Kelsea Ballerini wants artists to feel “welcome” to country music.
In a new interview for ELLE magazine’s cover story, Ballerini shared what she thinks of artists changing genres and taking up country music.
“If we, as country artists, feel like we can have a collab on top 40 or have a collab with an R&B artist, why wouldn’t we give a welcome to someone else?” Ballerini, 31, asked.
She continued: “I think that’s where people who are pushing back really need to check themselves, because music is for everybody. And specifically country music, the marquee of it is it’s the people’s story.
The singer also opened up about why she now advocates for or LGBTQ+ rights in her music.
“I had to shift my mindset from wanting to speak to a wide audience to wanting to speak to my audience,” she explained.
“I had to get out of my head, because I’m such a chronic people pleaser,” she shared.
Added Ballerini: “Any element of turmoil or people being mad at me feels crippling to me. And so I never really was loud about anything for a really long time, because I just had to get my footing.”
“And then I was like, ‘At the end of the day, I want the people who listen to my music to know what I stand for and hopefully align with it’,” she concluded.
