I think it’s been almost 5 years for me. And yes, I love the pop country. Even as it really does have overused words like beer, truck, radio, etc, I’m crazy for it and listen nearly every day. You talk radio dudes better be interesting or I’ll switch to the Highway on Sirius. Pop country makes me feel good. That is good enough for me. My indie and hard rock loving kids think I am weird and simple but I don’t care. And I still love rock and mot other kinds of music too. But I love the sound and the world of country. And 5 years ago, the country performers were proud to stand for conservative values. That apparently is gone. They are either lefties or closeted now. But the fact that they made conservative sided jokes at then CMAs helped convert me. Wish they still would.
Once in a while I’ll try to listen to modern rock music and I can understand why country got popular as an alternative.