Black country singers have a historic week

By MESFIN FEKADU

AP Music Writer

NEW YORK

Jimmie Allen has made history as the first black artist to have his debut single reach No. 1 on country radio, and it happened on the same week Kane Brown, who is black and white, has the top country and pop album in the U.S.

Allen said he cried when he got the news his song, “Best Shot,” hit the top spot on Billboard’s country airplay chart, which tracks radio success.

“First I screamed, like, ‘Thank, God. Finally! Finally, man.’ Then after that I’m filled with gratitude and motivated to work even harder,” Allen said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday morning.

“I realized just because you get here doesn’t mean you get to stay here, so I just try to wake up and be thankful every day. I’m not going to lie, I broke down and cried for like 20 minutes when I found out my song went No. 1 because I think about everything I sacrificed.”

Allen co-wrote “Best Shot” and it appears on his debut album, “Mercury Lane,” released last month. Brown’s sophomore album, “Experiment,” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 albums and country albums charts, respectively, this week.

“It feels great to be able to be some sort of figure that younger kids that look like me can look up and say, ‘You know what, Jimmie did it so maybe I can do it, too,”’ he said.

“It really helps motivate someone else that might want to do it to see more people who look like them in whatever career field they’re in.”