Country singer says he didn’t know he was Black until he was called the n-word ‘I got in fights over it’
A popular country singer, who has a Black dad and a white mother, recently revealed that he didn’t even know that he was Black until folks started spewing the n-word during elementary school.
While speaking with a reporter from PEOPLE , Kane Brown, who earned Favorite Country Male Artist at the American Music Awards last month, said he lived as a white person until reality came knocking in the form of a racial slur.
“I’m biracial,” Brown stated. “I didn’t know that until I was 7 or 8 years old. I thought I was full white, which honestly, I can’t even really say because I didn’t see colors.”
“I found out that I was biracial and I still wasn’t thinking anything of it, but then I started getting called the n-word,” Brown continued. “I didn’t even know what it meant. I learned what it meant, and that’s when it started affecting me. I got in fights over it when I was little.”
The 25-year-old country singer admits that he been the recipient of a lot of racism, but it’s made him stronger.
“When I first got into country, I started getting some of those comments like ‘He’s an N-word.’ Stuff like that,” Brown explained. “I used to screenshot it and put it on Twitter, like ‘There’s still racism in the world.’ But I didn’t get into country music just to prove a point. I try to stay away from all negativity … Now you can call me whatever you want. It just brushes off of me.”
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On November 2nd, Apple Music premiered a short film about the country artist, documenting his transition from popular YouTube performer to country-radio star.
In October he spoke to Rolling Stone magazine about the criticism he’s received for being a Black country singer.
“It’s always, ‘Oh, Waylon and Cash are rolling in their graves right now,” Brown says in a just-released trailer for the documentary. “They have a picture of what country should look like and I just want to make my own lane.”
