Candace Mycale "Mickey" Guyton[2] (/ˈɡaɪtən/; born June 17, 1983)[3] is an American country music artist.

She then collaborated with Dean Brody on the song "Boys" which made her the first Black woman to achieve a number one hit on the Canada Country chart.

Despite this change, Guyton continued to experience racism, stating in a 2020 interview with NPR that her best friends' parents would often refer to her with racial slurs.

[5] She moved to Los Angeles, California after graduating high school to pursue country music professionally while attending Santa Monica College.

[10] Guyton's American Idol run ended just before the live shows for the top 24,[11] and she appeared only briefly on television during her final singing performance of the audition rounds.

Impressed by her singing voice, he introduced her to country music industry professionals Gary Borman and Steve Moir.

Both men helped launch the music careers of country artists such as Faith Hill and Keith Urban.

[14] These conflicts, along with the difficulties of establishing an identity at Capitol Records, caused her music releases to be delayed by several years.

[15] In 2014, Capitol Nashville released Guyton's first extended play (EP), an acoustic album titled Unbreakable.

[1] Guyton co-wrote the song with Jennifer Hanson, Jen Schott, and Nathan Chapman, the last of whom co-produced it with Dann Huff.

[18] The Guardian made note of the song's early success on the charts, particularly in relation to Guyton's being a Black female in a genre dominated by white men.

[24] The project received a four star rating from Queens of Country, who praised Guyton's vocals and mix of different musical stylings.

[1] Entertainment writer Emily Yahr described Guyton's 2016–19 releases as having "heavily-produced" arrangements that seemed to lack a musical direction.

John Blake of CNN called it "a three-and-a-half-minute song that flipped the good ol' boy patriotism of country music on its side and forced listeners to consider a different perspective.

"[14] Jewly Hight of NPR praised Guyton's blend of country, gospel and pop vocal styles.

[38][39] In an interview with The New Yorker, Guyton revealed the release of her debut studio album called Remember Her Name.

[40] She described the album as a look into her ten years living in Nashville, with songs directly addressing experiences of sexism and racism.

[41] Rating it 3.5 out of 5 stars, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, "If the bombast and ballads flatten the production of Remember Her Name somewhat, it nevertheless feels genuine, not calculated.

[1][8] In describing her 2020 musical efforts, NPR's Jewly Hight observed a mixture of country, pop, gospel, R&B and hip hop.

[8] Mike Collar of Allmusic found that Guyton has "a warm, textured voice, whose sound walks the line between classic country and contemporary pop.

Rimes' music helped Guyton discover other female country performers, including Patsy Cline, Patty Loveless, Reba McEntire, and Martina McBride.