Bro-country

File:Florida Georgia Line Night Train Tour 2014.jpg whose hit song "Cruise" drew attention to the subgenre]]

Although elements of bro-country had been noted prior, such as in the Trace Adkins hit "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk", the genre began to gather steam in the early 2010s. The song that brought the movement to the attention of music journalists was the 2012 Florida Georgia Line song "Cruise". In 2014, "Cruise" became the best-selling digital country song of all time,{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/5862305/florida-georgia-line-cruise-sets-all-time-country-sales-record |title=Florida Georgia Line's 'Cruise' Sets All-Time Country Sales Record |author=Wade Jessen |date=January 6, 2014 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=February 6, 2015 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626165018/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/5862305/florida-georgia-line-cruise-sets-all-time-country-sales-record |url-status=live }} with over 7 million copies sold in the US while also holding a then-record 24 weeks as the No. 1 Hot Country Song.{{cite magazine|last1=Rob|first1=Tannenbaum|title=Rap Whiskey Worship Repeat|magazine=Billboard|date=October 14, 2014|volume=126|issue=34|pages=44–49}}{{cite news |url=https://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/chart-watch-meghan-trainor-giant-slayer-204426293.html |title=Chart Watch: Meghan Trainor, Giant Slayer |author=Paul Grein |date=September 10, 2014 |work=Yahoo Music! Chart Watch |access-date=February 6, 2015 |archive-date=September 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911222045/https://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/chart-watch-meghan-trainor-giant-slayer-204426293.html |url-status=live }} According to Jody Rosen: "We may look back on 'Cruise' as a turning point, the moment when the balance of power tipped from an older generation of male country stars to the bros."{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/3502546/florida-georgia-line-bro-country/ |title='Bro Country' Is Still Thriving, Even If Everyone Hates It |author=Adam Carlson |date=October 14, 2014 |magazine=Time |access-date=June 25, 2015 |archive-date=August 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812102004/http://time.com/3502546/florida-georgia-line-bro-country/ |url-status=live }}

A number of highly popular albums and songs by singers such as Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton considered to be bro-country appeared in the first half of the 2010s. In 2013, Luke Bryan's Crash My Party was the third best-selling of all albums in the US, with Florida Georgia Line's Here's to the Good Times at sixth and Blake Shelton's Based on a True Story at ninth.{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/06/12/country-music-is-not-dead-give-bro-chance-country.html |title=Country music is not dead: Give bro' country a chance |author=Sasha Bogursky |date=June 12, 2014 |publisher=Fox News |access-date=June 26, 2015 |archive-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627081601/http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/06/12/country-music-is-not-dead-give-bro-chance-country.html |url-status=live }} It has also been estimated in research in mid-2010s that about 45 percent of country's best-selling songs could be considered bro-country, with the top two artists being Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line.{{cite web |url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1750831/bro-country-mashup-guy-confronts-radio-programmers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227071822/http://www.cmt.com/news/1750831/bro-country-mashup-guy-confronts-radio-programmers/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 27, 2015 |title=Bro Country Mashup Guy Confronts Radio Programmers: What Does the Future of Country Radio Hold?|author=Chris Parton |date=February 26, 2015 |publisher=CMT}}

While bro-country was popular with country music fans, programmers and those within the industry grew weary of the genre. According to radio programmer R.J. Curtis: "The real fatigue on it has been with [radio] programmers and the people who have to listen to it a lot and evaluate it—the air personalities and the program directors. The people who aren't really sick of it are the listeners."{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/why-country-radio-still-matters-20150224 |title=Why Country Radio Still Matters |author=Adam Gold |date=February 24, 2015 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-date=August 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815062843/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/why-country-radio-still-matters-20150224 |url-status=live }} Some thought that the genre had waned by 2015;{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/07/bro-country-dying-genre |title=Rejoice! Bro-country is dying out as new ideas push genre into bolder territory |author=Grady Smith |work=Guardian |date=July 7, 2015 |access-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-date=March 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328005054/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/07/bro-country-dying-genre |url-status=live }} others, however, felt that the genre remained popular and argued that it had expanded in a positive way. According to radio program director Phathead: "The hip-hop, rock and R&B influence you hear in Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett, Brett Eldredge, Cole Swindell and all the others is about to take us to new places, and it's awesome."{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/radio/6670370/is-bro-country-over-and-what-is-its-lasting-legacy |title=Is Bro Country Over... And What Is Its Lasting Legacy?|author=Phyllis Stark |date=August 19, 2015 |magazine=Billboard}}

The bro-country movement has been criticized by listeners and music reviewers for its repetitive subject matter, namely lyrical themes of partying associated with Friday nights, alcoholic beverages, euphemistic references to sex, and trucks, as well as its lack of female country artists.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.seattletimes.com/soundposts/2014/03/04/women-edged-out-by-bro-country-party-song-trend/|title=Women edged out by 'bro-country' party song trend?|date=March 4, 2014|work=The Seattle Times|access-date=April 24, 2014|archive-date=May 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531105202/http://blogs.seattletimes.com/soundposts/2014/03/04/women-edged-out-by-bro-country-party-song-trend/|url-status=live}} Traditional country fans and artists have expressed the sentiment that bro-country music is a poor representation of country music. One critic who spoke favorably about bro-country was David Horsey of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote: "But this music has an appeal not unlike the teen surfing songs of the Beach Boys or the screaming guitar, take-everything-too-far anthems of Bon Jovi and Sammy Hagar... For a young man, the allure of reckless freedom is forever strong. And it's not just young men. I know I've got a 25-year-old bottled up inside my decidedly not young self who still longs for the fantasy."{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-horsey-on-hollywood-bro-country-20140312-story.html|title=Are bro-mantic songs taking over country music?|last=Horsey|first=David|date=March 12, 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 24, 2014|archive-date=March 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314181633/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-horsey-on-hollywood-bro-country-20140312-story.html|url-status=live}}

The genre was also criticized for being formulaic. Throughout 2014, radio station KTCK had a regular segment called "Fun With Country Music" hosted by Corby Davidson, criticizing the new form of country music, and produced a checklist of specific items that would be found in these songs: boots, alcohol, jeans, trucks, guns, farm equipment, the word "girl", and rural settings.{{cite news|last1=McCarthy|first1=Amy|title=The Hardline's "Fun With Country Music" is a Brilliant Skewer of Bro-Country Lyrics|url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/the-hardlines-fun-with-country-music-is-a-brilliant-skewer-of-bro-country-lyrics-7048986|access-date=August 26, 2016|work=Dallas Observer|date=September 4, 2014|archive-date=August 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828102629/http://www.dallasobserver.com/music/the-hardlines-fun-with-country-music-is-a-brilliant-skewer-of-bro-country-lyrics-7048986|url-status=live}} A video by Greg Todd, an aspiring songwriter, which highlighted the similarities between bro-country songs went viral after being featured by Time in January 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o|title=Mind-Blowing SIX Song Country Mashup!|work=YouTube: Sir Mashalot|date=November 4, 2014|access-date=January 11, 2015|archive-date=January 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110183932/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2015/01/14/country-music-mash-up-luke-bryan-blake-shelton-florida-georgia-line/21751561/ |title=Six songs, same tune? Mashup shows country music's similarities |author=Brian Mansfield |publisher=USA Today |access-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-date=September 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902170256/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2015/01/14/country-music-mash-up-luke-bryan-blake-shelton-florida-georgia-line/21751561/ |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3660616/country-music-mashup/|title=This Mashup Shows How Today's Most Popular Country Songs Sound Exactly the Same|first=Samantha|last=Grossman|magazine=Time|date=January 8, 2015|access-date=January 11, 2015|archive-date=July 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706230356/http://time.com/3660616/country-music-mashup/|url-status=live}} The video combined six songs released between 2012 and 2014: Shelton's "Sure Be Cool If You Did", Bryan's "Drunk on You", Florida Georgia Line's "This Is How We Roll", Cole Swindell's "Chillin' It", Parmalee's "Close Your Eyes" and Chase Rice's "Ready Set Roll". Todd noted the formula as "a tight, mid-tempo backbeat; a quick, two-verse set-up, often laced with clever wordplay and bouncy, lyrical melody; and—bam—the power chorus to bring it all home and keep them coming back."

In addition, some also criticized the music's portrayal of women.{{cite web|last1=McCarthy|first1=Amy|title=Bro Country's Sexism Is Ruining Country Music|url=http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2014/06/bro_country_sexism_ruining_country_music.php|website=blogs.dallasobserver.com|publisher=Dallas Observer|access-date=January 27, 2015|archive-date=February 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214012201/http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2014/06/bro_country_sexism_ruining_country_music.php|url-status=live}} In November 2014, country artist Kenny Chesney, interviewed by Billboard, opined about bro-country: "over the last several years, it seems like anytime anybody sings about a woman, she's in cutoff jeans, drinking and on a tailgate ... they objectify the hell out of them."{{cite web |url=http://tasteofcountry.com/kenny-chesney-billboard-bro-country/ |title=Kenny Chesney Covers Billboard, Speaks Out on Country Songs That 'Objectify' Women |author=Sterling Whitaker |work=Taste of Country |date=November 15, 2014 |access-date=November 15, 2014 |archive-date=November 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117184701/http://tasteofcountry.com/kenny-chesney-billboard-bro-country/ |url-status=live }}

In December 2014, Brad Paisley spoke out against bro-country and the lack of women on country radio: "one of my frustrations with radio now is lyrics: [...] there's a lot of stuff on the radio about, you know, put your tan legs on the dashboard and we'll roll around in the truck and go party. It's like, 'Guys, come on!' – and specifically, yes, guys, 'cause there are no girls! We can say something, too. There are phrases that are totally cliché that we as songwriters owe it to ourselves to not use again."{{cite web |url=http://www.people.com/article/brad-paisley-country-music-legacy |title=Brad Paisley on Lazy Lyrics, Nashville's Guy Problem – and Why He Doesn't Think He'll Leave a Legacy |author=Eileen Finan |date=December 2, 2014 |work=People |access-date=June 19, 2015 |archive-date=June 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620004051/http://www.people.com/article/brad-paisley-country-music-legacy |url-status=live }}

In 2017, Steve Earle noted that the genre was, in some ways, a watered-down form of hip hop, stating that "The guys just wanna sing about getting fucked up. They're just doing hip-hop for people who are afraid of black people. I like the new Kendrick Lamar record, so I'll just listen to that."{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/steve-earle-country-music-nashville-chris-stapleton-kendrick-lamar-oasis-a7791486.html|title=Steve Earle: 'My wife left me for a younger, skinnier, less talented singer'|author=Simon Hattenstone|date=June 14, 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=June 21, 2018|archive-date=June 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622011917/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/steve-earle-country-music-nashville-chris-stapleton-kendrick-lamar-oasis-a7791486.html|url-status=live}}

In response to the criticisms, Blake Shelton said in January 2013 that he did not care about the "old farts" who complained about their songs: "Well that's because you don't buy records anymore, jackass. The kids do, and they don't want to buy the music you were buying." In turn, that sparked a response from Ray Price via his Facebook page: "It's a shame that I have spend {{sic}} 63 years in this business trying to introduce music to a larger audience and to make it easier for the younger artists who are coming behind me... You should be so lucky as us old-timers. Check back in 63 years (the year 2075) and let us know how your music will be remembered." Shelton later apologized to Price.

Zac Brown described Luke Bryan's "That's My Kind of Night" as the worst song he had ever heard, to which Jason Aldean replied, "nobody gives a shit what u think." Aldean also called the term bro-country ridiculous and was bothered to be labeled as such because he did not "feel like it's a compliment," that "it's sort of a backhanded thing that comes from a very narrow-minded listener".{{cite news |url=http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/05/jason_aldean_talks_about_the_r.html |title=Jason Aldean talks about the 'ridiculous' bro-country label, the Tidal 'misconception' and Hersheypark |author=Jewel Wicker |date=May 28, 2015 |work=Penn Live |access-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-date=August 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150808074551/http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/05/jason_aldean_talks_about_the_r.html |url-status=live }} On his song about drinking and trucks, he said: "Yeah, we've had some songs that talk about that stuff. But that's also what we really grew up doing. A lot of us grew up in these little towns where there wasn't a whole lot to do, and we were entertaining ourselves. I can't sing you a song about being a stockbroker on Wall Street, because I don't even know where the hell Wall Street's at."{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/6258750/jason-aldean-billboard-cover-story |title=Billboard Cover: Jason Aldean on the Curse of Nashville, 'Baby-Making Music' and Dealing With Tabloid Scandals |author=Chris Willman |date=September 19, 2014 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=June 26, 2015 |archive-date=June 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623204419/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/6258750/jason-aldean-billboard-cover-story |url-status=live }}

Rosen himself was unhappy the way the term bro-country had been used by some as an insult and felt that some criticisms of the genre came from class and regional prejudices and snobbery. He thought that artists such as Jake Owen and Thomas Rhett made music that pushed the genre into "exciting new territory" and said: "All the ways country is flirting with R&B and hip hop, production-wise and otherwise, I think it's really cool." To Rosen, bro-country has changed country in a positive way, producing an increasing diversity of sound and subject matter on country radio.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/17/burdens-of-bro-country-critics-term-gone-wild |title=The burdens of 'bro-country', a music critic's term gone wild |author=Grady Smith |work=Guardian |date=August 17, 2015}}

A number of country singers expressed their criticism of the genre in their songs.{{cite web |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/bro-down-10-signs-countrys-maligned-trend-may-be-on-the-decline-20140721 |title= Bro Down! 10 Signs Country's Maligned Trend May Be on the Decline |work= RollingStone |date= July 21, 2014 |author= Jewly Hight |access-date= August 25, 2017 |archive-date= September 5, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170905103253/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/bro-down-10-signs-countrys-maligned-trend-may-be-on-the-decline-20140721 |url-status= live }} In July 2014, female duo Maddie & Tae released their debut single, "Girl in a Country Song", which criticized and referenced many bro-country songs, particularly the roles of women within such songs.{{cite magazine|last1=Martins|first1=Chris|title=MADDIE & TAE WILL LEAD THE BRO-COUNTRY BACKLASH|magazine=Billboard|date=January 17, 2015|volume=127|issue=1|page=41}}{{cite news|last1=Dalfonzo|first1=Gina|title=The Bro-Country Backlash Is Here|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/girl-in-a-country-song-maddie-marlow-and-tae-dye-the-bro-country-backlash-starts-now/373982/|access-date=October 7, 2014|work=The Atlantic|date=July 7, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006094941/http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/girl-in-a-country-song-maddie-marlow-and-tae-dye-the-bro-country-backlash-starts-now/373982/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Conaway|first1=Alanna|title=Has The Bro-Country "Backlash" Begun? Has the Bro-Country "Backlash" Begun?|url=http://roughstock.com/news/has-the-bro-country-backlash-begun-/|website=Roughstock|access-date=October 7, 2014|date=July 7, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924132328/http://roughstock.com/news/has-the-bro-country-backlash-begun-/|archive-date=September 24, 2014}} However, in the same month, country singer-songwriter Maggie Rose released her single "Girl in Your Truck Song". In the song she praises bro-country songs, saying she actually wants to be the girl in their songs.{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/maggie-rose-puts-the-girl-in-bro-country-song-premiere-20140715 |title=Maggie Rose Puts the 'Girl' in Bro Country — Song Premiere|author= Beville Dunkerley |date=July 15, 2014|work= RollingStone }}

In August 2014, country artist Brad Paisley recorded a song called "4WP" for his album Moonshine in the Trunk. In the song, Paisley pokes fun at bro-country by joining the trend and heavily relying on some of its recurrent elements. A sample of Paisley's hit single "Mud on the Tires" is also featured in the song. About the song, Paisley said: "In the middle of this bro-country movement, with all this criticism about [the genre's reliance on] the jean shorts and the mud and the outdoors, we do a song that's just like that... but we include a sample of myself from 2003! Which is kind of like saying, 'I have a little license. I kinda did this already'. But it's written so tongue-in-cheek, and it doesn't take itself too seriously."{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/brad-paisley-talks-pot-rock-riffs-and-flying-with-obama-20140825 |title=Brad Paisley Talks Pot, Rock Riffs and Flying With Obama |author=Andrew Leahey |date=August 25, 2014 |work=RollingStone |access-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-date=August 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815062702/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/brad-paisley-talks-pot-rock-riffs-and-flying-with-obama-20140825 |url-status=live }}

On October 15, 2014, Canadian country music artist Paul Brandt released the song "Get a Bed" as a comedic response to the bro-country phenomenon.{{cite web|title=Is Calgary's Paul Brandt getting bad rap for cheeky new country tune?|url=http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary/2014/10/23/is-calgarys-paul-brandt-getting-bad-rap-for-cheeky-new-country-tune.html|website=Metronews.ca|access-date=September 4, 2015|date=October 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150831050501/http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary/2014/10/23/is-calgarys-paul-brandt-getting-bad-rap-for-cheeky-new-country-tune.html|archive-date=August 31, 2015|url-status=dead}}

In April 2015, songwriter Brent Cobb, who has written cuts by Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Frankie Ballard and Luke Bryan, released a song called "Yo Bro" which mocks and pokes fun at all of bro-country's clichés stating that it was "inspired by frustration".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-brent-cobbs-satirical-anti-bro-song-20150410|title=Hear Brent Cobb's Satirical, 'Anti-Bro' Song|magazine=Rolling Stone}}

In 2016, comedian and musician Ben Hoffman released his first country album, Redneck Shit, under the stage name Wheeler Walker, Jr., finding success satirizing stereotypical modern country music tropes with raunchy themes and lyrics. Hoffman has used the character's success to vocalize his displeasure with the modern Nashville music scene, specifically the bro-country subgenre.{{cite web |last1=Perlut |first1=Aaron |title=Wheeler Walker, Jr. Still Has An Axe To Grind With The Music Industry |url=https://brobible.com/culture/article/wheeler-walker-jr-axe-to-grind-music-industry/ |website=brobible.com |publisher=BroBible |access-date=April 21, 2022 |date=April 3, 2022}}

In 2016, Bo Burnham's song "Country Song (Pandering)" parodied bro-country themes.{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Megan |date=July 25, 2023 |title=Bo Burnham's country song parody resurfaces—"Best rebuttal to Jason Aldean" |url=https://www.newsweek.com/bo-burnham-country-song-rebuttal-jason-aldean-small-town-1815132 |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=Newsweek |language=en |archive-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615223542/https://www.newsweek.com/bo-burnham-country-song-rebuttal-jason-aldean-small-town-1815132 |url-status=live }}

In 2023, musical project There I Ruined It released the song "Gotta Beer in My Beer: A Tribute to Bro Country" on Youtube and Spotify as a comedic take on the subjects commonly used in bro-country.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CORANvT8l9A |title=What bro country sounds like to people who don't like bro country |date=November 25, 2023 |last=There I Ruined It |access-date=2024-06-15 |via=YouTube}}

• Truck-driving country, an earlier subgenre centered on heavy commercial trucks (as opposed to pickup trucks)

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