When Kelsea Ballerini initially came on the scene last fall with the release of her debut single ‘Love Me Like You Mean It’, I was sceptical. I didn’t feel like the song was remotely country, although I conceded that I found her cute and likeable, talented as an artist at the very least. She grew on me as time went on, proving that she had catchy songs that weren’t, despite conflicting reports, the female equivalent of the bros, and with her debut album ‘The First Time’, Kelsea let us all know that she did in fact have the country songwriting chops to back up her youthful and commercial sound. This week, she hit #1 with the very debut single that left me unsure, but a total of seven months later, I am totally okay with it. Here’s why.
The reason so many people are talking about this #1 in particular is because of its history-making qualities. For starters, it is Black River Entertainment’s first #1 with any of their artists (including Kellie Pickler). It is also Kelsea’s first #1, and the fact that it’s her debut single is even more impressive. But outside of the personal achievements of she and her label, Kelsea reaching #1 with ‘Love Me Like You Mean It’ has even wider implications for the industry. With that milestone, she became only the 11th woman in country music history to top the airplay chart with her debut single. Yes, you read that correctly. As of the time of writing, only 11 women have reached #1 on country radio with their debut single. Eleven. The women she joins? Connie Smith, Marie Osmond, Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna, Faith Hill, Deana Carter, Cyndi Thompson, Jamie O’Neal, Gretchen Wilson, Carrie Underwood. That alone is cause for considering her potential future in this industry.
But there’s more. Having topped both Billboard and Mediabase this week, the track becomes the first #1 on Mediabase by a solo female since Miranda Lambert’s ‘Automatic’ a year ago, in June 2014. Even worse, it becomes the first #1 on Billboard by a solo female since Carrie Underwood’s ‘Blown Away’ in November 2012. Nearly three years of males, and the occasional group or duo. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a 21-year-old with a cute pop country love song, a female on an independent label which has had limited radio success, takes the crown, thereby writing herself into history. A steady 38 weeks to rise up the charts, but pretty unprecedented nonetheless.
You see, it comes just a month after radio consultant Keith Hill made those now-infamous remarks about programming radio for optimal ratings. He stated that in order to boost ratings, radio stations should actually take females out, leaving them to make up 15% of the playlists. He then went on to make an extremely clumsy metaphor, comparing country radio to a salad in which men were the lettuce and women were the tomatoes. Referred to as SaladGate, it came as no surprise to an industry of women who knew how hard it was to get decent airplay. Country radio came under fire for institutional sexism (and rightly so), while via extensive data analysis that radio stations’ reports on women not responding to female singers were not bulletproof. Perhaps Kelsea reaching #1 was radio throwing angry female listeners a bone, or perhaps they saw the error of their ways. Perhaps it was a total coincidence. Either way, at a time when even Miranda Lambert struggles to reach the top 10 and Carrie Underwood can lead Hot Country Songs for weeks but miss out on an airplay #1, Kelsea’s achievement is notable.
However, some folks have been raining on the parade, pointing out that a female singing “just like the bros” is not something that they can be happy about reaching #1, especially while more traditionally-orientated acts can’t get higher than top 30. For me, I find it irrelevant. Yes, ‘Love Me Like You Mean It’ is very pop in its make-up, but it is not bro-equivalent. For starters, let’s remind ourselves what bro-country is. It’s a mix of faux-rock, hip hop and pop with clichéd laundry list lyrics about country living, misogynistic sexual aggression and general frat boy pandering assholery. Kelsea’s song, while commercial, does not mimic the sound of bro-country and her lyrics do not mention the well-worn clichés that have long been associated with the much-maligned style. She doesn’t even paint herself as submissive to men or push a sexual agenda; the track actually places her as the dominant figure, demanding that a man love her properly and not mess her around. She demands to be treated well. Yes, it is youth-orientated because she is young herself, but I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to bro-country.
Then there’s the argument of more traditional country material being overlooked, and let’s be frank here. No traditional country material by men is receiving radio success, so why did you expect women to be afforded that right if they are struggling to even get pop songs to chart? Yes, the majority of women in the mainstream format are more traditional-leaning and tend to have more ‘substance’ in their music than the men right now, but with that double whammy you can’t seriously expect radio to just push it to the top because it’s a ‘good song’. We all know now that that’s not how radio works. At least here we have a woman being played on the radio enough to reach #1. Let’s pick our battles and not expect to win them all at once – we can tackle sonics and style when country radio is a far more gender-equal place. Call me crazy, but I’d rather sort out the problem of women before I sort out the problem of a “country” sound. The self-fulfilling prophecy of the former could potentially take us down a far more troublesome road than the latter.
Kacey has more country material in her. Whether that actually gets released to radio or not it shall remain to be seen, but at the very least this launches a career for someone who deserves it and breaks the glass ceiling (however briefly) for 50% of the population. It’s unclear whether radio will go ahead and now champion more of the women on the charts (and thereby, slightly more traditional sounds), or ignore them altogether after allowing a #1, but I hope and pray it’s the former. In times of trouble we must celebrate the small victories, although at this stage the victory of a woman topping the charts doesn’t seem all that small.
