Tanner Adell thinks country music has had a “hard time progressing and evolving”.
The 27-year-old singer believes that even though country music has its “origins in Africa”, there has been a lack of representation for black artists when it comes to modern interpretations of the genre.
She told NME: “I feel like country music is the only genre that has had a hard time progressing and evolving.
“Although the banjo has its origins in Africa, black people weren’t necessarily involved in conversations surrounding country music.
“But I do feel like if black people had been more involved in the country scene, we might have a completely separate country genre by this point.”
The ‘Buckle Bunny’ hitmaker added that there will always be a certain kind of resistance from others – especially when it comes to women trying to break out in the music industry.
She said: “Whenever you’re trying to do something different, there’s always going to be people telling you it won’t work.
“We’re pitted against each other because it always seems like there are only so many slots for us.
“Whereas if you’re a man doing country music, there’s a good chance you’ll be played on the radio and get asked to open for a bigger artist.”
Tanner -who was adopted as a baby – has just released the single ‘Going Blonde’ and described the new track as being more personal than her others and hopes that she will be able to “help others” by telling her story.
She said: “Writing this song was a big part of my healing process. I’m hoping that by sharing my story, I can help others.”
The singer recently explained that she actually wrote the song years ago when she was searching for her birth family, but had been “really intentional” with her plan of when and how to release it.
She told People: “I’ve been really intentional with how I wanted to put this song out.
“I wrote it almost four years ago when I was going through a process of my birth family finding me, and me finding out some truths that I wasn’t expecting, and I kind of had to become a whole new person through that.”