Kane Brown’s rise in country music wasn’t always a breeze.
The “Miles On It” singer recently reflected on the early days of his career, detailing the racism he faced from certain songwriters in the industry.
“I won’t say his name because I don’t want to throw him under the bus,” Kane revealed in the July 8 episode of Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, “but there was one writer that said he wouldn’t write with me because I was Black. I remember I confronted him about it and he tried to apologize to me at a bar.”
That wasn’t the only time the 31-year-old dealt with that kind of discrimination, as he noted another “big writer with over 30 No. 1” hits declined to work with him shortly after. And similar to Kane’s first experience, the second songwriter also tried to make amends but The High Road artist stood up for himself.
“He apologized whenever we blew up and was trying to write for me and I said, ‘No,’” he explained. “That was [during] my Facebook days, when I was just coming in on social media and nobody believed in it.”
Indeed, Kane—who shares kids Kingsley, 5, Kodi, 3, and 12-month-old Krewe with wife Katelyn Brown—made a name for himself on social media, as he got his start covering country songs on Facebook. He then crowdfunded his self-titled EP in 2015, before signing his first record deal with RCA Nashville a year later.
The “Backseat Driver” singer has previously shared insight into his experience with racism, as he told People in November 2018 that he received a lot of hateful comments—including ones calling him slurs—when he “first got into country.”
And while he isn’t afraid to shine a light on those harmful moments, Kane’s no longer letting those words affect his career.
“I shouldn’t have to say anything, you know?” he told CBS News in October 2022. “I’m up there in front of everybody as a Black artist. I’m selling out arenas. I’m on the radio. I’m doing all this stuff. Right there should tell you that, you know country music’s getting better. And people should be opening up.”