Darius Rucker is praising Kane Brown’s latest achievement.
Brown earned his rightful place among TIME’s 100 Most Influential People Of 2021, a list that highlights “extraordinary leaders from around the world working to build a better future, from entertainers striving to make Hollywood more inclusive to activists fighting for sustainability and human rights.”
Grammy-award winning singer, Rucker, penned a heartfelt message praising fellow country superstar Brown on the achievement.
“Kane Brown has that unquantifiable ‘it’ factor,” Rucker gushed. “He’s so laid-back and doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he also really cares about his craft and other people. And when it comes to his music, he can do that low, cool, borderline-rapping thing, and then he sings and his vocal ability just blows you away.”
Rucker went on to praise Brown for being a pioneer in music for black artists as he knows thousands of kids are looking up the Brown the same way that Rucker looked up to the late Charley Pride growing up. Rucker also hopes that he opened the door for black artists in the country music industry a bit further so artists like Brown, Mickey Guyton and Jimmie Allen can kick it down.
“Early on, the line I heard from so many radio programmers was, ‘My audience will never accept a Black country singer.’ Now everybody knows that’s not true, and Kane is making it more untrue because he’s having success like nobody else. I’m sure there are kids looking up to Kane right now just like when I looked up at Charley Pride. One of the most pivotal moments of my career was when Charley shared some of the lessons he learned over the years with me,” Rucker continued. “Those moments where we learn from country’s past need to continue. Charley opened the door when there were those in the country music industry that tried to close it. I hope I pushed it open a bit further so now artists like Kane, Mickey Guyton, Jimmie Allen can kick it down.”
The country superstar concluded his message saying, “Kane is setting the bar so high for the next generation. I hope kids see him and now think, ‘I can do that.’”
Upon hearing the news on Wednesday (Sept. 15), Brown shared a thank you message to fans on Instagram.
“So honored to be apart of this time 100 🔥 @time and thank you @dariusrucker for writing it,” Brown captioned a photo of himself with a red TIME 100 border. “And also my fans for supporting me always ❤️”
Other musicians that made the 18th annual list of influential people includes Dolly Parton, Billie Eilish, Britney Spears and more.
See the full list HERE.
