When listening to a song that is completely different from anything else for the first time, one always faces the inevitable question, “Is this cool or should I ask the musician for the three minutes back that they stole from my life?” Considering all situations vary, the question is often not easily answered.
However, some occasions are simpler than others. Sandwiched between one of the plainest spring breaks off all time was my encounter with Cowboy Troy, a rapping country artist. And yes … he is black.
While hip-hop has pooled many styles of music together over the past two decades of its rising popularity, it has never touched on the predominantly white and steel guitar laden genre of country music. Tim McGraw and Nelly recently had a hit single with “Over and Over,” but the song was basically a Nelly track featuring Tim McGraw laying harmony through what sounded like a walkie-talkie with a broken antenna.
Cowboy Troy and his self-entitled style of “hick-hop” targets two audience demographics that collaborate only through civil riots and mainstream sports. The Nashville faithful are fine with their Tennessee Volunteer athletes being black, but how are they going to feel about blacks performing country music?
One listen of Cowboy Troy’s single “I Play Chicken With the Train” and it is obvious the urban westerner needs plenty of work, regardless whether you look at the song as a rap or country song.
If you look at the song through the eyes of a traditional country fan, you will hear little, if any, steel guitar. The steel guitar lurks in the majority of country hits and has since the 50s. Its lack of presence was refreshing, but then again I would rather hear a butcher knife scraping against a chalkboard for nine hours then hear a single note of a steel guitar. Cowboy Troy doesn’t spit in Ebonics but he does remind everyone that he is “big and black” on several occasions. He also dons a cowboy hat, a must for any male country singer. Cowboy Troy doesn’t swear and tours with Tim McGraw and Big and Rich, two acts that join the ranks of NASCAR and George W. Bush in terms of redneck popularity. Liberal country fans will give Troy a shot for being ambitious in an industry where it takes decades for any innovation. Since liberal country fans are about as common as an Albino with a killer tan, Cowboy Troy’s hick-hop may fall short of any success.
Through the mindset of a hip-hop fan Cowboy Troy accomplishes close to nothing, other than simply being black. But even that isn’t a necessity anymore thanks to white acts Eminem and The Streets. A rap song’s foundation is its beat. With a catchy beat, a rapper can say just about anything. It doesn’t even need to make sense or sound coherent. For proof of this notion see the careers of Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, everyone associated with Cash Money and P Diddy. Cowboy Troy’s beat is a country band playing riffs that Garth Brooks rejected in 1987.
A rap star also needs an element of street cred, that certain trait that makes the consumer think “You know, I bet this guy killed at least four people before he started rapping.” Examples of this include The Game of G-Unit and Baby of Cash-Money Records teardrop tattoos below their lower eyelids. In case you grew up in the suburbs your whole life, it means that the lucky man sporting a teardrop murdered a gang member, which both frightens and excites prospective white audiences.
To get an idea of Cowboy Troy’s street cred, combine images of Will Smith performing “Getting Jiggy Wit’ It” at a corporate convention for Microsoft and Wayne Brady singing his way through another re-run of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” While an extremely small number of country fans may give Cowboy Troy a listen, rap fans will probably begin to plot a drive-by assassination in front of Troy’s studio.
Troy’s ambition of reaching two drastically different audiences should be commended, especially if it somehow works. But in reality Cowboy Troy fits neither the role of rapper or country star. The only thing Troy offers an unbelievable potential for unintentional comedy, which is in itself a small accomplishment considering that Michael Jackson, Ryan Seacrest and Creed still take themselves seriously. World, be ready for Cowboy Troy.
Rick is a junior majoring in Radio/TV/Film and is still trying to find out who Mike Jones is. He can be reached at [email protected]
