Country Star Kane Brown Speaks On Racism In The Industry, Says A Songwriter Once Refused To Work w/ Him Because He’s Black

Country Star Kane Brown Speaks On Racism In The Industry, Says A Songwriter Once Refused To Work w/ Him Because He’s Black

Kane Brown is getting real about the discrimination he faced early on in his country music journey.

The “Miles On It” singer recently sat down on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast and revealed that a well-known songwriter once flat-out refused to work with him because of his race.

“I won’t say his name because I don’t want to throw him under the bus…But there was one writer that said he wouldn’t write with me because I was Black. I remember I confronted him about it and he tried to apologize to me at a bar.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t an isolated incident. Kane recalled another “big writer with over 30 No. 1 [hits]” who also turned him down early in his career. That songwriter, too, tried to come back around once Kane blew up. But by then, Kane stood his ground.

“He apologized whenever we blew up and was trying to write for me and I said, ‘No.’ That was [during] my Facebook days, when I was just coming in on social media and nobody believed in it.”

 

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And yet, social media is exactly where Kane’s career took flight. The 31-year-old father of three first went viral covering country hits on Facebook, eventually crowdfunding his debut EP and signing with RCA Nashville in 2016.
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This isn’t the first time Kane has opened up about racism in country music. Back in 2018, he told PEOPLE he was hit with hateful comments and slurs when he “first got into country.” Still, he’s focused on the future and the positive change he’s helping to create.

Kane’s comments come at a time when racism in country music is becoming a more public conversation, especially following Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter release, where she called out the genre’s gatekeeping and made history as the first Black woman to top Billboard’s Country Albums chart.

We love to see Kane standing strong and thriving despite it all.