Kane Brown Reveals How He Dealt With Being Called Racial Slurs As A Child

Country music star Kane Brown opened up to People Magazine about how he dealt being hit by racial slurs as a child, and how racism continues to impact his career to this day.

“I’m biracial; I didn’t know that until I was 7 or 8 years old. I thought I was full white, which honestly, I can’t even really say because I didn’t see colors,” Brown told People. His mother, Tabitha, is white and his dad, who was never in the picture, is black and part Cherokee.

Brown, 25, who launched his career on social media crooning covers of popular songs and sharing them with his wide network, grew up between Tennessee and Georgia, where country music roots run deep. Brown was heavily influenced by the Nashville stars that came before him and took to Facebook and YouTube to share his love for music and grow his fan base on his own.

“My fans have said they clicked my videos because they thought I was going to be rapping or something. Then I started singing country, and they say they just kind of fell in love,” the “What Ifs” singer told Billboard in a March interview.

His 2016 breakout album, the self-titled Kane Brown, showed off the singers strong country voice. The Washington Post called Brown the future of country music.

Though he has found success in the country music industry, Brown is still no stranger to having hateful, racial slurs tossed at him on social media.

“When I first got into country, I started getting some of those comments like, ‘He’s an N-word.’ Stuff like that. But I didn’t get into country music just to prove a point. I try to stay away from all negativity,” he further told People.

“Now you can call me whatever you want. It just brushes off of me,” he continued.

Brown married fellow singer Katelyn Jae, 26, in an October in Nashville, People reported. They were married in a quaint, 200-person ceremony at Mint Spring Farms in Franklin.

Enjoying success despite what others may think of his unconventional country singer appearance, Kane Brown’s newest album Experiment debuted on November 9 and is currently the No. 1 album on the Billboard Top 200.

“I know it wont happen but id love to be the cure to racism, a mixed kid that sings country and sees both sides of the world and its the exact same with everyone,” he once wrote on Facebook, the Washington Post reported.