Page 2 - Top Down Version News Today

Class call and rap. hank williams said, the only education he needed was from a bluesman. johnny cash had gus cannon, a jug band bluesman. and even bill monroe, the father of bluegrass had arnold schultz, an african-american fiddle player. interwoven into all of this music is the blues and our history that we dont always focus on, but is there and is there in country music from the very beginning. and so, we shouldnt be surprised that lil nas x, a black gay rapper that had the number one country...

There in country music from the very beginning. and so we shouldnt be surprised that lil nas x, a black gay rapper, has just had the number one country song of all time this year. we ought not to be surprised, but we continually allow ourselves to be surprised because we forget in our top-down version of the past, that race is central to the u.s. and to us in both of the intimacy of that and the majesty and the breadth and the complexity and the controversy. >> what a pleasure. thank you so much...