Rhiannon Giddens, the musician who contributed banjo on Beyonce’s huge 2024 hit Texas Hold ‘Em has been talking about her complicated feelings about that track.
On the one hand, she told Rolling Stone in a new interview, she felt the experience allowed her to be embraced by the Black community for the first time (Giddens is mixed race), but on the other she felt her playing was part of a ‘transaction’ of sorts.
“What was hard for me was to feel that gift treated as any other transaction in the music industry,” she said. “That’s what was really hard. Because I certainly didn’t do it for the money, I can tell you that. I did it for the mission.
"So, my idea of what the mission is and somebody else’s idea of what the mission is are not going to be the same thing.”
“There are two examples I could pull out, in my entire 20-year career, where I feel like I had to make a compromise in order for a greater good. This was one of those times. I knew it was going to be difficult.
"I knew I was releasing my banjo out into this huge world. And there were definitely benefits: I’ve heard from people saying more people are taking banjo classes and dancing to it because of (Texas Hold ‘Em).”
There were other positives. “It also gave me an entrée into the Black community that I’ve never had, to be honest. Because of all the things I’ve been fighting for my whole life, it’s been difficult to be seen as a Black musician, especially since I’m mixed, all this shit.
"But for the first time, I felt acceptance from the mainstream Black community, which made me weep. Because this is what I’m doing it for, and it’s hard to feel ignored by the culture you’re defending. I’ve come to terms with it, it’s fine. All of us Black people who do these things - who are opera singers or old-time singers - we all have our relationships with this. So that was really beautiful.”
Clearly a musician with principles, Giddens also mentioned that she’s recently cancelled a show at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC after the Trump regime took over the running of the institution’s board. “I wanted to stay and stick it out,” she admitted.
“Then, as things unfolded, I thought, ‘What good is it going to do sticking around? Who am I going to be playing for? Who is actually going to come?’ The money is whatever. For me, money is never an issue in these kinds of things. It’s really, ‘What am I trying to say? How am I serving my fans? How am I serving my message?’
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