10 country albums by black artists

Despite making foundational contributions to the genre, Black artists are too often dismissed by fans and programmers who too invested in country music as an arena solely for white voices from rural areas singing about white experiences in rural areas. Meanwhile, white artists routinely borrow production and vocal techniques from Black artists. The 10 artists listed not only attest to the amazing country music made by Black singers, but also demonstrate how wide-ranging country can be—from the mainstream to the countercultural, from the acoustic to the electric to the electronic.