Mickey Guyton‘s “Love My Hair” offers a message of self-acceptance while putting forth a narrative that’s underrepresented in country music: the specific perspective of Black women. The singer recently released the song ahead of the arrival of her debut album, Remember Her Name.
Guyton begins “Love My Hair” by describing an experience many Black women struggle with and find to be extremely uncomfortable: strangers trying to touch their hair. “Like the weight of your hand could ever make you understand / What it feels like to be different, just like me,” she sings.
“I wrote “Love My Hair” after seeing a video of a little Black girl who was sent home from school because she was told that her hair was too distracting,” Guyton shares in a tweet. Via press release, Guyton explains that witnessing this experience felt familiar to her and brought to mind her own struggles.
“Seeing this young girl’s embarrassment and agony brought me back to my own struggles with self-love, and I wanted to write a song to this little girl facing adversity because of what God gave her,” Guyton says. “I want her and anyone facing similar struggles to feel seen.”
Throughout the song — which she wrote with Anna Krantz — Guyton effortlessly intertwines experiences from her own perspective with a narrative that’s relatable to people of all backgrounds. Though the song was inspired by and written for Black girls and women, it offers encouragement to anyone who has struggled with self-image, particularly in those early, sometimes awkward, years of life.
“If I could go back to 12, I would tell myself / That straight up or down / Baby, that’s your crown,” Guyton sings. “Whoever made up those rules, they don’t apply to you / Straight up or down, turn the world around.”
“Love My Hair” is one of 16 songs on Remember Her Name, several of which fans have already been able to hear. The album is due out on Friday (Sept. 24).
Guyton was recently nominated for her first-ever CMA Award, in the New Artist of the Year category. She’ll compete for that honor at the 2021 CMA Awards in mid-November.
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