Beyonc茅 already “runs the world” of pop music and now she’s set to take over the country music genre too with her Friday album release. But not everyone’s welcoming her decision to saddle up.
The Texas native released the second part to her 鈥淩enaissance鈥� trilogy on Friday. It鈥檚 a full country album titled 鈥� the middle act follows her first house/dance hall album and precedes her yet-to-be-announced Act III, which is rumored to be a rock album.
The first two singles from Cowboy Carter dropped the same night as the Super Bowl, after she teased new music in and 鈥淎rrested Development鈥檚鈥� Tony Hale.
Just a week later, she made history as the first Black woman to have a chart. In the eight decades Billboard has had country radio charts, only seven other Black female artists have achieved placement on them.
How country music became Black and white
Some country fans, including “Dukes of Hazzard” have voiced their criticism toward Beyonc茅鈥檚 foray into the country genre, claiming she鈥檚 trying out the new sound without any personal reference to the music and simply taking this lane change as an avenue to make money.
But Dwandalyn Reece, associate director for the humanities and curator of music at said Black artists and their influence have been a part of the country genre for decades.
鈥淚 think country music, like most American music, is a mixture and a combination of a variety of influences. No one can point to who did what first,” Reece said. “But country music is definitively a combination of African American aesthetic traditions as well as Anglo-American traditions that came over from Europe.”
So can a Black pop artist claim their venture into the genre is a “reclamation of their roots?”
Ren茅 Rodgers, head curator of the in Bristol, Virginia, said the African American community has made an impact on country music historically. She said in pastoral areas of the country, instruments made from vegetables such as gourds became the first versions of banjos and hymnals became the hazy prototypes for lovesick ballads.
鈥淭he music that we think of as ‘old-time music,’ traditional music that became country music, was often being played by Black musicians, either free Black musicians or 鈥� musicians from the enslaved population,鈥� Rodgers said.
It’s become difficult to define what makes a song country, Reece said, as artists today are challenging the notion of 鈥渟taying in one lane鈥� by genre-bending and allowing other musical influences to guide their musical decision-making.
鈥淭his whole concept of 鈥榞enre,鈥� we’re really trying to expand and break beyond the box,” Reece added. “That’s what I’m really happy to see a lot of artists today really challenging.”
At the turn of the 20th century, Reece said the music industry separated Black and white audiences by creating 鈥渞ace records鈥� and 鈥渉illbilly鈥� music within the country genre, warping 鈥渢he narrative about what country music was about.”
鈥淭he criticism is kind of tied to the whole history of country music and how it is perceived as a white, 鈥楢merican鈥� 鈥� tradition, and crossing those racial boundaries,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think country music is one genre that still has a strong gatekeeping role, particularly about radio play, and who gets in and who doesn’t. And people are resistant.鈥�
Beyonc茅 herself shared a similar sentiment in revealing the ultra-Americana cover art for the album: “My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist鈥檚 race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”
Getting this country Barbie out of her box
The first of Cowboy Carter鈥檚 singles, 鈥淭exas Hold 鈥楨m,鈥� came with paying homage to Wim Wenders鈥� 1984 film 鈥淧aris, Texas,鈥� with a taxi driving through arid land littered with empty Modelo beer bottles and a group of men gawking at a waving billboard promoting the song.
The song starts with a twangy banjo strummed by Grammy-winning folk artist Rhiannon Giddens before shifting聽into hard drive with a banging kick drum, hooting and hollering backing vocals and the rhythmic metronome of crickets in the background.
To Rodgers,聽it鈥檚 clearly a country song 鈥渢hat’s going to be part of a wider country journey” for Beyonc茅.
鈥淲hat’s also exciting about someone like Beyonc茅 moving in this direction, or finding a way to express herself through this genre, is that it then draws attention to other artists who have been in the genre for a while, who might not have gotten as much airtime or as much recognition or notice,鈥� said Rodgers.
鈥淚 think that any artist can express themselves in any genre, and be a part of that genre. To me, music is about expressing yourself, expressing things that you feel about the world around you. It’s about sharing stories through music,鈥� Rodgers said. 鈥淎nd we should embrace that, because it makes music more interesting.鈥�
The album鈥檚 second single, is a slower, more pulsating, guitar-forward ballad reminiscent of 鈥淎merican Honey鈥� by Lady A (formerly known as “Lady Antebellum”) or 鈥淩iver鈥� by Leon Bridges. It’s less of a “traditional” country song but still touches on topics you’d often find in the genre, such as working hard, praying and building a legacy your children can be proud of 鈥� even if it鈥檚 to the detriment of your health and family.
This isn鈥檛 Beyonc茅’s first rodeo
Longtime members of the BeyHive have known Beyonc茅 is no newbie to country music. The Houston-born icon has dipped her toe into the country pond before with 鈥淒addy Lessons鈥� from her 2016 album 鈥淟emonade.鈥� The song touches on topics of learning how to shoot, protecting your family and land, and doing anything in your power to make a better life for your loved ones.
She performed the song with The Chicks (formerly known as “The Dixie Chicks”) at the 50th Country Music Awards 鈥� prompting controversy.
Most of the backlash to the performance was due to Beyonc茅鈥檚 pop and R&B history, with critics claiming that having one country song in her long discography didn’t qualify her to perform.
was among those who took to Twitter, the platform now known as X, to air his grievances against Queen Bey鈥檚 presence at the CMAs: 鈥淎s I see it, country music has appealed to millions for many years. We can stand on our own and don’t need pop artists on our awards shows,鈥� he wrote in a post from 2016.
described the backlash: “Some of their sentiment was due to Beyonc茅’s liberal-leaning politics, some of it was rooted in her perceived lack of country cred, and some of it was downright racist.”
Users on social media were already reacting to the backlash, and its historical roots, before the new album was released.
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Not a country album
Most chart-topping country songs have been from white artists but Beyonc茅 isn’t the only Black musician to face pushback when trying to join the ranks.
In 2019, Lil Nas X鈥檚 hit song “Old Town Road” topped country music charts, that’s until, stating it didn’t “embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart.”
鈥淚 think you can’t overstate how powerful this perception of who participates in these spaces really is 鈥� how powerful that is to shaping an attitude that this music has 鈥榥othing to do with me,鈥�” Reece said. “Part of that reclamation is not only reclaiming space, but I think it’s also for audience members like you and me to acknowledge that and embrace it as part of our history.”
Beyonc茅 said Cowboy Carter is an album five years in the making and is an exact response to the negative feedback she received following her performance at the CMAs: “It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed 鈥� and it was very clear that I wasn鈥檛. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.”
Queen Bey, defying definition yet again, then added, “This ain鈥檛 a Country album. This is a ‘Beyonc茅’ album. This is act ii, COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y鈥檃ll!”
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