"It's Not A Country Album, It's a Beyoncé Album"
How Beyoncé is reclaiming Black music & how her Texas roots have always been on display.
It’s officially Cowboy Carter release week!! The queen herself is about to release Act II of her three-album renaissance. If you aren’t part of the Bey Hive, you might have been shocked when Beyoncé released a new song during the Super Bowl. Not only was it a new song, but a country song!! Most of the world was confused about why because this wasn’t a genre she occupied. As a Houstonian, I wasn’t confused; in fact, it’s been a long time coming.
Day one Bey Hive member
My first concert was when I was eight, and my mom took me on the TRL Tour. You had Nelly, 3LW, Eve, Dream, Jessica Simpson, & Destiny’s Child. I hate to sound like an old lady, but those years with TRL are truly golden years for pop culture. Since then, I’ve had a long-time love affair with Beyonce. I would see her quite frequently—a total of 8 times!! One time, my babysitter took me and my friend at 3 a.m. to stand in line to see Destiny’s Child at the free concert they were putting on. It was at this tiny venue, first come, first serve. Being so close, I knew she would forever be part of my life. I’m saying all this to lay the groundwork for my perspective. Cowboy culture has been part of my upbringing, from riding my bike in red cowboy boots to going to the Houston Rodeo every year to my love for country music as a little girl. For me, this album is more than about Beyoncé releasing new music but a sense of pride for our upbringing and culture.
Black southern culture
So let’s say the quiet part first: Black culture is American culture. We have been part of this country's fabric since its inception. Our culture is unique, complicated, painful, and joyful. Black Southern culture remains one of the most vibrant parts of our country to this day. Some Black Americans who aren’t from the South still have a hard time connecting with some of our customs and traditions. We are not a monolith, and we all individually have our own lived experiences. When I was on TikTok, I saw a lot of confusing pieces about why Beyoncé was trying to pander to White America with this “country” album. They weren’t aware that the African Slaves brought the banjo over from Africa; country music was birthed from the South by former slaves. So, to answer their question, this comes from us. Beyoncé’s mother was born in Galveston, Texas, about 30 minutes from where I grew up. It’s a beach town with a strong sense of culture. With Louisiana Creole ancestry, Ms. Tina instilled in her girls a strong sense of pride in their Southern upbringing. You can see it throughout Beyoncé’s work, especially during the Lemonade album. As famous as she’s gotten, she has never shied away from her origins. You can see during the early days of Destiny’s Child when her Texas pride was on full display.
Watching her ride out on the horse to start the rodeo show will forever be my favorite Beyoncé memory. So when I hear the internet chatter, I have to say they don’t know what they are saying or haven’t been paying attention. Since the announcement of Act II, the boost in Western gear has gone up, and there has been a spotlight on Black Cowboy culture. Vogue just did a spread on the Houston Livestock and Rodeo during what is to be the blackest night of the Rodeo. Beyoncé's courage to step out and do something different shines a light on a community whose story has yet to be told.
Her career trajectory
I like to think of Beyoncé’s solo career in phases divided into threes.
Dangerously in Love, B’Day & I Am Sasha Fierce: commercial art. She was striving for that success post-girl group and was always trying to prove herself.
4, Beyoncé (Self-Titled) & Lemonade: These three albums challenged the industry. Beyoncé changed how people release music, and we no longer saw her do promo after her album 4.
Act I: Renaissance, Act II: Cowboy Carter, Act III: TBD: a trilogy of genre exploration and analysis. Act I aims to reclaim House and Dance music, Act II aims to reclaim country music, and Act III, in my opinion, will reclaim Rock and Roll music.
Anticipating Cowboy Carter
Since her announcement at the Super Bowl, Bey has released two songs: Texas Hold ‘Em and 16 Carriages. Texas Hold ‘Em became Beyoncé's first number-one song on the Country Music Charts, the first time a Black woman had achieved that milestone. That didn’t come without pushback from some country fans and radio stations. Country radio is in a world of its own. Without it, no artist would ever make it. It is the only place where you must be played to have a career in this genre. It is still the only genre of music that operates in this way. Still a boy's game, female artists work twice as hard as their male counterparts.
After releasing the album cover last week, Beyoncé wrote a lengthy caption about why and how this album came to be. She alludes to the time when she performed at the CMAs with The Chicks (who have been blackballed by the country community since 2003) back in 2016. It was a time when she felt unwelcome, and I felt it as well, watching. Quickly after, online blew up, and nasty and racist comments commenced. To this day, it is still the CMA’s most-watched performance, and they still took it down. 2016 was already a hostile time; Trump was president, and it felt like all the closeted racists decided they no longer wanted to hide. Beyoncé earlier that year performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show with Bruno Mars and Coldplay. This was one of her most political performances and sparked controversy. She was even deemed “un-American” after raising awareness of police brutality by her dancers dressed as Black Panthers. In my opinion, her coming off of that half-time performance to the CMA’s, which is a largely White audience who lean more conservative, was going to ruffle some feathers. My guess is Beyoncé was already on the country audience shit list.
Putting that in her back pocket, she used a negative experience for good. Digging deep into her own history, she created, in my opinion, her best work yet, and I haven’t even heard the full record. I predict this album will be her defining work because it comes from deep inside her and her background. Her portrayal of herself as a Rodeo queen on the cover is deeply intentional. The American flag is deeply personal to most Americans, but for Black Americans, it symbolizes pain and a whole lot of overcoming. I can’t even begin to think of the length of research she went through to create this body of work. I’m interested to see how traditional she keeps it or if she will create a new sound.
If you can’t tell already, I love this woman lol. I cannot contain myself, and I am so excited to see who she collaborated on this album. No other artist out right now is putting out full bodies of work like she is. She is on a whole planet of her own. Could you imagine if we all took a risk like that? Where would we end up? Flat on our faces or discovering parts of ourselves that we never thought existed? Either way, let this be a lesson: don’t be afraid of trying publicly.
Final thoughts
As more think pieces will emerge until now and Friday and even past the release date, I’m so ready for the world to see this side of Bey. A side I’ve known all along, just a country girl from Houston, Texas. Let me know if you would like a part two after we have all sat with the album for a minute. Until then, let’s get our cowboy boots dusted off because we are about to Yee-Haw all the way into summer.
xx,
Lindsey