Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé

Beyonce has been turning heads since her first studio album, B-Day, released in 2003. She is regarded as, literally, “Queen Bey”, someone who has contributed largely to the pop and pop/hip-hop fusion genres of the music industry for decades now. Up until 2024, though, she had never strayed from those genres. In a commercial aired during the Super Bowl in February of 2024, she surprised fans by releasing both “Texas Hold Em” and “16 CARRIAGES,” officially announcing her new album, COWBOY CARTER. This album had been alluded to back in 2022 when she released RENAISSANCE. After that, she “announced the album was the first part of a three-act project, making "Cowboy Carter" the second” (USA TODAY). The album, while labeled as a country album by genre, is a blend of country/folk/Americana/pop/hip-hop and, ultimately, is an exploration of genre as a whole and a response to the world who has tried to put her, and artists in general, into boxes. I believe COWBOY CARTER is a completely masterful work and incredible conversation starter about what defines a genre and what kinds of cultural oppression and white-washing exist in the industry, especially in the sense of restricting artists of color from predominantly white (or forcibly white) genres, such as country. As Beyonce said herself, “it’s not a country album, it’s a Beyonce album” (NYLON) that provides insight into her diverse cultural background and analysis of the current state of our country. 

The opening song of the album in itself really seems to represent the overall theme of the piece of work. It is called “AMERIICAN REQUIEM,” the word “requiem” insinuating at something lost or gone. The beginning of the song opens with angelic and dramatic harmonies sung by Bey in which she introduces the requiem. Some believe that it is a requiem “referring to how Black people contributed to the creation of the country genre despite now being left out of it decades later.” (DISTRACTIFY). This point is really driven home at the bridge of the song, where she sings “Got folks down in Galveston, rooted in Louisiana / Used to say I spoke, “Too country” / And then the rejection came, said I wasn’t country enough / Said I wouldn’t saddle up, but / If that ain’t country, tell me what is.” In a way, the song can be seen as a requiem of her childhood/adolescence and her inability to be completely free in adulthood, as she was always being restricted or told she could not be the full version of herself. The insinuation of the song, and album in general, seems to be that this is not an uncommon experience for people of color in America, especially those who grew up in the South or in rural areas. 

An interesting aspect of COWBOY CARTER is that it has 27 tracks in total, but 6 of those are interlude-type tracks that are under a minute long. These tracks connect the entire album together, introducing certain songs and adding a feeling of listening to an old radio station, as both of the Willie Nelson interludes in the album are called “SMOKE HOUR” and consist of sounds of Willie Nelson flipping through radio broadcast channels and providing calming commentary on the music we are about to listen to. The decision to use Willie Nelson, an incredibly famous staple in the country/blues genre for decades, was definitely not one made lightly. Beyonce knew that she would face a large amount of criticism and apprehension for entering into the country game. But, when famous country artists like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton are in the album themselves, walking the listeners through the work, how can we deny it to be country? 

The use of these artists was most likely also a way to connect herself to her roots in country music. While there are features in her songs to other current artists/country artists, the spoken-word guides through the album are only done by more seasoned and largely-known country singers that she would have grown up listening to. The most culturally significant person I found to be featured in this album is Linda Martell, a black female American singer who was the first black solo artist to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. In the beginning of the COWBOY CARTER song “SPAGHETTII”, we hear Linda Martell’s voice saying “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes they are. In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand/ But in practice, well, some may feel confined”. Upon my initial listen to this album, that line in itself causes me to pause my listening to really reflect on that. Why should artists be confined to a single genre? Especially when we consider the fact that music is constantly evolving and changing, and most people listen to more than one for their own pleasure. There is of course an added layer to this statement when put in the context of the album it was put in, which is the extra confinement placed on black artists to stick to predominately black genres. Martell, like Beyonce, is not a stranger to the oppression black women face in America, especially in predominantly white spaces. The choice to reference Martell and feature her in the album was a beautiful and heartbreaking way to highlight this experience. 

Beyonce really makes this album her own genre, as it explores musical elements of country, blues, pop, and hip-hop. Songs such as “AMERIICAN REQUIEM”, “16 CARRIAGES” “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”, and “OH LOUISIANA” as well as the covers of “BLACKBIIRD” and “JOLENE” utilize the acoustic guitar sounds, tambourine, banjo, and the country “twang” in the way she physically sings the songs that define them as true country songs. The song called “DAUGHTER”, a sort of lamentation about twisted fantasies that come from deep-rooted angerthat she feels ashamed of, is a very classic story-telling country murder ballad that fits the album well into the genre. Tracks 15, 16, and 17 (“II MOST WANTED”, “LEVII’S JEANS”, and “JUST FOR FUN”) are each examples of duets, which are very prominent in country music. Other songs, however, such as “SPAGHETTI”, “TYRANT”, and “YA YA” do include more pop or hip-hop qualities. Interestingly enough, the song “SPAGHETTI” brings in the most elements of hip-hop, with harsher percussion and adlibs, and even with Beyonce herself rapping in a style that we are more used to hearing in her other works. It is intentionally poetic and genius that the most un-country song of the entire album is the one that opens with a statement about how genre is confining. This song (being track number 12 out of 27) is the first we hear on the album that really strays from the country-heavy style we have seen from tracks 1-11. It seems to be making a point that while she is making country music (and doing it well), she is also making a Beyonce album, and that is going to mean it incorporates all the musical aspects that make her, her. 

Upon full analysis of COWBOY CARTER, my deep and honest review of this album is that there is no question why it won album of the year or as country album of the year. Country music at its core is about telling a story and writing about what’s happening in the world, and this album does exactly that. The heart of country music lives in this album. Beyonce created a musical work that speaks to a prominent issue in the music industry while also recounting her own personal experiences in life and in music in a way that defines it as a full piece of art that will most likely be talked about for years to come.