Chappell Roan defends her right to make lesbian country music after releasing The Giver

Chappell Roan has opened up about her relationship to country music and why she’s entitled to dabble in the genre.

After months of teasing, Chappell has finally released ‘The Giver’ and it’s a certified banger. In the lesbian anthem, Chappell sings about how she can satisfy a girl better than any country boy can: I know the boys may need a map / But I can close my eyes / And have you wrapped around my fingers like that.

From the country instruments in the production to the country tropes in the lyrics, there’s no denying that Chappell has released her first country song with ‘The Giver’. Pre-empting the discourse surrounding her exploration of the genre, Chappell has now defended her right to release a queer country song in an interview.
Speaking to Apple Music, Chappell said: “I think I have a special relationship to where I’m from because of country music. To kind of honour that part of myself by making a country song, where it’s like, you know what, yes I’m gay and yes I’m ultra pop, yes I’m a drag queen. That can also be country song.”
Chappell then pointed out that country music has always been a part of queer culture. She argued: “There’s a lot of drag queens who do country music all over the world. Name a girl who hasn’t done ‘Before He Cheats’. Name a girl that hasn’t done ‘Man I Feel Like a Woman!'”

She added: “I’m from southwest Missouri, grew up on Christian and country.”

In a separate interview with Amazon Music, Chappell explained that country music is part of her heritage: “I can’t call myself the midwest princess and not acknowledge country music straight up. That is what is around me in the grocery stores. That’s what is playing on the bus. My heart really wanted to write a country song.”

Chappell ended by saying: “It’s not me trying to cross genres. I’m not trying to convince a country crowd that they should listen to my music by baiting them with a country song. I just think a lesbian country song is really funny.”