Beyonce on Winning Best Country Album Award: Genre Is a Code Word to Keep Us in Our Place as Artists

EXCERPT:

BEYONCÉ: "Oh my God. Wow. I really was not expecting this. Wow. I want to thank God — oh, my God — that I am able to still do what I love after so many years. Oh, my God. I would like to thank all of the incredible country artists that accepted this album. We worked so hard on it. I think sometimes genre is a code word to keep us in our place as artists, and I just want to encourage people to do what they’re passionate about — 

(Cheering and Applause)

— and to stay persistent.”