People will always fruitlessly attempt to label what real country is and what’s not.

They’ve done it in just about every decade now. Even the outlaws like Willie Nelson would face slander for not echoing a more familiar sentiment of country music. Now, it seems like Post Malone is the latest victim of this phenomenon. This time, comedian Dusty Slay is spearheading the movement.

Recently, Dusty sits down with fellow comedians Nate Bargatze, Brian Bates and Aaron Weber on their podcast Nateland. There, he goes on a lengthy rant about how the new Post Malone album F1-Trillion is not real country music. “This guy’s sweeping country music.

He’s taking country music by storm and not even doing country… I can’t stand it,” Slay sighs. “I don’t have anything against Post Malone, but he’s not doing country. None of his songs are country, none of the new ones. And then every country singer that I ever loved is posting pictures with him on social media and it just makes me sadder every day.”

Dusty Slay Laments The Current State of Country Music

Slay’s cohosts push back on his rant, arguing that Post Malone pushes the boundaries of the genre. I don’t reckon it’s that at all. If anything, the pop transplant keeps it rather safe and familiar to mainstream country music over the last few decades.

But Dusty argues strongly in the opposite directions. The need for artistry and boundary pushing is unnecessary to him. If anything, the genre needs boundaries to be held. Otherwise, what’s the point of labeling them?

Then, Dusty responds to backlash online over his sentiments over the Post Malone album. He doubles down by saying, “This is hard for people to understand, this album is full of country musicians but it ain’t country music.” Moreover, Slay emphasizes guys like Hank Williams Jr. who stay loyal to the sounds of real country music. At the end of the day, nothing beats true, organic steel guitar and fiddles.