Kane Brown On Racism In Country Music: “He Said He Wouldn’t Write With Me Because I’m Black”

Kane Brown has come a long way since his early days uploading covers on Facebook, to now selling out arenas, topping charts, and becoming one of country music’s most streamed artists globally. 

But in a new appearance on Jake Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, the trailblazing star revealed that the road to success was far from smooth, opening up about the racism he faced in Nashville’s songwriting circles.

When asked directly whether he experienced racism within the country music industry, Brown didn’t hesitate. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “I remember, I ain’t gonna say a 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’m black.”

Brown shared that he later confronted that writer, who offered an apology in a bar. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a one-off. 

“There’s another big writer who had like 30 number ones that said the same thing,” Brown added. But when the tides turned and Brown started blowing up, that same writer tried to circle back. “He apologized whenever we blew up and was trying to write with me, but I said no.”

Brown clarified that these moments happened in the earlier part of his career, during his  Facebook cover days and before the major label deals and platinum records came. “Nobody believed it,” he said, referring to how these kinds of comments flew under the radar at the time.

While Brown’s experience underscores the lingering issues of racism in country music, his success has rewritten the rules. Every album he’s released since 2016 has landed in the Top 5 in the US charts.

Brown’s story acts as a reminder that talent rises, even when the industry isn’t always ready for it.

Watch Kane Brown discuss this below.