2025's LOVE FOR SOUTHERN AFRICAN AMERICAN MEDIA

Quote from Sophia Lee mentioning her interest in the rise of Black Southern Culture.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Sophia Lee, a junior at Parkville High School, was a part of Wide Angle’s 2025 MediaWorks program and participated in the high school video program with Ms. Kamaria. Through poetry, photography, and videography, she hopes to give viewers a better understanding of who she is, where she comes from, and what she believes in.

When I think of African American culture, I think of R&B, hip-hop, and jazz music. I think of beautiful, creative hairstyles, afros that touch the sky, and line dances like the electric slide. Those are just a few examples of what makes Black culture unique.

As for me, growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, in predominantly Black areas, I constantly separated the Black part of my race title from the American part. In other words, my family didn't have the American flag hung up on our front porch. I was told not to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in school. From an early age, I kinda realized by observation that it's better for me to be Black and proud, but I never learned specifically what it meant to be proud of my country. This is why I'm interested in the recent rise of Black Southern culture as an aesthetic in media and fashion, as well as how it’s often embraced without proper recognition.

Much of the United States' culture and traditions stems from the lives and contributions of enslaved African Americans. In recent decades, we’ve seen Black culture evolve and reinvent itself, while still maintaining the same values; reclaiming what was taken from us and being boldly proud of who we'll always be. This was heavily expressed through this year's media.

Cowboy Carter

Although the album Cowboy Carter was released in the spring of 2024, her tour, which began in late April of this year and recently ended in late July, displayed visuals many fans were not familiar with, such as incorporating the American flag in the majority of her wardrobe and singing the national anthem. The majority of the fans and audiences’ unfamiliarity is due to the fact that it's not often that Black musicians boldly reclaim American Patriotism within trends, personal style, and especially within their musical themes.

*Beyoncé performing in American flag clothing (Parkwood)*

Since the album's release, there has been discourse on whether Cowboy Carter is or should be considered a country album, even though within the album, Beyoncé pays homage to classic country artists like Linda Martell, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Chuck Berry. “It doesn’t sound country. It doesn’t feel country. And I just don’t think that people that have dedicated their whole lives to this genre and this lifestyle should have to compete or watch that album just to stay at the top just because she’s Beyoncé,” stated Country singer Gavin Adcock in an instagram post after finding out that Beyoncé's music was charting higher than his. Country singer John Schinder stated “they've got to make their mark, like a dog in a dog park,” when asked his opinion on Beyoncé joining the Country music genre.

The feedback the album received didn't mainly focus on whether or not people liked the album's songs, but more so on whether the album belonged in the genre. Lots of the biased negative discourse was an example of today's censorship of Black media, because for so long, popular media has only shown what it means to be a white person from the south, but has yet to correctly and generally represent the cultural experience of being a Southern Black woman. Beyoncé telling her story of what it means to be a Black woman from Texas through the themes of Cowboy Carter opened doors to immense success and recognition that other Black Country artists received later this year.

*Boots on the Ground single cover, 2025*

Boots on the Ground & A Bar Song (Tipsy)

Two other musical pieces of media that contributed to the rise of this year’s pop culture that displayed Black southern culture were Boots on the Ground ( Where them fans at?) by Georgian artist 803fresh. Released in late December of 2024, the song later went viral on Tiktok and social media in early 2025 along with a line dance for the song, which boosted its popularity into the summer, and A Bar Song (Tipsy) released in April of 2024 by Shaboozey, who, around the time gained lots of popularity due to featuring on the album Cowboy Carter. Both artists, 803fresh and Shaboozy, are upcoming, yet both songs quickly gained recognition this year. With Boots on the ground reaching number one on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart, and A Bar Song (Tipsy) spending 19 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Both songs' success contradicts the negative feedback Cowboy Carter received, proving that Black Country artists can include themes of Southern African American culture while still being successful in the general genre.

The Met Gala

Although it is a highly exclusive celebrity fundraising event, every year without fail the Met Gala takes up space in social media and pop culture. This year's Met Gala theme "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," focused on Black dandyism, which fit in perfectly with the media that came soon after it, displaying Black southern culture as an aesthetic in media and fashion. “But for Black dandyism, this isn’t just about looking good—it’s a declaration. A defiant reclaiming of space in a world that has long sought to define and confine Black identity. So, what exactly is Black dandyism? At its core, it’s a fashion revolution, a movement steeped in history, resistance, and pride,” wrote Ty Gaskin for Vogue's article Black Dandyism Explained—From Its 18th-Century Roots to Modern-Day Expressions, when explaining the 1920s style. I think this event and its theme pulls together this year's southern and African American trends, as we got to see several different examples of how African American culture has influenced general American fashion and culture.

Sinners

The last example of media from this year is the film Sinners by Ryan Coogler. A horror released in April of this year, set in the mid-1930s, about twin brothers returning to their Mississippi hometown to start a new business, things turn sour when they soon discover vampires in town. With its historically accurate and diverse plot details that included and referenced Native Americans, sharecroppers, the KKK, Chinese Americans in the Mississippi Delta, and the practices of Christianity and hoodoo amongst African American people, the movie quickly became something that everyone talked about.

A scene in the film that stood out to me the most was during a performance by the lead character, Sammie. As he performed the song, a montage began, which showed different performers playing instruments and dancing with Sammie. They all represented past, present, and future examples of Black musicians. While watching, I caught chills because I realized this was the first time I had ever seen the complexities and emotional details of African American art and culture accurately represented.

From music to fashion to films, we got to see so many different examples of the beauty within Southern African American culture and Patriotism in 2025. While each decade and each year, anyone who pays attention can notice the increase in visibility of Black aesthetics, cultures, and traditions, I believe that this year, the increase was at an all-time high, proving that evolving and being proud of who we are is Black patriotism, and no amount of censorship could change or erase that.

Wide Angle Youth MediaAugust 29, 2025