Only this is a real song, getting real airplay, with real people listening with real ears. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country charts, making it the biggest country music hit of 2017. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, and is now a solid bet to bring home the Grammy for best country song (it also received a nomination for best country solo performance). Pop music is, of course, an exercise in pandering to one degree or another; the trick, at least with good pop music, is to pander better, pander smarter, pander in a way that doesn’t reduce listeners to the sum of their dopamine receptors. Country music exists in the tension between the radio status quo and the outlaw avatars of Real Country — between pander and pander better.

Source: Huffington Post November 30, 2017 00:11 UTC