Back when the American music industry got it's start, our society was still deeply segregated and shaped by unexamined systemic racism. In order to sell recordings and radios companies divided early recordings into the first modern musical genres: Hillbilly Music and Race Music. I think we all know what makes the distinction there. But that distinction also means that many songs that should be firmly ensconced in the murder ballad tradition are classified as Blues, R&B, or Hip Hop...until a white person decides to perform it at least.