Beyoncé appears to be addressing racism in her new album, Cowboy Carter
Beyoncé's album “Cowboy Carter” seems to be full of references to her own heritage and to the contributions of African Americans to the country music genre.
Beyoncé's eighth album, “Cowboy Carter,” was released on Friday, and the Beyhive did not disappoint.
First of all, the list of collaborators is amazing. Across 27 songs, Beyoncé is joined by a host of fellow Black artists such as Chabuzi, Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, Tyra Kennedy, Tanner Adele and Rayna Roberts.
Not to mention the likes of country music legends Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Linda Martell. Then there's Miley Cyrus and Post Malone.
Here's everything we know about “Cowboy Carter,” from the tracklist to collaborators to other special moments. We will update this story throughout the night as we learn more.
“Jolene”
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter gave fans (and Dolly Parton) exactly what they've been waiting for — a cover of the country music legend's 1973 hit “Jolene.” But she put her own twist on it.
On her new album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé for the first time included Parton on an interlude titled “Dolly P.” Parton refers to her as “Miss Honey Bey” and bridges the gap from Jolene to “Becky with the good hair” from Beyoncé's 2016 hit song “Sorry.” In Barton's version of “Jolene,” she pleads with a rival not to steal her man. However, Yoncé puts her own spin on the song, warning off her opponent with free energy.
Read more about the cover path.
“black bird”
The inclusion of African-American country artists Tanner Adele, Tyra Kennedy, Brittney Spencer, and Rayna Roberts in the Beatles' harmonious, soulful cover of “Blackbird” over Beyoncé's “Cowboy Carter” is much more than just a tribute to the anthem Paul McCartney wrote for white people. An album to address racial despair in the American South in the 1960s.
Tanner Adele, for example, doesn't just show up because the globe-trotting singer-songwriter is a student and scholar of the 32-time Grammy winner's three-decade-long career.
Rather, it's because, in her own view, the African-American artist has developed a rabid social media following of what she once described to The Tennessean as a “passionate, but invisible” group of people.
All four women have carved unique paths in Nashville.
Shabuzi
Chabuzi was featured on her songs “Spaghettii” and “Sweet Honey Buckin'”.
Born in Virginia, Shabuzi is a Nigerian-American singer and rapper best known for combining hip-hop and country music. His single “Let It Burn” has received over 8 million streams.
Last month, he released a music video for his latest single, “Annabelle.” for him Album Where I've Been, Not Where I'm Going is scheduled for release on May 31.
Read more about Spaghetti and Sweet Honey Pakin.
Willie Jones
Willie Jones appeared on “Just for Fun”.
The Louisiana musician is known for his fusion of hip-hop, R&B and country music. His 2023 album “Something to dance to” was released under Sony Music Nashville in partnership with The Penthouse.
Before this year's Super Bowl, he released a cover of Usher's “OMG.” It also hosts A Displays on Apple Music Radio called “The Crossroads Radio With Willie Jones.”
Read more about the path.
Linda Martell
Linda Martell became the first black artist to reach the top 25 on the Billboard country charts in 1969 and was the first black woman to appear on the Grand Ole Opry stage, making 11 appearances between 1969 and 1975.
Beyoncé, who last month became the first black woman Top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, featuring Martell in the interlude “The Linda Martell Show.” Martell offers a song that “spans a range of genres”. She was also featured in a song called “Spaghett” with crossover artist Shaboozey.
Miley Cyrus
Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus have collaborated on a song about a classic American theme: cars and road trips. The two singers combine their distinctive voices in a new song from Beyoncé's upcoming album, “Cowboy Carter.”
The track “II Most Wanted” meanders down the 405, with hands and smoke drifting in the wind. Beyoncé and Cyrus are two outlaws riding shotgun and taking a back seat to a future together.
Last year, Cyrus reflected on her performance alongside Beyoncé and Rihanna in 2008's Stand Up to Cancer, when she was just a teenager.
During her “Used to Be Young” TikTok series, Cyrus said, “What I remember most about doing that performance is that I was standing between two huge legends and icons that I looked up to at the time, and they treated me like a little sister the whole time.”
Read more about “Most Wanted II”.
Post Malone
There's probably one main reason why Beyoncé featured Post Malone on her new album, “Cowboy Carter.”
They grew up 300 miles apart along Interstate 45 in Texas — Post grew up between Dallas and Fort Worth in Grapevine and Beyoncé is from Houston.
And now they appear together in the sultry pop anthem “Levii's Jeans.”
Their Texas roots now include an anthem for blue jeans enthusiasts combined with a love of everything from Red Dirt boots to Miranda Lambert songs.
Read more about collaboration.
Willie Nelson
It's fitting that Beyoncé's love of her Texas roots extends to a deep admiration for country music and 90-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Willie Nelson.
But making it an introduction to Texas Hold 'Em is another level of Lone Star State fun.
An artist whose career spans more than 150 albums has the kind of peerless, genre-proof influence that Queen Bey would likely aim to achieve on her own.
Read more about their collaboration.
Cowboy Carter tracklist.
- “American Mass”
- “Blackbird” stars Tanner Adele, Brittney Spencer, Tera Kennedy and Rayna Roberts.
- “16 wagons”
- “Protector” featuring Rumi Carter
- “My rose”
- “Smoke Hour,” an interlude featuring Willie Nelson
- “Texas Hold'em”
- “Bodyguard”
- “Dolly B,” an interlude featuring Dolly Parton
- “Jolene”
- “Girl”
- “Spaghetti” starring Chabuzi and Linda Martell
- “crocodile”
- “Smoke Hour II,” an interlude featuring Willie Nelson
- “Just For Fun” starring Willie Jones
- “II Most Wanted” starring Miley Cyrus
- “Levi's Jeans” starring Post Malone
- “flamenco”
- “The Linda Martell Show,” interlude featuring Linda Martell
- “Oh oh”
- “Oh Louisiana”
- “desert Eagle”
- “River Dance”
- “Second Hands Heaven.”
- “tyrant”
- “Sweet Honey Buckin'” starring Chabuzi
- “Amen”
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“This is not a country album.”
Beyoncé first announced her eighth studio album during a surprise Super Bowl commercial on February 11. At the same time, she released her first two singles, “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold 'Em”. The two songs quickly took the internet by storm with many fans seeing the music as a reclaiming of country music's black roots. On YouTube, Beyoncé reached over 2 million views per song in just two days. Within weeks, Beyoncé Making history as well The first black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart when “Texas Hold 'Em” reached number one.
The new album is “Chapter Two,” which is a three-part series. The star released her first work, “Renaissance,” on July 29, 2022, through her company Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. “Chapter Three” has not yet been announced.
Ahead of its release, the singer talked about “Cowboy Carter” on Instagram. Beyoncé wrote that while she was “honored” to become the first Black woman to top Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, she still hopes for the day when “an artist's race is mentioned, in terms of genres of music released.” accidental.”
She revealed that the new album has been five years in the making, adding that 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.” The singer was likely referring to her 2016 performance of her song “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks at the Country Music Association Awards, which received mixed reactions on social media.
“But because of that experience, I delved deeper into the history of country music and studied our rich music archive,” she wrote. “The criticism I faced when I first entered the genre forced me to transcend the limitations placed on me. Chapter Two is the result of challenging myself and taking my time bending and mixing genres together to create this work.”
She signed off with, “This isn't a country album. This is a Beyoncé album.”
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