‘Cowboy Carter’: Country crossover artists laud second act of Beyonc’s album trilogy
Malia Mendez March 29, 2024
Beyonc has been crowned rodeo queen.
On Mar. 29, the The
Houston-born superstar
on Friday
released her eighth studio album
,
“Cowboy Carter,” the second act in an album trilogy conceived during the
COVID-19Covid-19
lockdown. The first act,
2022’s “
“
explored the forgotten Black and queer roots of house music
but was not supposed to precede her genre-busting foray into country music.
Originally, the 42-year-old singer intended to release “Cowboy Carter” before “Renaissance.” But she switched the order because “there was too much heaviness in the world
. ,” she said in a press
. “
We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance
.”,” she said in a press
.
With the arrival of “Cowboy Carter,”
billed aswhich the same press release called
a “multi-genre nod to Americana country culture,” came a chorus of praise
s
from traditional country and country crossover artists including several featured on the album.
Miley Cyrus, who served as a collaborator on the guitar ballad “II Most Wanted,” expressed her admiration for the 32-time Grammy winner in an Instagram post Friday.
“I’ve loved Beyonc since long before I had the opportunity to meet & work with her,” Cyrus wrote. “My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created along side of her. Thank you Beyonc. You’re everything & more.”
Cyrus’
s
Tennessee roots are most apparent in her covers of iconic country songs including
her take on her godmothe
r Dolly Parton’s
classic
“Jolene,” which Parton told Big Issue in 2020 had been recorded
more thanover
400 times worldwide.
Beyonc added one more to the mix
Friday
with her rendition on “Cowboy Carter,” which swaps
some Parton’s
original lyrics
pleading with Jolene out for
for
more pointedpithier
bars
cautioning her: “like,
“I’m warning you, don’t come for my man,”
Bey sings.
Parton
, who is also featured on the album in an audio clip titled
“Dolly P,” shared her reaction to the cover
Friday
in an Instagram post. (
She
hinted at Beyonc’s potential cover
in February.)
“Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyonc is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it!” she wrote, signing
off
as “Dolly P.”
Post Malone, who appears on the flirty duet Levii’s Jeans,” also expressed his gratitude to the singer, writing on his Instagram story, “thank you @beyonce congrats this album is beautiful!”
linked Instagram rather than story bc you can’t link a story.
Malone’s debut country album is on the way, he confirmed during a Twitch livestream in November, but he has yet to announce a release date.
Beyonc also featured several Black country artists on her emotional Brittney Spencer, who is featured on Beyonc’s
cover of the Beatles’ “Blackbird.”
Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy were among them. Spencer a Nashville-based musician who first garnered national attention with her viral
of supergroup Highwomen’s “Crowded Table” in 2020 also
reflected on her part in the project in an Instagram post.
, writing,
“i’ve typed and deleted at least 10 captions. i don’t hv anything clever or curated to say. i’m on a beyonce record. the album is a masterpiece. ily @beyonce,”
she wrote.Spencer, a The Nashville-based country artist who
theThe Chicks as one of her earliest music inspirations, first garnered national attention with her viral
of country music supergroup Highwomen’s “Crowded Table” in 2020.
Spencer’s sentiment was echoed by
Reyna Roberts,
another early-career country singer featured on “
Blackbiird
.”
“This is literally a dream come true. I will remember this day,”
wrote RobertsSpencer
, who also provides backing vocals on “Tyrant,”
wrote
in an Instagram post.
“I am forever in AWE of you,” she
added,
addressing Beyonc. “You have always been my greatest inspiration. My voice, my music, and art has all been shaped by you. Thank you for your greatness.”
Shaboozey
, a Virginia-born singer and rapper best known for
inter
weaving hip-hop beats and Southern twang, paid homage to the pioneering Black country artist Linda Martell in his Instagram post about the album.
“Honored to be in the company of two historically significant black voices. Love you Linda Martell, Love you Beyonc!” he wrote.
ShaboozeyHe
accompanies Martell on the song “Spaghettii”
“
“
and raps on the album’s penultimate track “Sweet Honey Buckin.'”
Directing his words toward Beyonc, Shaboozey continued, “Thank you He also thanked Beyonc “
for always being the one to step up and kick in a door when others are afraid to. Texas born & raised, worked hard for yours. You are country.”
Although Beyonc’s list of collaborators on “Cowboy Carter” is long,
alas,
former country turned pop superstar Taylor Swift is not on it.
Despite widespread speculation, The Times confirmed on Friday that Swift had no part in either the song Bodyguard or on Cowboy Carter as a whole.
Beyonc first announced the 27-track album in a Feb. 11 social media teaser, which was timed to a Super Bowl commercial featuring the singer.
After several failed attempts to break the Verizon network
in the commercial
, she concedes at the ad’s conclusion,
Ok OK
, they ready. Drop the new music.
That night, she released her
twin
singles Texas Hold Em and 16 Carriages,”
confirming that “act ii” would be country – inspired.
The former
song
made her the first Black woman to top Billboards Hot Country Songs chart
,
and the latter followed close behind at No. 9.
But theThe
dual release ignited a debate among country-music connoisseurs, many of whom refused to cosign the artist’s genre pivot. Others werent aware she
d had
pivoted at all. One country radio station in Oklahoma that came under fire after denying requests to play Beyonc’s music later explained it just didnt know about her foray in this genre.
Rissi Palmer, who broke a 20-year
droughtwait
for a Black woman to appear on the country charts with her 2007 single Country Girl,
before her, Dona Mason snagged a spot in 1987
came rushing to the Texas Hold Em singers defense.
(Dona Mason snagged a spot on the chart in 1987.)
She’s a Houston girl. She’s just as
S
outhern as anybody else that makes country music, Palmer told BBC.
Beyoncs father
Dr.
Matthew Knowles
, who inspired Beyonc’s 2016 track “Daddy Lessons,”
also testified to his daughters Southern roots, telling
the
BBC Asian Network that she spent many summers with her country music-loving grandparents in Alabama.
Her grandfather my father loved country music, and he used to sing to her. At an early age, she heard this music, Knowles said. And when you’re
2, 3two, three
years old, subconsciously music stays in your head.
Knowles, who managed his daughter until 2011, said he wouldnt be surprised if those memories had inspired her new sound.
But even while Although
her rodeo getup and
AmericanaAll-American
album motifs suggest Beyonc is carving out room for herself in the country
spacegenre
, lyrics from Cowboy Carter question the construct of genres in general.
“Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they?” Martell asks in
Spaghett i i
, a track Beyonc seemingly alluded to in a Mar
ch.
28 Instagram post.
Martell continued: In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand. But in practice, well, some may feel confined.”
Later, in the Dolly P interlude, Parton observes, No matter the genre, heartache hits the same.
Beyonc also expressed this sentiment in a Mar
ch.
19 Instagram post, writing, “This aint a Country album. This is a Beyonc album.”
In the same post, she revealed the origins of Cowboy Carter.
This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomedand it was very clear that I wasnt. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive, she said.
Given the timeline provided, fans have speculated that said experience refers to the rejection of her bluegrass-inspired track “Daddy Lessons” by the Recording Academy’s country music committee in 2016. The reasons for the decision were not disclosed.
Beyonc also drew criticism for performing Daddy Lessons alongside the Chicks who had previously covered the song at the 50th
Annual
Country Music
Association Assn.
Awards in 2016.
Following the negative response, the Country Music Association
its promotional post about the performance.
Seemingly alluding to said events, Beyonc continued in her Instagram post, The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.
The posts comment section sees many offering emphatic support.
They didnt give her a seat so she built her own table!!! one comment
saidreads
.
“I think people are going to be surprised because I don’t think this music is what everyone expects,” Beyonc said
in her rare Friday
press
in a press
release, “but it’s the best music I’ve ever made.”
