Crossover in music terms is when an artist can create music that different audiences may enjoy. We often see this in music when an artist attends different award ceremonies such as the BET Awards, MTV Music Awards, and the Country Music Association Awards. An artist may be diverse and able to reach their audience through different genres of music, making a larger fan base from recognition on different platforms. We often see a music genre crossover in music artists that are opposite genres, usually through a collaboration between the two different artists. We have seen crossover genre collaborations with Kirk Franklin (Gospel) and Lil Baby (Rap) in their new song “We Win”, Lil Nas (Hip Hop) and Billy Ray Cyrus in “Old Town Road” as well as Doja Cat (Hip Hop/Pop) and Saweetie (Rap) in Best Friend.
R&B singer H.E.R. attended the 2020 CMT Music Awards to perform with country singer Chris Stapleton on a single they put out called “Hold On”. We then a year later saw H.E.R. attend the BET Awards in 2021 to put on an amazing performance and go on to win best female r&b/pop artist and best gospel/inspirational artist. H.E.R. is the perfect example of how an artist can be so diverse in music, leading her talent to perform on different platforms of crossover genres. H.E.R. gave a speech during the BET awards to thank God, her family, and team and goes on to explain how she had the pleasure of being on a stage of a different genre at the CMT Music Awards. She says when asked what she brings to that platform coming from R&B music, she replies that R&B and soul music laid the foundation for country music. “There would not be a lot of those other genres if it were not for black music” H.E.R. says as she finishes out her acceptance speech.
Written By Chena Morrison