Beyoncé, ‘Cowboy Carter’ and The Reclamation of Art

Ahead of the release of her highly anticipated Cowboy Carter, the almighty Beyoncé said in a detailed statement about the album, “This ain’t a country album. This is a Beyoncé album”… and it certainly is. For some, that is good news and for a minority of others, that’s bad news. Either way, Beyoncé did what needed to be done. She created something more than just an album. It’s a whole-ass event and a cultural moment that continues Beyoncé’s crusade of art reclamation that started with Act I: Renaissance, which celebrated the innovators of house music and ballroom culture. After the album was released and the Renaissance tour became a hot ticket of the summer, the BeyHive started to put the puzzle pieces together. Beyoncé was creating a three-act opus that would reclaim genres of music, spotlighting Black artists who have been erased or looked over in history. Fans were anticipating a country album for  Act II… and they anticipated correctly.

Since the March 29 release of Cowboy Carter, a deluge of commentary, think pieces, front-facing camera reactions, deep-dive reviews, and social media banter has consumed the internet, staying true to her gospel: “You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation”.

Months before Cowboy Carter was released the conversation was just as strong when she announced Act II and dropped two singles during the Super Bowl: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”. This made fans remember her 2016 performance of “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks at the CMAs. It was clear there were some people in that audience that didn’t think she belonged there. Eight years later, the remnants of that mean-mugging remain as naysayers at country stations across the nation denied requests to play her songs.

Despite the inevitable backlash, Beyoncé let her art do the talking. In less than a day after its release, Cowboy Carter became the most streamed album in a single day in 2024. The album is also the biggest debut to date earning more first-day streams on Amazon Music globally than any of her previous albums. On top of all that, Cowboy Carter had the most first-day streams for a country album by a female artist in the history of Amazon Music and had singles that debuted in the upper echelon of iTunes charts.

Beyoncé not only proved that there is still room for an album to be eventized, but that tangible media is not dead (I mean, have you heard the album on vinyl?). No matter your opinion about Beyoncé and her music, it can’t be denied that she is of utmost cultural significance.

Sure, musicians like Taylor Swift, Adele, and Ariana Grande release significant albums, but Beyoncé’s work cracks open a spectrum of emotions, education, and entertainment that is a benchmark in history and a reclamation of art.

And in a time when people are sharing every waking moment of their lives, Beyoncé manages to do the opposite — because she can. She only shares things about her life when she feels like it — because she can. She manages to keep us guessing — because she can.

Upon discussing the album with friends, one person is in that “contrarian” Beyoncé camp. You know, people who want to make sure you know they aren’t a fan of her or that they are being against the mainstream because it makes them feel empowered. My contrarian friend, let’s call him Rufus, said that Cowboy Carter is a “money grab”.

Of course it’s a money grab. This is what she does to make a living. And it’s good. Also, she makes us buy multiple versions of her album — because she can.

And yes, the album leads with country but the queen was right. This is not a country album. “Ameriican Requiem” (please notice the double “i’s” in her track list) which welcomes us to the church of Cowboy Carter with an organ and then eventually morphs into the waves of ’60s psychedelic sitar strums as she sings “It’s a lot of talkin’ goin’ on/While I sing my song/Can you hear me?/I said…do you hear me?” which is giving “call to action” vibes reminiscent of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”.

Other tracks deviate but still manage to keep in the Cowboy Carter energy including “Bodyguard” which has a yacht rock bounce to its swag while “My Rose” is like a pop waltz. Meanwhile “Ya Ya” brings us back to the golden age of ’60s rock with samples from Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” and Beach Boys’s “Good Vibrations”. Perhaps Bey is low-key giving us a preview of Act III?

Emotions run high and are wildly potent with songs like “Daughter” and “Protector” featuring her little one Rumi Carter. She gives us just the right amount from her personal life before serving Michael Flatley realness with “Riiverdance” and songs like “Sweet Honey Buckin'”  which put the “hoe” in “hoedown”, making us want to get down and dirty on that sawdust floor.

But don’t get it twisted, Beyoncé’s country roots are wildly present with appearances by country icons like Willie Nelson (to hear him spell K-U-N-T-R-Y is a treat) and Dolly Parton, who gives a stamp of approval on Honey Bey’s “fuck around and find out” version of “Jolene”.

True to form, Beyoncé had the world doing a deep dive internet rabbit hole on Linda Martell, a Black country icon who is featured on the album. She was the first Black female solo artist to play the Grand Ole Opry before racism shut her out of the industry.

I’m sure Beyoncé could relate.

On the track “Spaghettii” which also features rapper-country singer Shaboozey, Martell intros the song by saying “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they?…In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand/But in practice, well, some may feel confined” which could very well be the thesis of the entire album as “Spaghettii” is a bangin’ track that allows Bey to spit some hot fire.

As a very casual — almost agnostic — listener of Miley Cyrus, I was surprised to hear how well her and Beyoncé’s voices blend in “II Most Wanted”. On the heartbeat of an “Easy Like a Sunday Morning” melody, the two sing a song that can be an anthem for any type of relationship.

Another surprise appearance was by musician and Road House actor Post Malone, who joins Beyoncé on the flirty “Levii’s Jeans”. Love the song, but can’t stop thinking of this hot take:

The duets with these white people are great, but Beyoncé is going to give shine to Black artists — specifically Black artists who have been eclipsed in the country genre. In addition to Martell and Shaboozey being on the aforementioned tracks “Sweet Honey Buckin'” and “Spaghettii”, singer Willie Jones pops up on “Just For Fun”

A crown jewel on the album is Beyoncé’s “Blackbiird”, a cover of the Beatles’ popular tack. The song, like “Jolene” has been covered numerous times, but of course, Bey adds a layer of meaning to the song by enlisting four Black female country singers to sing alongside her: Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts. The impact of this song is deepened if you know what the song is about.

During an interview in 2018, Paul McCartney talked to GQ about writing “Blackbird”. “I was sitting around with my acoustic guitar, and I’d heard about the civil rights troubles that were happening in the 60s, in Alabama, Mississippi — Little Rock in particular,” he said. “So that was in my mind, and I just thought it’d be really good if I could write something that, if it ever reached any of the people going through those problems, it might give ’em a little bit of hope. So, I wrote Blackbird.”

He continued, “In England, a bird is a girl, so I was thinking of a Black girl going through this… you know, now is your time to arise, set yourself free, and take these broken wings.”

When McCartney said Little Rock, he was referring to the Little Rock Nine, the nine Black students who were harassed after enrolling in and desegregating Little Rock Central High School in 1957. MacKenzie Green, daughter of Little Rock Nine member Ernest Green talked more about this in a post on TikTok.

This brings us full circle to many truths about the one and only Beyoncé and her country-fried masterpiece Cowboy Carter. Her opus pulls up the receipts on the rightful heir to the creation of country music. It says “fuck you” without actually saying it to those who policed her presence in the genre. Although she reclaims the country genre, she doesn’t cage it as her own. Instead, she shares the space with white folks who have become country/western icons in the business and bridges them to overlooked Black country voices that would otherwise not get noticed.

Beyoncé is a broker of relationships, connecting like-minded storytellers and artists. With Cowboy Carter, she continues her place as an insightful broker of culture, producing art that reclaims the space to honor those who blazed the trail ahead of her. At the same time, she widens that trail and eliminates its boundaries for those following in her footsteps.