Mickey Guyton, Black Like Me | Track Review 🎵

Country singer Mickey Guyton provides thoughtful commentary on race and celebrates blackness on the moving single, “Black Like Me.”

“Broke my heart on the playground, mm / When they said I was different…” Let that sink in.  2020 has been a turbulent year all around, with the world combatting COVID-19 and the United States specifically fighting racial inequality, racial injustice, and police brutality.  A number of black musicians have used their platform to celebrate blackness and fight for racial equality.  Mickey Guyton is a black female who is in a genre that lacks much black representation – country music.  Country has expanded to include more black artists over the years, but still it’s a historically white genre, and black artists often struggle for success, or gravitate to ‘urban’ genres.  That aside, Guyton drops an incredible country single, “Black Like Me,” that has massive crossover ability, but more importantly, exhibits pride for being black.

The theme and lyrics of “Black Like Me” are the crowning achievement, particularly given the climate of the country at this time.  Mickey reflects on the past, as the aforementioned lyrics confirm, and she moves on to the present, as an adult.  She laments the inequalities on the pre-chorus, and truly ‘brings it on home’ what it feels like to experience it, even as an adult:

“It’s a hard life on easy street
Just white painted picket fences far as you can see
If you think we live in the land of the free
You should try to be black like me.”

Guyton continues to provide details regarding her experiences and bringing to light the additional adversities faced by a person of color.  Besides the lyrics, there is so much more to appreciate about “Black Like Me.”  If the theme weren’t the crowning achievement, it would definitely be the high-flying, powerhouse vocals of Guyton – the lady has a marvelous, utterly sublime voice.  Furthermore, the production does a fine job of balancing the pop/urban sensibilities, while still being idiomatic of country.

Final Thoughts 

“Black Like Me” is a brilliant commentary on race from an unlikely source.  Mickey Guyton certainly doesn’t look like your typical country artist, yet she excels at it.  Furthermore, she uses her platform to open eyes about race and show her pride being black.  Ultimately, it’s quite the success.

Mickey Guyton • “Black Like Me” • Capitol Nashville • Release: 6.2.20

Photo Credit: Capitol Nashville