Washington Post embarrassed over attempt to racialize Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ country cover.
The Washington Post’s Attempt to Make a Country Cover of Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ a Racial Issue Backfires
The Washington Post recently published a deeply flawed article by style reporter Emily Yahr, titled “Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs and the complicated response to ‘Fast Car.'” However, it seems that the only one finding the issue complicated is Yahr herself, not anyone else, including Tracy Chapman.
The article focused on the race controversy surrounding Luke Combs’ cover of Chapman’s 1988 hit single “Fast Car.” Yahr tried to portray it as a racially charged situation, but many of her points turned out to be fake news.
According to Yahr, Combs’ cover of “Fast Car” gained immense popularity and went viral on TikTok, eventually reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. This should be seen as a great achievement for both Combs and Chapman. As an artist, having your past hit become a hit for someone else means you have become relevant to a whole new generation of fans. Chapman, who has crossed over from pop to country, is being exposed to an entirely different audience than she has ever reached before.
However, the Washington Post saw this success as clouded, racist, and even anti-gay. Yahr ponderously wrote, “it’s clouded by the fact that, as a Black queer woman, Chapman, 59, would have almost zero chance of that achievement herself in country music.” This point is absurd, as Chapman has already received recognition for ”Fast Car” with Grammy nominations and wins.
As Luke Combs’s hit cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” dominates the country charts, it’s bringing up some complicated emotions in fans & singers who know that Chapman, as a queer Black woman, would have an almost zero chance at that achievement herself: https://t.co/7pCIMW5F0N
— Emily Yahr (@EmilyYahr) July 13, 2023
Chapman herself expressed gratitude for Combs’ success with her song. In an interview with Billboard, she said, “I never expected to find myself on the country charts, but I’m honored to be there. I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.'”
Tracy Chapman has even made history as the first gay black woman to have the sole credit for writing a No. 1 country hit. This should be celebrated, not used to stoke racial division like the Washington Post attempted to do.
Many Twitter users called out the Washington Post for their flawed article:
I feel like the author of this piece has never heard of Tracy Chapman before and therefore thinks no one else has either. Even though she had major chart success in the 80s and 90s
— Jim (@realjimconroy) July 13, 2023
— Tito (@T_RIVE22) July 14, 2023
Everything is racism if you’re WaPo
— Woven Dissent (@WovenDissent) July 13, 2023
She owns the song, right? She’s getting paid big time.
— blark blark (@blarkblark) July 13, 2023
Tracy Chapman understands and appreciates the respect she has received for her work, which is now a hit among two different generations of fans. This is something to celebrate, not twist into a racial issue like the Washington Post attempted to do.
Source: The Western Journal
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