Country Music Association tackles diversity ahead of CMA Awards

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVD) -- The highly anticipated CMA awards are Wednesday and while there are a lot of favorite country stars nominated, there was one star notably not nominated this year that caused a stir and reignited a conversation on diversity.

We all remember Beyoncé did not receive a CMA nomination for her debut country album, but black artists like Shaboozey have taken off this year and are nominated in several categories, so we wanted to ask how the Country Music Association and country artists are working to do better each year.

"A Bar Song (Tipsy)" is the song heard around the world. It was like number one in South Africa and then it was number one in Canada, number one in the UK," said Shaboozey during an interview at CMA Fest this year.

"Now he's a top artist to watch at the CMA Awards. He's not only nominated for multiple awards, but continues to have I think right now 15th week as a number one," said Sarah Trahern, the Country Music Association's CEO.

Yet, Shaboozey is one of only 3 black artists nominated this year raising the question how inclusive are the CMAs in celebrating diverse voices?

"We want to be as colorblind as a format if it's country music and if it's a country music artist we want to give a platform to those artists whether they happen to be Black, whether the happen to be Latin, whether they happen to be LGBTQ," Trahern said.

She told ABC11 she's proud of the progress she's seen and knows there's more work to do. "It's exciting to see the number of artists that come in and want to be grounded in our form and I'm proud that CMA is here to give them opportunity."

In the week leading up to the award show the CMA's celebrated diverse voices with Country Forward 'A Day Party For Inclusion' at Cannery Hall. Trahern was in attendance with several diverse stars like Leah Turner and Ashlie Amber and the Boykinz.

Artists like Brittany Spencer are helping to shape this evolution in country music. "It makes me so happy to see so many people making art that I love like it's so many Black country artists doing really dope things," Spencer said.

Both Brittany and Shaboozey were featured in Beyonce's recent Cowboy Carter album, a groundbreaking release this year that despite its popularity did not secure a CMA Award nomination.

"This is a movement and I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 5 to 10 years look like and seeing so many people like us," said Spencer in a post on X.

Shaboozey thanked Beyoncé for opening the door and called her album one of the most innovative country albums of all time. Now he's hoping his music helps to keep the door open. "I couldn't have predicted any of this stuff but it's just like really amazing to just wake up and know that I'm a part of such massive moments," he added.

You can watch the CMA's live Wednesday, November 20th on ABC11.