Country music has been having a moment in recent years as artists like Tanner Adell have brought fresh influences to the space and have been successful with it. If you ask her, though, she thinks country has “had a hard time” with “evolving.”

In a new NME cover story, Adell explained:

“I feel like country music is the only genre that has had a hard time progressing and evolving. Although the banjo has its origins in Africa, Black people weren’t necessarily involved in conversations surrounding country music. […] But I do feel like if Black people had been more involved in the country scene, we might have a completely separate country genre by this point. I think it would have evolved into a sound very similar to what I’m making now.”

She also cited Charley Pride, who had many No. 1 hits on the country charts from the late ’60s to the early ’80s, as “one of the few Black people” acknowledged as a “traditional” country artist.

Adell also said of her own journey, “Whenever you’re trying to do something different, there’s always going to be people telling you it won’t work. Paving my own path, especially sound-wise in my music, makes it harder, but I think it’s going to pay off in the long run.” Of being a woman in country music, she added, “We’re pitted against each other because it always seems like there are only so many slots for us, whereas if you’re a man doing country music, there’s a good chance you’ll be [played] on the radio and get asked to open for a bigger artist.”

Read the full feature here.