Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about the history of the genre of music in the United States that is known as "Country Rap".
This post also showcases a YouTube video of Cowboy Troy's 2006 hit song "I Play Chicken With The Train". Information about Cowboy Troy is also provided in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to Cowboy Troy for his musical legacy.
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EXCERPT ABOUT THE HISTORY OF COUNTRY RAP
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_rap
"Country rap is a fusion genre of popular music blending country music with hip hop-style rapping.[3][4]
History
Early influences on the emergence of country rap as a distinct genre include talking blues like Big Bad John (1961) by Jimmy Dean, A Boy Named Sue (1969) by Johnny Cash and Uneasy Rider (1975) by Charlie Daniels. Black artists who may have been influential in the genre's development include Jamaican ska artist Prince Buster's Texas Hold-Up (1964), Lil Ole Country Boy (1970) by Parliament, and Black Grass (1972) by Bad Bascomb.[5] Music journalist Chuck Eddy traces the genre's roots back to Woody Guthrie.[6]
1980–1998: Origins
Blowfly's single Blowfly’s Rapp (1980) drew on the influence of earlier country musicians like Charlie Daniels and C. W. McCall; NPR said the song is a "Deliverance-style encounter with Ku Klux Klan-accredited truck drivers to light funk backing".[7] Spin Magazine said Trickeration's Western Gangster Town (1980) (released four years before Schoolly D's Gangsta Boogie) is "cowboy rap’s Rosetta stone, and probably the first 'gangster' rap".[5] Other early examples of country rap are Sir Mix-A-Lot's Square Dance Rap (1985) where he raps in the voice of a "white country boy". The lyric "From L.A. to Carolina / Drop them suckers in Aunt Jemima"* in Sir Mix-A-Lot's Buttermilk Biscuits (1988) is a reference to what many consider a racial stereotype, trademarked after Chris L. Rutt heard a performance of the minstrel song Old Aunt Jemima (1876).[5]
The song Rappin' Duke (1985) is a parody of western film star John Wayne: "Two hundred punks, well, what you gonna do?/I got two six-shooters that’ll see me through". The song also contains a reference to Old Folks at Home (1851).[5] The genre-blending wasn't limited only to hip hop artists; country duo Bellamy Brothers released Country Rap (1987) with lyrics about soul food, church, turnip greens and black-eyed peas.[8]
UGK became pioneer of the hardcore Southern rap style that emerged after the success of the Geto Boys, which they started to call "country rap". At the end of Let Me See It, Pimp C raps: "This ain't no muthaf--kin'** hip-hop records, these country rap tunes", originally a response to Northern hip hop artists who had criticized Southern rap for not being "real hip-hop".[9] The name of the song Hay (1996) by Crucial Conflict is a reference to marjuana.[10]
1998-present: Resurgence
Country rap in its modern form can be traced back to Kid Rock's "Cowboy" which reflects a cross-section of Kid Rock's country music, Southern rock and hip hop influences.[11] Kid Rock has described the song as a cross between Run DMC and Lynyrd Skynyrd.[12]
In the early 2000s, producer Shannon "Fat Shan" Houchins and Bubba Sparxxx released Sparxxx's 2001 debut album Dark Days, Bright Nights as an independent release. The blend of country and trap caught the attention of producer Jimmy Iovine who re-released the album on Interscope.[13][14] Houchins soon after created Average Joes Entertainment with Colt Ford.[15] With songs like No Trash in My Trailer (2008), Ford has sold over one million albums.[16][17][18]
The trend continued in 2005 when country music stars Big & Rich introduced Cowboy Troy and his album Loco Motive. Troy has said he uses "country instrumentation" that includes a banjo, fiddle, and acoustic guitar blended with "shredding rock guitar riffs and a rap delivery."[19] Hal Crowther has written that I Play Chicken With the Train (2006) by Cowboy Troy was "scandalous not because it mixes 'black' rap with 'white' country, but because, through the sheer force of unlikely-but-seamless juxtaposition, it forces us to acknowledge that those two musical styles, at least when they whoop it up, are brothers under the skin".[20]
In the late 2010s, country rap has returned to prominence as part of the "Yee Haw" movement, a trend characterized by hip hop producers incorporating country music into their own recordings. Young Thug's 2017 song "Family Don't Matter" is credited with popularizing the movement. Artists within "Yee Haw" include Lil Tracy and DaBaby.[21] Other country rap artists include Ryan Upchurch, Bottleneck, Moonshine Bandits and Big Smo.[22] Cowboy Troy, Lenny Cooper and The Lacs were three of the top country rap artists of 2013 each with an album on Billboard's Country Chart.[16]
In 2019, 20-year-old rapper Lil Nas X's country rap single "Old Town Road" achieved mainstream international success.[23] Assisted by several subsequent versions, including a remix featuring country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, the song broke multiple U.S. streaming records and charted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a record nineteen weeks.[24][25] In June 2019, Blanco Brown's "The Git Up", described by USA Today as a "trap-country" song, also achieved viral success.[26]”
[...]
Popularity
Physical sales of country rap albums are higher in more rural areas where country rap fans do not have the Internet services required to stream or download music.[32] There are numerous country rap festivals where artists gather to play their music for upwards of 7,000 fans.[32]
Politics
The term "hick-hop" is often criticized by some southern artists, with Struggle Jennings saying, "I love the country, I love the South, I've been fishing and hunting, but I'm not a hick. I'm not hick-hop”.[32] The political ideology of country rap artists is perceived as being right-wing or conservative, due to some right-leaning politics expressed by artists like Upchurch;[32] however the political ideology of country rap artists ranges the full spectrum of political beliefs.[32]”
[...]
Stylistic origins: Country, hip hop
origin- Midwest, hip hop, rap rock
Cultural origins: Late 1990s, United States (South, South Central)
Typical instruments: Vocals, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums, drum machine (Roland TR-808)[1][2]fiddle, steel guitar, banjo, electric guitar, turntables, Dobro
Derivative forms: Bro-country"
-snip-
*I believe that “Aunt Jemima” in the Sir-Mix-A lot song “Buttermilk Biscuits” refers to the "Aunt Jemima” brand of maple syrup. That syrup is sold separate from but is also associated with boxes of Aunt Jemima pancake mix.
**That word is fully spelled out in that article.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO: I Play Chicken With The Train (Video)
Warner Records, Oct 26, 2009
© 2006 WMG
Song:I Play Chicken with the Train (with Big & Rich)
Artist: Cowboy Troy
Album: I Play Chicken With The Train (101540)
-snip-
Here's some information about Cowboy Troy from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Troy
"Troy Lee Coleman III (born December 18, 1970), better known by his stage name Cowboy Troy, is an American, Hick Hop/country rapper and songwriter. He is a member of the MuzikMafia, an aggregation of country music singer-songwriters whose membership also includes Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson and James Otto. He has released seven studio albums and one EP, including three releases on Warner Bros. Records, and has charted twice on the Billboard country singles charts.
Early life
Troy graduated from Skyline High School in the Dallas Independent School District. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a bachelor's degree.[2] Prior to beginning his career as a singer, he worked as the assistant manager of a Dallas area Foot Locker.[2]
He got the name Cowboy Troy in college, after a friend used the name to distinguish the cowboy-hat-wearing Coleman from his other friends named Troy.[3]
Career
On May 17, 2005, Troy released his first major-label solo album, Loco Motive, through the RAYBAW records production label and the Warner Music Group distribution label.[4] The album debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. The first single, "I Play Chicken with the Train," peaked at No. 48 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart on April 9, 2005 and was the No. 1 country download at the iTunes Music Store on April 15, 2005."...
-snip-
"Cowboy Troy" is African American.
Here's information about the phrase "playing chicken with the train"
From https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/to-play-chicken-with-a-freight-train.2166941/
owlman5, Jun 4, 2011
"It does mean "to run a great risk"... People who "play chicken" in cars race toward each other. If neither driver "chickens out", then the cars will collide head on. The driver who turns aside first is the "chicken". "To play chicken with a freight train" would be a very foolish thing to do."
**
Myridon, Jun 4, 2011
[Playing chicken" is] "a game in which the first person to lose their nerve and withdraw from a dangerous situation is the loser."
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