It’s anti-country bias.

If a pop or hip-hop song broke the “Billboard” record you’d hear hardly a negative peep, only hosannas, how this act had paid its dues and their success is evidence of the health of the music market. But I’ve got to ask you, have you heard a single song from “Diary of a Mad Showgirl”? You may not even realize I bastardized the name, referencing a classic movie starring Neil Young’s ex-partner.

Everybody knows Drake, but can you even name his last album, never mind one of its tracks?

In a world that doesn’t make sense major labels and the media proffer a framework, a lens, through which we can see a perceived ladder of success. But we no longer live in the pre-internet era and the chart, which is manipulated to begin with, has never been more inaccurate. Furthermore, what evidences success more, streams or live business? (Please don’t talk to me about sales, now the iTunes Store is seeing a bump because acts are getting their lemming fans to purchase the overweighted digital downloads to increase their chart position.)

No one goes on record that BTS and its brethren are not as big as they appear, if for no other reason than this would be seen as anti-Korean bias. But when it comes to country, it’s OPEN SEASON!

All the news is about pop acts, which were decried as useless drivel in the classic rock era. Songs written by people in the shadows and shaped by producers into a Teflon product that might get you humming or tapping your foot, but had the nutritional equivalent of a Twinkie. All the action was in albums with their deep cuts, which have sustained.

You expect people to pay attention to music when it’s endless youngsters focused on image more than music, busy building a brand? There’s little there at all. If I read one more word about Ariana Grande… So she’s got a good voice, you don’t know how many good voices were wiped off the map with the advent of the Beatles, turned out you needed to have something to say, as well as the chops.

So what we’ve got here is traditional songs with verses, choruses and bridges, and the cognoscenti, the so-called “elite,” look down upon them because they believe they’re made by crackers, if you wear a cowboy hat you can’t be taken seriously.

Now I’ve got a problem with the affectation of the cowboy hat and western dress, it worked when Gram Parsons and his buddies donned Nudie suits, but that was a wink of the eye, the clothes represented more than face value. In an era when rockers appeared on stage in their street clothes, it made you think. There’s no thinking involved when you wear cowboy boots and fringe. But is this any worse than the endless parade of two-bit divas foisted upon us?

The biggest American act?

Morgan Wallen. Hands down. Look at the ticket counts. And Kenny Chesney sells out stadiums, and has for years, but since he doesn’t cross over to the pop chart outsiders don’t take his success seriously, when they should.

And the most credible rocker happens to be in country music, i.e. Chris Stapleton. He drips more authenticity than the overly promoted Brandon Flowers and other younger, more photogenic rockers that they keep telling us to pay attention to…and isn’t it interesting that Flowers has now gone country?

All these acts going country… Because they can’t have commercial success in their traditional genres. Wouldn’t this illustrate the power of country?

No. All the analyses of the success of “Choosin’ Texas” talk about a country music ghetto that is overrepresented on the chart as a result of playlisting and country fans now streaming. No one says that this song is just damn good, better than the one chord drivel with 808s that you hear in pop music.

But since so many of these artists are from the south…

They can’t be taken seriously, they’re seen as two-bit crackers, uninformed right wing racists.

Now I will say that so much of the country hit parade is filled with lowest common denominator stuff about family and drinking, made for a market, so broad as to be inoffensive. And yes, much of the south is red. However, what has this got to do with music? Isn’t music supposed to infect you, make you feel something?

At the pop shows, the audience is busy taking selfies, they are the stars.

At a country show… Everyone is paying attention to the stage, they know who the true star is and they’re dedicated fans of these artists. These country artists have longer careers than the pop stars, but they get no respect.

Actually, it took Rodney Dangerfield years to get respect, he didn’t go back to school until he was in his sixties. His act hadn’t changed, people just finally acknowledged how great he was. He went from being derided to exalted. No one was doing what he was, with his brief, self-deprecating jokes. I never missed him on late night TV, from back in the day when these shows were not pure comedy set-ups. Back then the host actually interviewed the guest, but Rodney came on and took over, Johnny could only smile in admiration.

Rodney knew it was about dedication and perseverance. An outsider fighting his way in as opposed to some diminutive nitwit who has been in the public eye since before puberty, all over the Disney Channel.

Don’t conflate celebrity with music. They can coexist, but oftentimes they do not. All that ink about Miley Cyrus’s new album, switching labels, and when you listen to it…there’s nothing truly new and different and special.

As for going back to the basics… Having it be about songs as opposed to production, you find that in country music.

But country music is not banging you over the head to pay attention, its stars are not all over the gossip pages. Of course there are exceptions, but image is much more important in pop, whereas the song is paramount in country.

Furthermore, all you rock fans… Modern rock lives in country, get over yourself and the occasional accent and listen, you’ll be stunned. There’s more honesty and insight in an Eric Church song than there is in any number on the Active Rock chart.

Now in truth, country artists are laughing all the way to the bank. They don’t need your accolades. But when you question their success, claim they’re not entitled to dominance…those are fighting words.

There’s no mystery here, no need to look for angles as to why “Choosin’ Texas” broke the “Billboard” record. It’s a damn good catchy song with a message that resonates with people. Not everybody, because nothing does this anymore, but far more than those just perceived to live in the country backwater.

There are no more universal hits, no songs known by everybody, despite what the media keeps telling us. But when it comes to today’s music, Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” is as big as anything out there, it cuts the pop records down to size.

What did they say about rock and roll, the little girls understand? Same with country, listeners, fans, know. It’s only the highfalutin’ bloviators who believe if you don’t live in the metropolis you’re ignorant who don’t get it.

But the joke is on them.