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As a fan of the Outlaw era(s) of Country music, I couldn’t agree more. I feel like this new “bro-country” is just throwing a southern twang on top of some souless pop-hiphop factory made disaster.
Any Johnny Cash fans in the comments?
when my grandpa taught me to play guitar, he taught me how to play johnny cash and willie & waylon songs and we’d sing them together. those are the real deal
As a guitar hobbyist myself I appreciate the 60’s-70’s stuff by those outlaw style artists you mentioned, beautiful songs, soulful writing, and whether you just play it with a simple trainbeat strumming ryhtm or step it up with some solos and rythm guitar, it’ll always sound good.
Willie is one of the greatest song writers. It’s extremely hard to put him in the country category when you compare him to some of the most hollow music we have today.
I'm a hip-hop fan, but I regularly listen to Johnny Paycheck and Merle Haggard. Some Sturgill Simpson and David Allen Coe occasionally too.
Edit: [Here](https://ibb.co/PhBXJDn) are my top 10 most listened to artists on Spotify. Johnny Paycheck sticks out like a sore thumb lol.
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Dwight Yoakam. The new style country is terrible to me. I understand they're trying to reach a wider audience. But they all seem to use that auto tune machine and don't even seem to be legit musicians.
I’ll admit there are gems in the modern era of country, even among some of the pop stuff, but the majority ofbit isn’t for me, most of the pre-2000s artist wrote, sang, or otherwise played from experience, many of the new guys are either rich because they’re parents are famous artists or they’re rich city folk with a record label
Country music doesn’t have to be about the particular country themes, but many modern stars include these themes regardless of their experience (I doubt most have ever even picked up a shovel or put on steel toed boots before) and don’t even try to sound genuine, it doesn’t convince me that they’re the cowboys they say they are.
That being said I’m not implying that you gotta have the experience to sing the songs, as long as you can atleast sound like you do.
Also certainly not saying you have to be a country person to listen to it either, I’m a bit of a hick myself but I still listen to the occasional bit of Detroit style Rap.
I guess my message here is that most don’t put their hearts and souls into it, unlike the artist of old…
Last Cowboy Song is a darn classic! I also find some of the modern stuff to be good, I find Alan Jackson to be one who flipflops between bro-country, touches of the old nashville-outlaw-ish kinda sound, and that wierd limbo of the 90’s when Country was kinda everywhere and nowhere all at the same time
Hank3 brings this up a lot. Country is so lame now. Just a bunch of bubble gum crap. Dudes with eyeliner, makeup and highlighted hair...give me a fucking break!
And that’s the sign that real country people look for. If you’re boots look brand new after 2 weeks, you aren’t country or those are dress boots that get worn less than 5 times a year.
I mean pop songs are different IMO. Stadium country music pisses me off because they talk about how hard they work and how country they are when they really aren’t. Like a pop song is at least about clubbing or getting your heart broken which they’ve probably done. These fake ass country millionaires are totally fake.
Way easier to talk about getting your heartbroken when everyone has. Much different talking about working out on the cornfields with your tractor when you wouldn’t know your way around a John Greene if someone gave you the keys.
I'll agree with you on that! I personally like older country music more than modern, and it's because old country doesn't feel "manufactured" like modern country does. I remember someone here giving me a Bo Burnham video where he basically ripped modern country to shreds, and it's unironically better than modern country.
A parody that solely relied on modern country music tropes was better than any actual modern country song I can think of.
If you think this, then I sentence you to 1 month in the Upper Cumberland of Tennessee. Its like a beautiful getaway, except modern country is the ONLY music you will be hearing.
You see this sentiment everywhere on Reddit. Every Redditor ever “Thanks Bioshock for showing me I don’t hate country music I just hate modern country music”.
I don't think you hate country as a whole, I think you hate Nashville country.
Listen to someone like Zach Bryan, Colter Wall, Koe Wetzel, or Tyler Childers. All of them are Country, but none of them are Nashville Country.
"Bein' country" isn't a factor in any of their music, and none of them use the country image to add to their character (Colter is a literal Cowboy though, works on a ranch).
I think it’s just popular to hate country without actually listening to any of it… Zach Bryan is awesome… but I’ll get down to some “dirt on my boots” or “dirt road anthem” also… different songs for different moments in life
Sometimes it’s nice to just put on some upbeat party country on a sunny day, grab a beer and grill out
He said he hated stadium country. These artists you named are not stadium country IMO. All these artists are great and I’m seeing both Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan this summer!
He also said he hates modern country in his title. Most people who say that tend to just hate Nashville and stadium country. The artists I named absolutely don't fall into either category, because I'm trying to recommend artists who's music doesn't contain the aspects he dislikes.
Also, you're lucky as fuck to get tickets to both of them.
All of them have major record deals. I love how reddit pretends that these people are unknown. They are currently the most popular country music singers
I'm not saying they're unknown, Zach has some odd 14 million monthly listeners, consistently sells out arenas and has repeatedly been on Yellowstone. I'm saying that the people I mentioned aren't Nashville country, and OP might enjoy their music because it isn't full of the themes that Nashville country carrys.
I find that to be the case with most "I hate country" people. You ask them what all they've listened to and all they can name is the mass produced, boiled down swill. It's like saying you hate burgers but the only one you've ever eaten is a 2 day old room temperature Big Mac.
Agreed 100%. We live in an era where discovering new stuff is the easiest it’s ever been, and people still refuse to look farther than what’s playing on the grocery store radio.
I’ve been listening to Zach Bryan for years… so happy he’s getting national recognition… dude writes some awesome songs
I will say though, sometimes he tries to hit some notes he’s not really capable of hitting and it throws the whole song off lol
I started listening to Zach roughly a week after DeAnn came out and it feels so surreal to see him go from this small artist to having millions of monthly listeners, selling out venues, and repeatedly getting his music on a huge TV show and arguably being one of the best country artists of this generation.
Yeah it’s like seeing someone you went to high school with get famous lol
I looked into a fest in Montana with him and caamp headlining… like $850 a ticket…. Safe to say he blew up… hopefully it doesn’t go to his head
Was just about to say that. I think out of the major genres (rap, hip hop, rock, country, pop) that country is by far the least popular and most widely hated and made fun of.
It’s terrible. Go to Nashville. There’s absolutely nothing “country” about it. I despise Aldean, but he said in one of his songs it’s “Hollywood with a touch of twang” and that’s about right
It's funny, I still like Marty Robbins but I absolutely loved the song El Paso when I was a kid. I guess kids like his voice or something (in our sample of two here), he is a good singer and that song has a good flow to it.
As a teenager in the 90s, I grew up on a huge ranch with 500 head of cattle, a barn full of horses, was a team and calf roper, and broke horses for other people. I drove tractors, worked cows, rodeoed, and hunted whitetail.
I loved thrash metal because modern country music, even then, is/was so fucking lame, and the weird looks I'd get pulling up to a rodeo with horses in tow while blaring Reign in Blood was always funny. Nothing like being the weird metalhead at the rodeo or roping who took all the cosplayers' money.
I identify as a cowboy but I am a millionaire.
Hey guys I'm just going to kick back and play the guitar at the rance while you wrangle cattle again. See you at the ranchin' after-party I'll be dressed in your work clothes as a tribute
Lol someone just stumbled across a Bo Burnham video
Yeah. If part of your enjoyment of music involves drawing a personal connection to the performer, you're setting yourself up for a bad time in *most* cases, not just in pop country. Most pop artists are just shells of people that labels invest millions of dollars in crafting a brand around. Some of them are actually worth their salt when it comes to songwriting, but yeah most of them are playing a character.
My problem with a lot of so called country singers is they have a romantic view of country life and left out some of its uglier side (drugs, clan rivalries in some places etc)
You forgot extreme poverty, classist oppression and ridiculously hard work just trying to get by. True country music comes from lives of struggle, strife and true love, whether an individual or a place. If you don’t actually know pain, you can’t make country. JMO
Me too and I live in West Texas and it's unavoidable. I am so happy when I go in a store and they are playing anything but that crap. God how I hate that shit. I HATE it. I'm gonna stop now before I get on a rant lol
I couldn't agree more. No real country song requires a squealing electric guitar.
But those hideous, brand-new-but-artifically-crumpled-up, spray-painted straw hats are the worst.
If you want to see real country music performed by an authentic cowboy, look up anything by George Strait. That man knows how to wear a cowboy hat and his wrangler jeans look mighty fine too.
The real irony in all of this is that a persistent theme in country music has always been "authenticity." Real people, real problems, real heartache. A true country music legend is like a populist politician who has a genuine connection to (and is truly of) the people. The slicked up hillbillies these days are as manufactured as The Monkees. "He can carry a tune with a twang? Stick a hat and a big buckle on him and let's see if we can make a few dollars."
It's "bad pop music with a fiddle." - Tom Petty
There are 3 facets of country I hate 2 of them. I dislike corporate country ( My guns my truck my dog music) I dont like that weird Q anon country stuff. I do however love underground artists like Benjamin Todd, Matt Heckler and The Hill country devil. To me country is all about lyricism the same way rap music is and if your not going on about your actual life experience I just cant respect it.
Amen. The songwriting is atrocious. Lyrics sound like record company executives were choosing words that rhyme with bonfire and whiskey.
It’s become a parody of itself.
It's fuckin' horrible. I grew up with my parents listening to Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and artists like this. When I hear someone say they love country music I immediately jump to good that. Then they say their favorite is Luke Bryan. Women of country music are doing a much better job of turning out music that hasn't been flogged to death to fit the marketing strategy.
There are a few bright spots in country music. Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, Zach Bryan, Whiskey Myers are a few of the artists I still enjoy listening to. Look up Tyler Childers doing Help Me Make it Through the Night from Farm-Aid last year. It's well worth the effort.
I made a starter pack about this very topic a few weeks ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/starterpacks/comments/12s1m82/country_radio_song_lyric_starter_pack/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Country music is basically just putting twang on some shitty music and appealing to the people in the population with the absolute lowest quality music taste. I'm also convinced that what people call "good" country music is just soft rock with a folk influence. Fact of the matter is, country is just exactly what it is now: shitty twangy derivatives of other genres
Well, country music is not for everyone, and I find it interesting that country music “fans” are so elitist among their own ranks. Let folks enjoy things🤷🏻♀️🙄
I agree. Also you're not meant to like every song on the radio. Country music stations play a wide range of popular hits designed to be tolerable to most. Some modern country music is aimed at young people who want something to dance and party to. Other songs are more thoughtful and tell stories. I don't see why they can't coexist. I personally have fun moods and thoughtful moods at different times.
If you like some country songs, enjoy those songs and leave the rest alone. There's no real point in gate keeping the entire genre, either by time period or instruments or whether the people have done farm work in the past. It's music, and other people are enjoying it, and some old fogey saying it doesn't count as "real country" isn't going to make it go away. This is especially stupid now that we have Youtube and Spotify and people can easily listen to more tailored sets of music if they would like.
I guess it's not surprising given how conservative the core fan base is, that they would get upset about the natural evolution of the genre and try to force it to be how it was. Nostalgia glasses. I wonder if country fans fifty years ago did the same amount of gate keeping.
No Johnny, Waylon or Merle these days. Or George. I wanted to throw Willie in the mix, but he’s still holding the line. God bless Willie!!!
Tons more I miss, like Patsy, Miss Loretta, Miss Tammy. Scores others.
Country has actual musicians who play instruments, where most pop rap n hip hop have lip syncing and lack of musical talent outside of rhyming while turnt up
This isn’t unpopular, most people say they hate country music, especially modern country
I like most of it though… from pop country, to outlaw country, to red dirt, etc… to me it’s about all the ups and downs of life and very relatable… some days it’s about your dog passing “Maggie’s song” Chris Stapleton… other days your feeling good wanting to party “cruise” Florida Georgia line, you may be mourning someone “all around you” sturgell Simpson “follow you to virgie” Tyler Childers
Or feeling in love with your wife of 30 years “next thing you know “ Jordan Davis, “the good stuff” kenny chesney
Wondering what could have been with a lost love” dogwood” whiskey Myers
Pissed and wanna drive fast? “Gasoline” by whiskey Meyers
Wanna put things in perspective and realize what’s important “til you can’t” Cody Johnson
Feeling beachy and having a summer bbq, pretty much any pop country, but zack brown band, Jon Pardi, jason aldean, Luke Bryan etc…
There’s a good amount of garbage in country, but that’s all genres… country to me is about the ups and downs of a simple life , and there’s a lot of it
Fun happy catchy songs to just dance and sing too…
deep mournful soulful songs that resonate with whatever it is you’re going through
Hard fast songs to get pissed off too
Slow pretty songs to slow dance too etc…
To me it’s the most wholesome and real genre of music
I think a lot of music culture is cosplay though. You can dress in leather and spikes and go to a punk or metal concert even if you're an accountant. You can enjoy rap even if you live a comfortable suburban life with no danger. You can wear a long skirt and flowers in your hair and enjoy dreamy folk music on the weekends even if you work in tech. Let people have their little bits of escapism. We accept that movies and novels are made up, often by people who have not lived the exciting lives of their protagonists. Why do we hold music to a different standard?
Country music and bluegrass split apart into two distinct genres. Country was more lyric focused and bluegrass was more instrument ability focused. (This is a rough history there are lots of grey areas)
The problem is country music lyrics became less unique and more generic.
Rap has the same issue. Most rappers who are bigger names have grown up middle class, in the suburbs or middle class neighbourhoods in cities. The genre isn’t about the same issues it was when it started.
Is is maybe the most popular opinion I've seen on this subreddit. Country music has been a massive joke since I was a kid and I'm going for my masters now.
I'm not a huge country fan but I do like some that Yahoo's old radio station recommended to me based on the types of lyrical messages I like. I am VERY picky because I know what types of messages I like.
When you say “never lived or worked in that lifestyle” what do you mean? Farms aren’t as common as they used to be. Plenty of country folk work in cities and make good money, and still hunt and fish on the weekend.
Many people are too harsh on modern country. «I want the singer to have experienced farmlife and recorded the songs around a campfire» comeon, get out of here. The authentic country music still exists, its just less popular.
It's mostly mixed as pop music now. I think there are some wonderful artists in Nashville who excel at song interpretation for sure. I don't know what makes somebody country anymore. I think it's about your roots and where you come from in that music.
I think the biggest shift in a genre of music over the decades has been in country music. Older country music is fantastic, performed and written by people with actual musical talent and the experiences to compliment the lyrics and style. It really was art and they were true artists.
Modern country like Nashville, pop/stadium country is only about "okay, how can we create this song to sell and make the most money." Every song just follows the same formula that they know will make the most money. And the person performing it has zero relation to the lyrics or the target audience. It's just a product of musical capitalism. "How can we streamline this to maximize profits" basically.
Now there are some lesser known modern country artists that really are keeping the spirit and style of older country alive like Sturgill Simpson. They don't sell out stadiums or dominate like the country music awards but artists like him are real country in my opinion.
I used to always joke about how modern country is about how “my dog died, I love my truck, and I love domestic light and cold..” sort of tongue in cheek..
Then I heard “Forever After All” by Luke Combs..
The song begins in a very serious deep emotional tone, with the first line being “A cold beer’s got 12 ounces..”
I don’t understand how people can listen to this shit without internally cringing like a pretzel
A buddy of mine is a videographer in the Houston area, and he shoots a lot of music videos for local artists trying to break big.
Naturally, he shoots a lot of hip-hop and country artists.
The hip-hop guys are always broke but inevitably spend half the shoot budget on renting/borrowing high-end cars (Rolls Royces and Lamborghinis) to flash in the videos, while the country guys generally have more money than god but end up borrowing ratty old pickup trucks to try to look authentically broke in theirs.
Two different sets of artists both trying to pretend to be something they’re not, but in opposite directions. Just funny how that works.
There are various reasons for this, but I definitely feel like with a lot of radio stuff, if you just changed the inflection of the singing and the amount of distortion on the guitars, you could easily make any one song into Country, Alt Rock, or Pop. And with only a few additional tweaks you could make it into a Hip Hop song. The Country/Alt Rock dichotomy is particularly noticeable to me.
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As a fan of the Outlaw era(s) of Country music, I couldn’t agree more. I feel like this new “bro-country” is just throwing a southern twang on top of some souless pop-hiphop factory made disaster. Any Johnny Cash fans in the comments?
when my grandpa taught me to play guitar, he taught me how to play johnny cash and willie & waylon songs and we’d sing them together. those are the real deal
I, too, would like to go to Luckenbach, Texas
As a guitar hobbyist myself I appreciate the 60’s-70’s stuff by those outlaw style artists you mentioned, beautiful songs, soulful writing, and whether you just play it with a simple trainbeat strumming ryhtm or step it up with some solos and rythm guitar, it’ll always sound good.
Willie is one of the greatest song writers. It’s extremely hard to put him in the country category when you compare him to some of the most hollow music we have today.
I'm a hip-hop fan, but I regularly listen to Johnny Paycheck and Merle Haggard. Some Sturgill Simpson and David Allen Coe occasionally too. Edit: [Here](https://ibb.co/PhBXJDn) are my top 10 most listened to artists on Spotify. Johnny Paycheck sticks out like a sore thumb lol.
Merle Haggard is one I respect a lot, especially his works with Willie Nelson (Pancho and Lefty is a personal favorite that goes in ALL my playlists)
Johnny, Hank 3, lost dog street band. Billie Strings.
Texas has a lot of good artists that get little or no radio play.
Jonny cash fan here, but also will say I dig the new sounds... not luke Bryan sound but the modern texas country is pretty good
Love me some Cash. Ever hear The Highwaymen? The ultimate country supergroup. Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson
The Highwaymen are my favorite band and supergroup, its an incredible combination of artist and its a shame they only every got three albums.
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Dwight Yoakam. The new style country is terrible to me. I understand they're trying to reach a wider audience. But they all seem to use that auto tune machine and don't even seem to be legit musicians.
I’ll admit there are gems in the modern era of country, even among some of the pop stuff, but the majority ofbit isn’t for me, most of the pre-2000s artist wrote, sang, or otherwise played from experience, many of the new guys are either rich because they’re parents are famous artists or they’re rich city folk with a record label Country music doesn’t have to be about the particular country themes, but many modern stars include these themes regardless of their experience (I doubt most have ever even picked up a shovel or put on steel toed boots before) and don’t even try to sound genuine, it doesn’t convince me that they’re the cowboys they say they are. That being said I’m not implying that you gotta have the experience to sing the songs, as long as you can atleast sound like you do. Also certainly not saying you have to be a country person to listen to it either, I’m a bit of a hick myself but I still listen to the occasional bit of Detroit style Rap. I guess my message here is that most don’t put their hearts and souls into it, unlike the artist of old…
[удалено]
Last Cowboy Song is a darn classic! I also find some of the modern stuff to be good, I find Alan Jackson to be one who flipflops between bro-country, touches of the old nashville-outlaw-ish kinda sound, and that wierd limbo of the 90’s when Country was kinda everywhere and nowhere all at the same time
I got into Marty Robbins from the Big Iron memes, but at this point I genuinely like his stuff lol. Coming from pretty much strictly a metalhead
Man the only new country I can listen to these days Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson.
Hank3 brings this up a lot. Country is so lame now. Just a bunch of bubble gum crap. Dudes with eyeliner, makeup and highlighted hair...give me a fucking break!
[Panderin'](https://youtube.com/watch?v=y7im5LT09a0)
I came here to post this.
So did I.
I came here knowing someone would so I could watch it again
I've never seen that before, that was great.
You beat me to if, damn it
I went to this stand up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa! Such a good performer. It’s been hard to listen to country music since I heard this song honestly.
It's just pop with hats
And fancy boots
And dirt in their boots
Fake rustic dirt painted on
And that’s the sign that real country people look for. If you’re boots look brand new after 2 weeks, you aren’t country or those are dress boots that get worn less than 5 times a year.
I mean pop songs are different IMO. Stadium country music pisses me off because they talk about how hard they work and how country they are when they really aren’t. Like a pop song is at least about clubbing or getting your heart broken which they’ve probably done. These fake ass country millionaires are totally fake.
That sounds an awful lot like another very popular genre
Way easier to talk about getting your heartbroken when everyone has. Much different talking about working out on the cornfields with your tractor when you wouldn’t know your way around a John Greene if someone gave you the keys.
It’s just trucks & beer & women at bars
And who doesn’t like women and bars?
It's even influenced by hip hop to an extent nowadays
Musically speaking, modern country music is just "Hotel California: the musical genre"
Twang pop
I heard someone call Florida Georgia Line "hip hop for people who don't like black people", and I can't help but laugh at that.
I'll agree with you on that! I personally like older country music more than modern, and it's because old country doesn't feel "manufactured" like modern country does. I remember someone here giving me a Bo Burnham video where he basically ripped modern country to shreds, and it's unironically better than modern country. A parody that solely relied on modern country music tropes was better than any actual modern country song I can think of.
this is maybe the least unpopular opinion ever.
Trust me. Go to the south or Midwest and it ain’t. All my friends fucking listen to is Morgan Wallen or Luke Combs lol
If you think this, then I sentence you to 1 month in the Upper Cumberland of Tennessee. Its like a beautiful getaway, except modern country is the ONLY music you will be hearing.
You see this sentiment everywhere on Reddit. Every Redditor ever “Thanks Bioshock for showing me I don’t hate country music I just hate modern country music”.
I don't think you hate country as a whole, I think you hate Nashville country. Listen to someone like Zach Bryan, Colter Wall, Koe Wetzel, or Tyler Childers. All of them are Country, but none of them are Nashville Country. "Bein' country" isn't a factor in any of their music, and none of them use the country image to add to their character (Colter is a literal Cowboy though, works on a ranch).
Omg yes. As a former "country music hater", Zach Bryan was my gateway drug to country lol
That's because Zach is *real* country.
I think it’s just popular to hate country without actually listening to any of it… Zach Bryan is awesome… but I’ll get down to some “dirt on my boots” or “dirt road anthem” also… different songs for different moments in life Sometimes it’s nice to just put on some upbeat party country on a sunny day, grab a beer and grill out
He said he hated stadium country. These artists you named are not stadium country IMO. All these artists are great and I’m seeing both Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan this summer!
He also said he hates modern country in his title. Most people who say that tend to just hate Nashville and stadium country. The artists I named absolutely don't fall into either category, because I'm trying to recommend artists who's music doesn't contain the aspects he dislikes. Also, you're lucky as fuck to get tickets to both of them.
Railbird?
One at bonnaroo and one at Windy City smokeout in Chicago!
There’s some good Texas county as well.. check out Casey Donahew Band..
All of them have major record deals. I love how reddit pretends that these people are unknown. They are currently the most popular country music singers
I'm not saying they're unknown, Zach has some odd 14 million monthly listeners, consistently sells out arenas and has repeatedly been on Yellowstone. I'm saying that the people I mentioned aren't Nashville country, and OP might enjoy their music because it isn't full of the themes that Nashville country carrys.
I recently saw Shane Smith and the Saints in concert! Check ‘em out, I’m a big fan of the artists you mentioned too and you might like ‘em as well.
You’re right. OP must be getting his only country music from the radio. There’s tons of good stuff out there today by very talented people.
I find that to be the case with most "I hate country" people. You ask them what all they've listened to and all they can name is the mass produced, boiled down swill. It's like saying you hate burgers but the only one you've ever eaten is a 2 day old room temperature Big Mac.
Agreed 100%. We live in an era where discovering new stuff is the easiest it’s ever been, and people still refuse to look farther than what’s playing on the grocery store radio.
I’ve been listening to Zach Bryan for years… so happy he’s getting national recognition… dude writes some awesome songs I will say though, sometimes he tries to hit some notes he’s not really capable of hitting and it throws the whole song off lol
I started listening to Zach roughly a week after DeAnn came out and it feels so surreal to see him go from this small artist to having millions of monthly listeners, selling out venues, and repeatedly getting his music on a huge TV show and arguably being one of the best country artists of this generation.
Yeah it’s like seeing someone you went to high school with get famous lol I looked into a fest in Montana with him and caamp headlining… like $850 a ticket…. Safe to say he blew up… hopefully it doesn’t go to his head
Not at all unpopular, don’t most people think it’s boring
Idk if boring is the right word, but i usually hear people think it’s way too poppy now, and just fake, for a lack of better word.
Was just about to say that. I think out of the major genres (rap, hip hop, rock, country, pop) that country is by far the least popular and most widely hated and made fun of.
If you want real good country, Billy Strings is keeping it alive
I know it’s pointless to debate genres but I definitely think of billy strings as a part of the bluegrass genre more so than country.
Bluegrass is country’s cool uncle that taught country all it knows.
90s country was the best
90s country is the reason modern pop country exists. This is all Garth Brooks’ fault.
Sturgill Simpson
It’s terrible. Go to Nashville. There’s absolutely nothing “country” about it. I despise Aldean, but he said in one of his songs it’s “Hollywood with a touch of twang” and that’s about right
Big hat, big buckle, NO CATTLE!
They just just repeat stuff repeat stuff repeat stuff
"I write songs about riding tractors, from the comfort of a private jet"
I could sing in mandarin, you could still tell I’m panderin
Huntin dear chasing trout
A Bud Light with the logo facing out
Check out Orville Peck
I'm glad someone else here likes him!
I don't like most modern ones but there's still some that are fantastic like Chris Stapleton and sturgill simpson.
Oh, holy smokes!!! Chris Stapleton is the best thing to happen to country music since George Strait! And I’m not a fan of George Strait.
Agreed, but I love the hell out of some classic country and western songs from Marty Robbins.
Forget country albums, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs is one of the greatest albums of all time period!
Oh yes. My 3 year old really loves Big Iron and El Paso.
A toddler of culture
It's funny, I still like Marty Robbins but I absolutely loved the song El Paso when I was a kid. I guess kids like his voice or something (in our sample of two here), he is a good singer and that song has a good flow to it.
As a teenager in the 90s, I grew up on a huge ranch with 500 head of cattle, a barn full of horses, was a team and calf roper, and broke horses for other people. I drove tractors, worked cows, rodeoed, and hunted whitetail. I loved thrash metal because modern country music, even then, is/was so fucking lame, and the weird looks I'd get pulling up to a rodeo with horses in tow while blaring Reign in Blood was always funny. Nothing like being the weird metalhead at the rodeo or roping who took all the cosplayers' money.
I identify as a cowboy but I am a millionaire. Hey guys I'm just going to kick back and play the guitar at the rance while you wrangle cattle again. See you at the ranchin' after-party I'll be dressed in your work clothes as a tribute
Bro Country is the worst music to ever infect the airwaves, and I’m old enough to remember Milli Vanilli.
Well, just blame it on the rain
Lol someone just stumbled across a Bo Burnham video Yeah. If part of your enjoyment of music involves drawing a personal connection to the performer, you're setting yourself up for a bad time in *most* cases, not just in pop country. Most pop artists are just shells of people that labels invest millions of dollars in crafting a brand around. Some of them are actually worth their salt when it comes to songwriting, but yeah most of them are playing a character.
Lol, I saw Panderin back when it came out
My problem with a lot of so called country singers is they have a romantic view of country life and left out some of its uglier side (drugs, clan rivalries in some places etc)
You forgot extreme poverty, classist oppression and ridiculously hard work just trying to get by. True country music comes from lives of struggle, strife and true love, whether an individual or a place. If you don’t actually know pain, you can’t make country. JMO
Me too and I live in West Texas and it's unavoidable. I am so happy when I go in a store and they are playing anything but that crap. God how I hate that shit. I HATE it. I'm gonna stop now before I get on a rant lol
I live in a rural town and SAME.
Modern country is K-Pop but for city people who call themselves "country"
I couldn't agree more. No real country song requires a squealing electric guitar. But those hideous, brand-new-but-artifically-crumpled-up, spray-painted straw hats are the worst. If you want to see real country music performed by an authentic cowboy, look up anything by George Strait. That man knows how to wear a cowboy hat and his wrangler jeans look mighty fine too.
I wear "My own kind of hat"...
Urban cowboys do have that fake bit about them
I hate it too. It's just about the only genre I don't listen to
Look up Americana country or alt country for real country music.
Farm Emo
The real irony in all of this is that a persistent theme in country music has always been "authenticity." Real people, real problems, real heartache. A true country music legend is like a populist politician who has a genuine connection to (and is truly of) the people. The slicked up hillbillies these days are as manufactured as The Monkees. "He can carry a tune with a twang? Stick a hat and a big buckle on him and let's see if we can make a few dollars." It's "bad pop music with a fiddle." - Tom Petty
A lot of rap influences in country nowadays too.. I love 90s country
Wow never heard this before…
I like the 80's and 90's country.
There are 3 facets of country I hate 2 of them. I dislike corporate country ( My guns my truck my dog music) I dont like that weird Q anon country stuff. I do however love underground artists like Benjamin Todd, Matt Heckler and The Hill country devil. To me country is all about lyricism the same way rap music is and if your not going on about your actual life experience I just cant respect it.
Benjamin Todd is right up there with Willie, Waylon, and Merle in my book!
Amen. The songwriting is atrocious. Lyrics sound like record company executives were choosing words that rhyme with bonfire and whiskey. It’s become a parody of itself.
It's fuckin' horrible. I grew up with my parents listening to Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and artists like this. When I hear someone say they love country music I immediately jump to good that. Then they say their favorite is Luke Bryan. Women of country music are doing a much better job of turning out music that hasn't been flogged to death to fit the marketing strategy. There are a few bright spots in country music. Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, Zach Bryan, Whiskey Myers are a few of the artists I still enjoy listening to. Look up Tyler Childers doing Help Me Make it Through the Night from Farm-Aid last year. It's well worth the effort.
I made a starter pack about this very topic a few weeks ago https://www.reddit.com/r/starterpacks/comments/12s1m82/country_radio_song_lyric_starter_pack/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Glad to see the Burnham video link in comments again.
I agree. Anything after the 90’s is pure pop crap with a few exceptions.
Country cosplay. I love that.
Country music is basically just putting twang on some shitty music and appealing to the people in the population with the absolute lowest quality music taste. I'm also convinced that what people call "good" country music is just soft rock with a folk influence. Fact of the matter is, country is just exactly what it is now: shitty twangy derivatives of other genres
Bring back the steel guitar!!!
there are plenty of good modern country singers and songs. you're just listening to pop- country bro-country. whatever you wanna call it.
Wow what an original take
Wow what a totally never before heard unpopular opinion! I bet you also don't like trump!
It’s like where everyone too ugly to be a pop star ends up.
How do you feel about Orville Peck, Sturgill Simpson, or The Dead South?
Colter wall nuff said
My least favorite genre. Pure ass.
Country music has declined but older country music has more soul to it imo. Johnny Cash for example.
Modern country is crap music
Well, country music is not for everyone, and I find it interesting that country music “fans” are so elitist among their own ranks. Let folks enjoy things🤷🏻♀️🙄
I agree. Also you're not meant to like every song on the radio. Country music stations play a wide range of popular hits designed to be tolerable to most. Some modern country music is aimed at young people who want something to dance and party to. Other songs are more thoughtful and tell stories. I don't see why they can't coexist. I personally have fun moods and thoughtful moods at different times. If you like some country songs, enjoy those songs and leave the rest alone. There's no real point in gate keeping the entire genre, either by time period or instruments or whether the people have done farm work in the past. It's music, and other people are enjoying it, and some old fogey saying it doesn't count as "real country" isn't going to make it go away. This is especially stupid now that we have Youtube and Spotify and people can easily listen to more tailored sets of music if they would like. I guess it's not surprising given how conservative the core fan base is, that they would get upset about the natural evolution of the genre and try to force it to be how it was. Nostalgia glasses. I wonder if country fans fifty years ago did the same amount of gate keeping.
No Johnny, Waylon or Merle these days. Or George. I wanted to throw Willie in the mix, but he’s still holding the line. God bless Willie!!! Tons more I miss, like Patsy, Miss Loretta, Miss Tammy. Scores others.
Chris Stapleton brings enough fire for the whole country genre. I prefer 90s country.
Anyone else just find "twang" annoying as all hell?
Everyone hates modern country, downvote for popular opinion
Charts say otherwise
I hate Country. It just sucks
Country has actual musicians who play instruments, where most pop rap n hip hop have lip syncing and lack of musical talent outside of rhyming while turnt up
What you don’t like is modern pop country. Like what’s played on the radio. Real country is the shit
Lol what you can’t gatekeep a whole style or genre.
This isn’t unpopular, most people say they hate country music, especially modern country I like most of it though… from pop country, to outlaw country, to red dirt, etc… to me it’s about all the ups and downs of life and very relatable… some days it’s about your dog passing “Maggie’s song” Chris Stapleton… other days your feeling good wanting to party “cruise” Florida Georgia line, you may be mourning someone “all around you” sturgell Simpson “follow you to virgie” Tyler Childers Or feeling in love with your wife of 30 years “next thing you know “ Jordan Davis, “the good stuff” kenny chesney Wondering what could have been with a lost love” dogwood” whiskey Myers Pissed and wanna drive fast? “Gasoline” by whiskey Meyers Wanna put things in perspective and realize what’s important “til you can’t” Cody Johnson Feeling beachy and having a summer bbq, pretty much any pop country, but zack brown band, Jon Pardi, jason aldean, Luke Bryan etc… There’s a good amount of garbage in country, but that’s all genres… country to me is about the ups and downs of a simple life , and there’s a lot of it Fun happy catchy songs to just dance and sing too… deep mournful soulful songs that resonate with whatever it is you’re going through Hard fast songs to get pissed off too Slow pretty songs to slow dance too etc… To me it’s the most wholesome and real genre of music
Bible on the dash Beer in my ass Love Johnny Cash Slow not fast
most of it is trash, gimmie some waylon anyday.
I Hate ~~Modern~~ All Country Music/Singers FTFY
That’s how I felt when I found Larry the Cable Guy…
Mainstream country & mainstream pop are equally bad
Inauthentic, disingenuous, cliche, and saccharine. What's not to like?
I think a lot of music culture is cosplay though. You can dress in leather and spikes and go to a punk or metal concert even if you're an accountant. You can enjoy rap even if you live a comfortable suburban life with no danger. You can wear a long skirt and flowers in your hair and enjoy dreamy folk music on the weekends even if you work in tech. Let people have their little bits of escapism. We accept that movies and novels are made up, often by people who have not lived the exciting lives of their protagonists. Why do we hold music to a different standard?
Potpourri music. Prolonged exposure causes headaches.
All of the newer stuff on the radio sounds the same.
Not unpopular.
Am I supposed to upvote if I agree?
Country music and bluegrass split apart into two distinct genres. Country was more lyric focused and bluegrass was more instrument ability focused. (This is a rough history there are lots of grey areas) The problem is country music lyrics became less unique and more generic.
I’m not a big country music fan by any stretch, but I’ve been really enjoying listening to Vincent Neil Emerson lately.
not unpopular.
Not usually this guy, but literally the most arctic take you could have.
Bruh this sub is for UNPOPULAR opinions
analog vs digital era
I feel like this is a very popular opinion, although it might depend on where you live
Rap has the same issue. Most rappers who are bigger names have grown up middle class, in the suburbs or middle class neighbourhoods in cities. The genre isn’t about the same issues it was when it started.
Chancey Williams, Chris LeDoux, and Colter Wall. Real cowboys, give ‘‘em a shot
Zzzzzzz. Are there any mods on this sub?
This isn't an unpopular opinion. It's actually quite common and popular.
Is is maybe the most popular opinion I've seen on this subreddit. Country music has been a massive joke since I was a kid and I'm going for my masters now.
I'm not a huge country fan but I do like some that Yahoo's old radio station recommended to me based on the types of lyrical messages I like. I am VERY picky because I know what types of messages I like.
This is such a popular opinion.
When you say “never lived or worked in that lifestyle” what do you mean? Farms aren’t as common as they used to be. Plenty of country folk work in cities and make good money, and still hunt and fish on the weekend.
Many people are too harsh on modern country. «I want the singer to have experienced farmlife and recorded the songs around a campfire» comeon, get out of here. The authentic country music still exists, its just less popular.
It's mostly mixed as pop music now. I think there are some wonderful artists in Nashville who excel at song interpretation for sure. I don't know what makes somebody country anymore. I think it's about your roots and where you come from in that music.
We’ve all had a beer, a dog, a heartache, and had some truck fun, no?
Hey look, a popular opinion! Country music is bullshit.
Modern country is just pandering boy-band pop for hillbillies. It’s farm emo. I believe it’s the absolute nadir of human creative achievement.
The is the least unpopular take on Reddit.
I have a standing self proclamation to kick Kenny Chesney's ass if he ever walks into the same room I'm in. Fuck that guy. Edit: spelling
r/popularopinions
Old time country music is badass. Modern day country music is bootlicking drivel for republican race baiters.
There's still plenty of good country music out there. It's just not on popular radio
There's some great new country out there. Billy Strings, Charley Crockett, Chris Stapleton
What about daddy Wheeler Walker Jr.? 
It started going to shit around 2005... look up Red Dirt county, it's better.
I think the biggest shift in a genre of music over the decades has been in country music. Older country music is fantastic, performed and written by people with actual musical talent and the experiences to compliment the lyrics and style. It really was art and they were true artists. Modern country like Nashville, pop/stadium country is only about "okay, how can we create this song to sell and make the most money." Every song just follows the same formula that they know will make the most money. And the person performing it has zero relation to the lyrics or the target audience. It's just a product of musical capitalism. "How can we streamline this to maximize profits" basically. Now there are some lesser known modern country artists that really are keeping the spirit and style of older country alive like Sturgill Simpson. They don't sell out stadiums or dominate like the country music awards but artists like him are real country in my opinion.
I used to always joke about how modern country is about how “my dog died, I love my truck, and I love domestic light and cold..” sort of tongue in cheek.. Then I heard “Forever After All” by Luke Combs.. The song begins in a very serious deep emotional tone, with the first line being “A cold beer’s got 12 ounces..” I don’t understand how people can listen to this shit without internally cringing like a pretzel
You should see all the LA bros in cowboy hats and no shirts at Stagecoach.
Alex Key is really good if you want real country music
Not unpopular
“Y’all dumb motherfuckers want a key change?”
A buddy of mine is a videographer in the Houston area, and he shoots a lot of music videos for local artists trying to break big. Naturally, he shoots a lot of hip-hop and country artists. The hip-hop guys are always broke but inevitably spend half the shoot budget on renting/borrowing high-end cars (Rolls Royces and Lamborghinis) to flash in the videos, while the country guys generally have more money than god but end up borrowing ratty old pickup trucks to try to look authentically broke in theirs. Two different sets of artists both trying to pretend to be something they’re not, but in opposite directions. Just funny how that works.
If you can’t two step to it, it’s not country music.
Depends on the artist. A few “modern” country stars are great imo. I’ll take Zach Brown, whiskey Myers, Tenille Townes, and a few others for sure.
There are various reasons for this, but I definitely feel like with a lot of radio stuff, if you just changed the inflection of the singing and the amount of distortion on the guitars, you could easily make any one song into Country, Alt Rock, or Pop. And with only a few additional tweaks you could make it into a Hip Hop song. The Country/Alt Rock dichotomy is particularly noticeable to me.
I think you're talking about pop-county music. Try something like Charley Crockett.