COWBOY CARTER
A True Beyoncé Album ★★★★★
This article contains spoilers for Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé.
It’s time to whip out the cowboy hat and collect those boots as we are about to hit a rodeo circuit like nothing else!
Cowboy Carter (2024), or Act II, is the eighth studio album release by iconic American singer, actress, and businesswoman Beyoncé (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter). It succeeds Renaissance (2022), as the second act of the popular ongoing trilogy.
Debuting Friday 29 March, the album consists of a whopping 27 songs, culminating in a runtime of 1 hour and 18 minutes. For Beyoncé, this album represents a deep dive into the country genre, something that has been controversially received by critics. Despite this, the album includes many other genres such as house, pop, R&B, and other styles that make this a true Beyoncé album.
But what is Cowboy Carter about exactly? It has a complex history that might surprise you.
Beyoncé started the year off on top. TEXAS HOLD ‘EM, one of the many songs on the album, was released as an early promotional taste to audiences. This made her the first Black woman to reach the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
However this achievement was a difficult one for the artist, who has faced pushback from country genre circles as she has been seen to infiltrate the closed-minded genre with outside concepts and ideas.
For Beyoncé, this has been an idea in the making for a long time. Stating in an accompanying press release, “This album took over five years… I think people are going to be surprised because I don’t think this music is what everyone expects… But it’s the best music I’ve ever made.” Beyonce had been wanting to enter the country genre for years, however felt unwelcomed by many conservative elements of the genre that restrict new ideas and evolution. Particularly, the genre has for general purposes been primarily influenced by closed-minded white artists.
Global events also disrupted plans for Beyoncé. Cowboy Carter was originally intended to come before Renaissance; however, the global pandemic caused her to focus her attention to Renaissance to offer a space for people to find comfort. “There was too much heaviness in the world. We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance. But I had to trust God’s timing.” Beyonce mentions each song on the album is inspired by different country films such as ‘Space Cowboys’ and ‘Urban Cowboy’.
During production, Beyoncé wanted to reflect country, blues, and black folk music within her work. She sought real instrumentation such as accordions, washboards, and even pedal steel guitars. She even emulated iconic country pop star Dolly Parton by using her fingernails as percussion, as was done in ‘9 to 5’.
While the history of the album is interesting, it’s the critical reaction that matters. According to Spotify, since its release it has already become the platform’s most streamed album in a single day of 2024! Similar records were broken on Amazon Music, along with the promotional releases breaking records on the Billboard 100.
For fans, the album has received critical acclaim, with many praising each song’s ability to provoke new listening experiences. The album has also received critical acclaim from other musical artists such as Sinatra, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, and others.
The many reasons for the album’s success has included Beyoncé’s ability to remain relevant with the zeitgeist of the times, and her distinctive mixed genre approach to music.
Fashion, politics, and identity have been key factors to the successes of both this album and Renaissance. The lyrics in AMERIICAN REQUIIM provide a commentary on the current state of American political division, with SPAGHETTII and YA YA fuelling a dance rave energy into the listener. SWEET * HONEY * BUCKIN was a true representation of this Beyonce album, with the song separating over three distinct genres.
The speculated collaboration with Dolly Parton for JOLENE, and unexpected appearance of Miley Cyrus in duet for II MOST WANTED, also sent fans into a feral rampage.
One week after debut, speculation is already mounting on a sequel tour to Renaissance, with certain website features being hidden from public view.
Despite some unreasonable criticisms from country music loyalists. Cowboy Carter has achieved exactly what it aimed to do. It has provided a unique listening experience to audiences, solidified Beyoncé’s position as a genuine music icon, and sought to re-impose Black Americans into the creative spaces of country music.
As in the lyrics of AMERIICAN REQUIIEM,
Goodbye to what has been.
Zane Leblond, Cultural Trends Reporter