Tina Knowles defends Beyoncé's new country songs and says cowboys do not belong to 'white culture only'

• Beyoncé's mom, Tina Knowles, responded to complaints about the singer's recent country music.
• Some country fans have complained about her entering the genre.

Tina Knowles defended her daughter Beyoncé's new country songs, saying she has celebrated cowboy culture since childhood.

Earlier this month, Beyoncé, who is known for her pop and RnB songs, released two country-style singles, "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages."

Both are from her upcoming album "Renaissance Act II."

Last week, KYKC, a country music station in Oklahoma, rejected a request to play "Texas Hold 'Em," sparking a debate about who should be allowed to perform country music. The station later reversed its decision.

Knowles hit back at critics on Saturday by resharing an Instagram video that showed old clips of Beyoncé in country fashion before the release of her new songs.

Knowles said in the caption that cowboy culture was not strictly for white people, reminding readers that they grew up in Texas.

"We have always celebrated Cowboy Culture growing up in Texas," Knowles wrote. "We also always understood that it was not just about it belonging to White culture only. In Texas there is a huge black cowboy culture. Why do you think that my kids have integrated it into their fashion and art since the beginning?"

Knowles said she found it funny when fans questioned why Beyoncé has been wearing cowboy hats recently.

"I actually laugh because it's been there since she was a kid, we went to rodeos every year and my whole family dressed in western fashion," she said.

"Solange did a whole brilliant Album and Project based on Black Cowboy Culture," Knowles added, referring to her younger daughter, Solange Knowles.

Not her first rodeo

KYKC's station manager Roger Harris told Entertainment Weekly last week that he originally rejected the request to play "Texas Hold 'Em" because he was unaware that the singer was now releasing country music.

Harris also told "Good Morning America" that he has received complaints from his "traditional" listeners after playing the song.

Last week, former "The Dukes of Hazzard" star John Schneider weighed in on the backlash to KYKC when speaking to conservative news outlet One America News. Schneider compared Beyoncé and "lefties" coming into the country music scene to a dog urinating on a tree to mark its territory.

"People coming into country music," Schneider said. "They seem to think that it's easy or it's simple or somehow it's not as sophisticated as the music that they sing otherwise."

Some people pointed out that Schneider is from New York but is trying to gatekeep music that originates from the South.

Representatives for Beyoncé and Schneider did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Beyoncé also faced backlash in 2016 after releasing her first country song, "Daddy's Lessons," as part of her sixth album, "Lemonade."

According to The New York Times, when Beyoncé performed the song with the country band Dixie Chicks at the CMA Awards in November 2016, some fans claimed she was not country enough.