stretch and may just put you in a way, in the same category as what you listed above as MAGA, AllLivesMatter and racist against minorities types of people (in your case Male artists who don’t fit your mole).

As far as Mickey Guyton, not a big fan but still wish her the best.

I mean, it is true that many of these male artists are working hard to launch their careers just like the females. But if you count up the sheer quantity of males who have marginal radio success and yet continue to float around with no buzz whatsoever, and compare it to the number of females who have a similar level of success, there is no comparison whatsoever. You just don't see female artists floating around getting one hit per year, because if they don't make it after one or two attempts, they are dropped from their label or else relegated to putting out music with no promotion whatsoever. Even if they had a ton of buzz behind them (Cassadee Pope, RaeLynn, Cam, Kacey Musgraves, and Danielle Bradbery all come to mind. And obviously Mickey herself.) The female artists either make it and become consistent hitmakers right off the bat (Maren, Kelsea, Carly), or else they are never given another chance again. Probably the only one I can think of who continues to hang around despite marginal success is Lauren Alaina, and yet she has carved out a WAY bigger name for herself than any of the aforementioned males that kinda suggests her overall fame seems to exceed her airplay, giving her a little cushion against radio flops. Maybe Maddie & Tae also, but just like Lauren, they seem to be much bigger stars than their radio play suggests. Whereas many of these male artists have no huge following to speak of, yet are allowed to tread water with radio for years and years while the much buzzier female stars seem to come and go in a flash.

Not to mention, for you to be like "BuT mAlE aRtIsTs ArE wOrKiNg HaRd ToOoOoOoO!!" in a post about how hard females have it on country radio puts you more in the "All Lives Matter" group than Raylatch, tbh.

[jab820]

Jun 6, 2020 19:11:23 GMT -5 @twittyc said:

“...stop promoting faceless male artist who gets maybe one hit a year (see Travis Denning, Riley Green, Jon Langston, Jameson Rodgers, Matt Stell, etc) but has little to no lasting buzz to them”.


I’m sorry but if you’re asking for fairness, it's a 2 way street. YOU need to constantly stop demeaning male artists who are struggling to make a career out of their music.

I am not a fan of any of the artists you named (but most likely of a few included in the ‘etc’) but they have as much a right to succeed as any of your favorite female artists (who btw have had a lot less than one hit a year).

But to call them “faceless” is a stretch and may just put you in a way, in the same category as what you listed above as MAGA, AllLivesMatter and racist against minorities types of people (in your case Male artists who don’t fit your mole).

As far as Mickey Guyton, not a big fan but still wish her the best.

Fairness is not a two-way street when it has been a one-way street since existence. There has to be ground made up: in order for there to be space for more artists of color and/or women in general, there have to be LESS run of the mill (which, in country, is always white male) artists like listed above. This is not to say there is anything particularly wrong with these artists, but that they take up space in a genre that ALREADY looks almost entirely like them. 

[recordyear]

Honestly racism in America does not start in 2020 and country crowd (fans/radio DJs etc.) should have known and taken actions already. The ones who don't are just ignorant, and this song like other similarly themed songs will do nothing to them.
Sadly I don't see this song connects much with GP. It is only around #400 on iTunes (comparing to new Kane Brown song which is 2 days on top already). This probably will see a hard time climbing up on country radio because of this as well.

[bboat11]

Jun 6, 2020 20:09:35 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Jun 6, 2020 19:11:23 GMT -5 @twittyc said:

“...stop promoting faceless male artist who gets maybe one hit a year (see Travis Denning, Riley Green, Jon Langston, Jameson Rodgers, Matt Stell, etc) but has little to no lasting buzz to them”.


I’m sorry but if you’re asking for fairness, it's a 2 way street. YOU need to constantly stop demeaning male artists who are struggling to make a career out of their music.

I am not a fan of any of the artists you named (but most likely of a few included in the ‘etc’) but they have as much a right to succeed as any of your favorite female artists (who btw have had a lot less than one hit a year).

But to call them “faceless” is a stretch and may just put you in a way, in the same category as what you listed above as MAGA, AllLivesMatter and racist against minorities types of people (in your case Male artists who don’t fit your mole).

As far as Mickey Guyton, not a big fan but still wish her the best.

I mean, it is true that many of these male artists are working hard to launch their careers just like the females. But if you count up the sheer quantity of males who have marginal radio success and yet continue to float around with no buzz whatsoever, and compare it to the number of females who have a similar level of success, there is no comparison whatsoever. You just don't see female artists floating around getting one hit per year, because if they don't make it after one or two attempts, they are dropped from their label or else relegated to putting out music with no promotion whatsoever. Even if they had a ton of buzz behind them (Cassadee Pope, RaeLynn, Cam, Kacey Musgraves, and Danielle Bradbery all come to mind. And obviously Mickey herself.) The female artists either make it and become consistent hitmakers right off the bat (Maren, Kelsea, Carly), or else they are never given another chance again. Probably the only one I can think of who continues to hang around despite marginal success is Lauren Alaina, and yet she has carved out a WAY bigger name for herself than any of the aforementioned males that kinda suggests her overall fame seems to exceed her airplay, giving her a little cushion against radio flops. Maybe Maddie & Tae also, but just like Lauren, they seem to be much bigger stars than their radio play suggests. Whereas many of these male artists have no huge following to speak of, yet are allowed to tread water with radio for years and years while the much buzzier female stars seem to come and go in a flash.

Not to mention, for you to be like "BuT mAlE aRtIsTs ArE wOrKiNg HaRd ToOoOoOoO!!" in a post about how hard females have it on country radio puts you more in the "All Lives Matter" group than Raylatch, tbh.

I just remembered Lindsay Ell as another example of somebody who's gotten quite a few chances despite marginal success. But then again, she is getting very consistent top 10 treatment with her singles in Canada, so she's not exactly the same as the ambiguous male flops who are allowed to hang around doing nothing for years...

But it looks like my audience has left anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter

[raylatch98]

Uh looks like that poster left Pulse. Thanks to the people defending my post (Specifically bboat11). I never really got along with the poster but I am shocked they decided to leave.

Anyways on to this song, according to this song's starters this has almost 200k in audience already (link: www.allaccess.com/mediabase/q/report/starters/song/GUYTBLM+/format/C1) so there does seem to be some early interest in this song. 

[gingersnap]

People on this board needs to stop calling everybody who doesn't support Mickey racist. She is one of them artist who just doesn't connect with country music listeners. Now she like all the other's is using what's going on in the world to futher her "going nowhere career" , playing the race card. Still no going to make radio play her more. Everybody is entitled to their opinions about what goes on in the world, not everybody has to agree with everyone. Yes all lives matter, not just black ones.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Jun 7, 2020 9:15:00 GMT -5 gingersnap said:

People on this board needs to stop calling everybody who doesn't support Mickey racist. She is one of them artist who just doesn't connect with country music listeners. Now she like all the other's is using what's going on in the world to futher her "going nowhere career" , playing the race card. Still no going to make radio play her more. Everybody is entitled to their opinions about what goes on in the world, not everybody has to agree with everyone. Yes all lives matter, not just black ones.

You:

[lady𝓐fan]

Jun 7, 2020 9:15:00 GMT -5 gingersnap said:

People on this board needs to stop calling everybody who doesn't support Mickey racist. She is one of them artist who just doesn't connect with country music listeners. Now she like all the other's is using what's going on in the world to futher her "going nowhere career" , playing the race card. Still no going to make radio play her more. Everybody is entitled to their opinions about what goes on in the world, not everybody has to agree with everyone. Yes all lives matter, not just black ones.

Yikes. 

I don’t recall anyone saying that anyone who doesn’t support Mickey is racist. And I for one think it’s pretty disgusting to say that she’s using what’s going on to further her career. Mickey is a black female. She is speaking her truths via song, and I don’t see anything wrong with that.

Re: the last sentence–I don’t see how anyone could look at the statement “Black Lives Matter” and think that they’re saying that other lives don’t. Obviously every life should matter, but that can’t happen until black lives matter.

[Sugar Rush]

Jun 7, 2020 9:15:00 GMT -5 gingersnap said:

People on this board needs to stop calling everybody who doesn't support Mickey racist. She is one of them artist who just doesn't connect with country music listeners. Now she like all the other's is using what's going on in the world to futher her "going nowhere career" , playing the race card. Still no going to make radio play her more. Everybody is entitled to their opinions about what goes on in the world, not everybody has to agree with everyone. Yes all lives matter, not just black ones.

I don’t think you understand how unbelievably moronic and stupid you sound. Mickey is an A-Tier songwriter releasing songs about her experiences, in a genre that is dominated by Caucasian males. I guarantee a good chunk of radio programmers don’t play her due to her gender and race, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with Mickey calling country out for this. Your ignorance is next level, and I encourage you to use some critical thinking skills before you make such an ill comment.

[carrieidol1]

Anyone who feels Mickey isn’t at all a victim of a prejudiced world - at least within the confines of the country music community - should listen to Jana Kramer’s podcast last week during which Mickey was a guest. Mickey was essentially interrogated and her personal experiences were being ridiculed; as if anyone has a right to do that to anyone... If you want insight regarding what Mickey is fighting here with this song, it’s all in the podcast. The mentality displayed by Jana, and more so Michael Caussin is exactly why this song is important and needs to be heard.