There’s no denying that Kane Brown has carved his own path in country music. A true trailblazer, Brown began his career by sharing covers of popular country songs on Facebook. He built a solid following on Facebook and eventually scored a record deal after taking an independently released song to the top of the iTunes charts.
After finding a home at Sony Music Nashville’s RCA imprint, Brown has gone on to release hit after hit and continue his rise to superstardom with a sound that’s all his own through his unique mix of country, pop and R&B.
While his fan base continues to grow, Brown admits he knows some country fans won’t approve of what he does. And he’s okay with that.
“There are people who are, you know, ‘red dirt country’, who are still on Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash, and they can’t stand me,” the superstar recently acknowledged during an interview with London’s Evening Standard. “My fans love all genres of music.”
Although he’s comfortable in his own skin now, that was necessarily the case in 2015 when he released his first single. Making his debut as a biracial country singer didn’t come without its challenges.
“I was a nervous wreck coming into the country music scene, and I did feel like I had to dress a certain way and do certain things,” he explained. “Now I’m at a point where I can do my own thing. I don’t push too hard to break no boundaries, but I do break boundaries.”
His latest boundary-breaking moment comes with the release of Mixtape Vol. 1, a seven-song EP featuring a variety of sounds like “Be Like That (feat. Swae Lee and Khalid)” and the ’90s inspired “BFE.” Although this project, which also includes his collab with John Legend, blurs genres, Brown says his forthcoming album will stick more within the country realm.
“The full album will have a lot more country songs on there. I’ll never betray country music because they’re the ones that got me started. I’ll always have a heart for them,” he promised.
Whether traditional country music fans support his music or not, Kane Brown’s fans will and to Brown, that’s all that matters.
