Snellville’s BoykinZ on ‘America’s Got Talent’ lassoes country girl group vibe
Black artists like Beyonce and Shaboozey have put their own spin on country music of late. Now, Snellville girl group The BoykinZ is getting attention after a successful audition in July on “America’s Got Talent.”
The sister quartet is scheduled to appear again on the popular NBC variety show Tuesday.
“It was a dream come true,” said Anale Boykin in a Zoom interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I always imagined us doing it but not actually doing it.”
The crowd immediately adored their confidence, choreography, harmonies and solo turns on their original tune “Fell in Love with a Cowboy.”
Host Terry Crews bestowed upon The BoykinZ a Golden Buzzer, which allowed the group to skip a stage and move straight to the top 44 and quarterfinals. (The other Atlanta act on the show is Atlanta R&B trio CitiLimitz.)
Simon Cowell, the man who helped create One Direction and the Pussycat Dolls on reality TV, was blunt in his assessment after their performance: “You’re going to be stars. This is almost a perfect audition.”
This moment was the culmination of thousands of hours of hard work from the four sisters Kylan (23), Anale (22), Nytere (21) and Alona (18) who have been singing together for 14 years.
With their parents managing them, The BoykinZ in their early years sang Motown hits by the Supremes and Jackson 5 as well as gospel and Broadway tunes at senior homes and community centers.
Country was also part of their musical repertoire.
“We grew up loving Wynonna Judd and Dolly Parton,” Kylan said.
Their original music, including “Fell in Love with a Cowboy” and the recent “Step Right Up,” is a blend of pop, R&B and country. With their Western outfits and cowboy hats, they are leaning into the country vibe.
Indeed, their look evokes Beyoncé, who released her country album “Cowboy Carter” last year.
“It was perfect timing,” Anale said. “We were in the studio trying to translate what we were saying to producers. Then Beyoncé empowered us. On the industry side, it opened the minds of producers and writers we were working with.”
“People were no longer saying we were crazy,” added Alona. “People now understand what this is.”
Kylan said they now use country as a basis for much of their instrumentation and story telling: “We can’t help but mix it with other things because we’re a musical melting pot.”
And the country look is no contrivance. They live among horses and cow pastures. They don’t hang out at downtown nightclubs. “We are truly country gals!” Nytere said.
Their first big exposure on TV was “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in 2023. Since then, they have performed with Shania Twain on her tour, headlined two shows in August at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, and amassed more than 600,000 followers on TikTok and another 163,000 on Instagram.
When “AGT” reached out, the ladies were thrilled. “This is our chance to win,” said Alona.
The audition performance went well, they said, but “half of us blacked out,” Kylan said. “We prepared, we rehearsed. We got in the gym. When we got up there, it went so fast!”
Anale said the crowd was so loud, they could barely hear the judges’ comments. And when the audience began chanting “Golden Buzzer,” Crews obliged. “The audience was so strong,” Alona said. “I hope they come to our concerts one day.”
As a Golden Buzzer group, there is extra pressure, Kylan acknowledged. “But pressure makes diamonds,” she said. “We are up for the challenge.”
Country music lately has been largely generating solo artists, not groups, much less a group made up of Black women.
“Country music is being digested in a different way now,” Kylan said. “I think this gives us room to introduce people to this new sound.”
If you watch
“America’s Got Talent,” 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays on NBC, available the next day on Hulu
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
