Momo Boyd on Solo Debut and American Love Song Backlash — SkimNews
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- Momo Boyd, 27, released her debut solo EP "Miss Michigan" in April; the Miss Michigan tour finished its US leg in August and continues to Europe in the fall, including a London stop in November
- Boyd is a member of Infinity Song, a pop rock sibling quintet that debuted in 2015; she describes her solo sound as "folksy, emotional and personal," distinct from the band's "guitar-driven melodies full of romanticism"
- "American Love Song" prompted accusations that Boyd was catering to white audiences because of its rockabilly and Americana visuals — she pushed back, citing her childhood in Shay Lake, a rural working-class Black community in Michigan where her family lived in a renovated motel lobby
- Critics and listeners have compared Boyd to Lana Del Rey, a comparison she welcomes; The Source called Miss Michigan "reflective and deeply personal" and Fader described her voice as "moisturized"
- Boyd skipped college to practice guitar and bass at home for hours daily, and as the seventh of nine children channels childhood anxiety and feelings of invisibility into her songwriting
- Boyd cites high school colorism as something that "lowkey radicalized" her and frames her music as representation for "Black women who desire freedom" — placing her alongside Beyoncé (Cowboy Carter), Mickey Guyton (Black Like Me) and Tanner Adell (Buckle Bunny) in contesting who gets to claim American aesthetics
Why it matters: Boyd's clash over "American Love Song" puts her in a documented pattern — Beyoncé at the 2016 CMAs, Mickey Guyton's "Black Like Me," Tanner Adell's "Buckle Bunny" — of Black women artists being questioned when they claim country or Americana signifiers. By anchoring the aesthetic in Shay Lake, a real rural Black community, Boyd treats the controversy as evidence of the assumption she wants to undo.
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