"My un-American life," Beyoncé had crooned in the opener in Act I of her "Renaissance" project. At first glance, it's a lyric that may not mean much. However, it grants us insight into the harsh rejection the pop musician had previously faced in the country music industry and larger conservative America.
In 2016, when Beyoncé released the acclaimed "Lemonade," it became her most successful project as a genre-bending artist. However, country music gatekeepers were deadset on excluding the musician from the genre that traditionally features predominantly white artists – mostly because of an electric performance of her country track, "Daddy Lessons" performed with the Chicks during that year's CMA Awards.
