Tanner Adell took the Teen Vogue Summit stage with Associate Editor Aiyana Ishmael to discuss finding her own way as a Black country music artist, making the jump to Nashville, and the Grammys dividing the country music awards into two categories following 2025 Beyoncé’s win. Adell also reflected on her previous collaboration with Beyoncé and the new wave of fans who have since found her music.
Walking on stage with a Bey Hive-style updo, a chevron dress, and a glittery pink guitar, Adell emulated country music in her style. The musician began releasing music in 2021 but gained notoriety in 2022 when she released her EP Buckle Bunny online. She’s now become a mainstream name since being featured on Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning album Cowboy Carter. The genre-bending album is right in line with Adell’s own style of making music.
“I felt underrepresented, but it wasn’t until I got [to Nashville] that I understood how underrepresented,” Adell said, of the country music scene. “There’s not a lot of people like me in country music.”
She continued: “[Country music] is very traditional, but I started bringing in track beats, I started rapping, and combining that with country music. I’m sure there were a lot of eyes rolling, but it also set me apart.”
With the success of Buckle Bunny, Adell spoke about how she reclaimed the derogatory term for a woman and gave it more power. “Buckle Bunny is kind of like a country bumpkin hoe.”
“It was a really mean word to call a girl, but it was just because they were doing their hair, doing their makeup, getting their nails done, to go to the rodeo, and some people didn’t like that,” she continued. “I wanted to take the term, turn it on its head, and write something a little more empowering.”
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Adell sits down with Teen Vogue at Hangout to chat about her sophomore album and making country music all her own.
After being featured on Cowboy Carter, Adell said she got a surge of new fans who found her through the collaboration and stayed because they connected with her confidence. “I think [my music] is just a place for people who feel like maybe they haven’t been seen. It’s a place for them to feel seen.”
Earlier this year, the Recording Academy announced that it would be adding the category Best Traditional Country Album, on top of Best Country Album. The controversial decision comes after Cowboy Carter won the latter.
“There are a lot of people who don’t consider my music country,” Adell said. “I grew up in Wyoming, and it’s a big part of my life… And at first, I was like, I don’t want a special category. I want to be considered with the rest of everyone that’s in the traditional country category.”
She continued: “But as time has gone on, I’m really glad… I don’t think it takes an award to tell you how important you are or how good you are.”
Tanner Adell also gave Teen Vogue Summit a major treat and performed some of her fan-favorite songs, including “Going Blonde” and “Do Angels Drink Whiskey?”
