All about 'Cowboy Carter': Beyoncé's new album

Beyoncé’s latest release ‘Cowboy Carter’ has been the best album debut on digital platforms so far this year, with more than 76 million plays in one day. The Houston (Texas) artist released the second act of her 2022 album, Renaissance, a few days ago and it comes almost six months after the conclusion of her successful tour.

Queen B has wanted to pay tribute to her Texan roots with this new release, which contains 27 tracks in which she mixes genres such as pop, rap, trap and electro, and in which she delves for the first time into a style that has traditionally turned her back on the African-American community. “This is not a country album, it’s a Beyoncé album”, was what the singer herself said about her new work.

“It was born out of an experience I had years ago where I didn’t feel welcome… and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, as a result of that experience, I delved into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive. But, as a result of that experience, I delved into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives to educating about our musical history. The criticism I faced when I first got into this genre forced me to overcome the limitations placed on me. act ii is the result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres to create this body of work,” the artist explained in an Instagram post about the album’s release.

Beyoncé takes a look at the history of country music through the prism of African-American culture, which in turn serves as a showcase for more black artists in the mainstream industry. With this new project, it also aims to remember that this musical style comes from black slaves and their African banjos. They created country music until the minstrels arrived, those white men’s shows where they ridiculed black people and their songs, which they also took over.

This album has references to Linda Martell. Linda Martell appears in the credits of the songs The Linda Martell show and Spaghettii. And who is she? None other than the first black female artist to achieve commercial success in the genre in the 1970s. We also find the track Jolene, a cover of the famous Dolly Parton song, the recording of which Parton herself had already revealed.

Among the emerging artists who have been part of Cowboy Carter, BLACKBIIRD includes Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. These four young women from Kentucky, Maryland, Alabama and Alaska do country have released their first album between this year and last. In Spaghetti and Sweet Bucking Honey, Shaboozey is an emerging artist with a sound that travels from country folk to hip-hop.

On Protector, Beyoncé collaborates with Rumi, Sir’s twin sister who says: “Mom, can I hear the lullaby? Please?”. For Smoke Hour, Beyoncé employs the voice of Willie Nelson – considered one of the representatives of the Outlaw Country movement – as a radio host. Just For Fun features Willie Jones, considered the future of country. Another collaboration is II Most Wanted, in which Beyoncé teams up with Miley Cyrus and Levi’s Jeans with Post Malone.