Album Review: Beyoncé — 'Cowboy Carter'
“We wanna welcome you to the Beyoncé COWBOY CARTER Act II, and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit,” Beyoncé shouts on her 8th studio album (and the second installment of her ambitious trilogy project). After Act I’s ‘RENAISSANCE’ saw the superstar pay homage to Black LGBT+ pioneers of Dance/House music, the goals of reclaiming Black music in other genres and platforming those who often go unnoticed in these respective spaces became excitingly evident. Released on March 29, 2024, ‘COWBOY CARTER’ continues this exact mission — while completely standing on its own. It is a thrilling, cinematic opus filled with significant nuance, rich history and vivid storytelling.
It’s really no secret: Black people in America have always had to find, finesse and make our own way. The Chitlin’ Circuit was a set of venues that allowed African-American entertainers to play after being shut out due to systemic racism, often sustaining these acts during the period of racial segregation during the 20th century. After an unpleasant “welcome” during her performance of Lemonade’s “Daddy Lessons” at the 2016 Country Music Awards alongside The Chicks, Beyoncé felt compelled to dive deep into the nuanced history of Black people in Country music. 8 years later, the (Rodeo) Chitlin’ Circuit has been resurrected — and Beyoncé, arguably the biggest musical act of the 21st century, has made it so that Nashville (and the world at large) has no choice but to listen.
The then-unnamed project was announced following a Verizon commercial spot for Super Bowl LVIII, with a dual-single release, a release strategy reminiscent of 2008’s ‘I Am… Sasha Fierce’ (“If I Were A Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It”) and even more recently — 2013’s ‘'BEYONCÉ’ (“Drunk In Love” and “XO”), though that was a bit different, as the album in its entirety was available to consume at once and by complete surprise. But by the end of the big night in February, both “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and “16 CARRIAGES” were available to the public as the first official offerings from ‘Act II’ — Beyoncé’s rumored and highly-anticipated “Country album.”
Yes, there’s admittedly something about “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” that feels like it exists solely for the sake of its existence — to say “See, I can do this too! And it can be damn good! But it’s also a well-crafted, feel-good track, filled with comforting live instruments, catchy melodies, “rodeo” adlibs and intention. Similar to the smash hit “BREAK MY SOUL” from 2022’s ‘Renaissance” —“TEXAS” sounds like the most “on-the-nose” record on this album, at least when it comes to tackling a “new” genre per se (Bey has dabbled in Country music before). Despite its purely Country elements, the song initially struggled to land on Country airwaves. Controversy surrounding the politics of the genre and “the new Beyoncé Country single” was to be expected, and petitions were signed to get the song in rotation at conservative stations. Nevertheless, the risky single was another smash hit for the Texas-born songstress, line-dancing to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the Country Songs chart, making Beyoncé the first Black woman to reach the latter chart’s summit since its inception in 1944. Oh America, the embarrassment you are. This feat, while impressive (in her growing list of career accomplishments), frankly just shouldn’t be. There’s just no way in hell it took 80 years for a Black woman to see the top of the Country charts. It’s beyond time to shake some shit up!
The new singles ushered in not only a new radical musical era, but also a new era in fashion — where her undeniable influence sparked an influx in Western-inspired wardrobe, even amongst high fashion houses like Louis Vuitton. “16 CARRIAGES” is in a completely different dimension, making sense of her decision to release both simultaneously. The Country ballad sees her R&B roots inevitably shining through as it takes the listener on a reflective, heartfelt journey through her unprecedented career. Boy are we grateful for the sacrifices she made as a little girl and young adult to be able to produce this kind of music. The song makes her early days touring with Destiny’s Child sound like an old Western drama, painting vivid imagery with her delicate vocals as the seasoned and overworked paintbrush.
There are other cinematic moments on the album too, like “DAUGHTER,” where she sings Tommaso Giordani’s "Caro Mio Ben" from 1783 (!!!!) in…wait for it… Italian opera. Read that again. “BODYGUARD,” produced by Raphael Saadiq and initially played for Bey by mere accident, just sounds like it belongs in a movie. The crisp, vintage production, sensual vocals, and her belting alongside the electric guitar towards the end of the song all coalesce to make it truly one of her best ever. Nods to the album’s House-influenced, pulse-heavy predecessor, ‘Renaissance’ can be heard on songs like the Jersey Club-tinged “SWEET ★HONEY ★BUCKIN’” and “RIIVERDANCE,” where the percussion heard throughout the song is actually Beyoncé’s nails! “II HANDS II HEAVEN” puts you in a sonic trance with superbly-layered vocal sections reminiscent of Florence + the Machine before switching up to an R&B ballad that takes you back to the early 90’s era of Jodeci.
The stark symbolism of Beyoncé recruiting a troupe of modern day Black female country singers (Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, and Tierra Kennedy) for “BLACKBIIRD", a Beatles cover originally written by Paul McCartney to reflect the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black students who desegregated schools in Civil Rights-era Arkansas during the ‘60s — is yet another display of intention, as well as some ironic historical context. “The past and the future merge to meet us here” — she’s done her research and connected the dots. It’s Beyoncé proudly owning her complex identity as a Black, country woman from Texas with family rooted in the Deep South. It’s her joining the front lines with these women, outnumbered in the genre and casually overlooked by its political institutions. The parallels between the history of Black people in America and the current state of the Country music genre have an unsettling, yet intriguing way of making this entire album make that much more sense.
“AMERIICAN REQUIEM” is one of those Beyoncé songs that I’ve personally always wanted her to create. The psychedelic rock genre is one that is dear to my heart — igniting hazy sights of Jimi Hendrix playing to 40,000 people at Woodstock ‘69, or visions of Prince rocking out like only Prince can, or even more first-hand and personal flashbacks of Lana Del Rey performing “Venice Bitch” to a sold-out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl in 2019. Some of the vocal production on “REQUIEM” remind me of Lana Del Rey ‘s more folky records too, and a recent collaborator of hers — the talented Jon Batiste, helped pen and produce this record! It may be a reach, but I happen to love when the dots in my musical constellation connect. Sue me. Lyrically, the album’s intro makes a bold statement: She’s American, too. In fact, it’s her ancestry that played a direct role in the dark foundation of this very land. Oh yeah, and Country music wouldn’t exist without us either. How can anyone deny her identity and her artistic right to create whatever she wants? This is Beyoncé’s creative “fuck you” to the institution that not only didn’t embrace her — but that’s also casually shunned out the current Black talents and the pioneers before them. Sometimes, White America needs to be reminded of the centuries of darkness Black people faced and the endless fights for equity in all aspects.
One of those pioneers, Linda Martell, shows up later on in the album. As the first commercially successful female Black country musician and the first to play the Grand Ole Opry, Martell didn’t receive her first Grammy nomination until ‘COWBOY CARTER’ — where her contributions to “SPAGHETTII” (along with Shaboozey) scored the three artists a Best Melodic Rap Performance nomination for the 2025 ceremony. Altogether, the album scored 11 nominations, the most of any artist and almost tying the record for the most Grammy nominations for a single album with Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’ The Country Music Awards, however, did not nominate the album or any of its songs, for a single award — indicative of the stiff, stubborn gatekeeping and racial inequality in Nashville and country music at large. There’s still work to be done, sure, and Country has always been an insanely popular genre in America, but more eyes (and ears) are on Country music than ever before. ‘COWBOY CARTER’ may not be appreciated by the CMA voters (yet), but that doesn’t negate its cultural or musical impact.
Martell also appears on “THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW” where she introduces “YA YA” — another song that I’m so glad finally arrived in Beyoncé’s vast catalog. She goes completely apeshit, channeling the likes of Howlin’ Wolf and Tina Turner in the most Beyoncé way imaginable — completely dismissing and slashing the idea of the “genre” while belting sociopolitical lyrics about life in America. It’s an absolute vocal showcase and an immediate standout in her entire discography. Lines like “Got these slugs in my mouth, when I die don’t take ‘em out“ intentionally pay homage to Southern Black culture — a rare subject of interest in mainstream “Country” music, while “Whole ‘lotta red in that white and blue, history can’t be erased” provides another harsh but necessary reminder of this country’s past. Somehow, it seems as if Beyoncé managed to simultaneously see into the future while creating a album rooted so deeply in the past: songs like “YA YA” hit much differently following the severely disappointing results of the 2024 Presidential Election. “Are you looking for a new America?" she asks on the song. Well, yes! She even manages to squeeze in a fucking interpolation of “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys. This is music!
Country legends Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson appear on the album as well, sometimes coming off more as obligatory co-signs to the genre’s bigoted gatekeepers more than actually adding anything to the album as a whole. You just aren’t going to say ‘no’ to either of them. Personally, I would have preferred a modern verse or chorus from the two Country icons instead. But hey, it works. After all, these are fucking icons, and it’s nothing like a stamp of approval from actual living legends when you’re branching into new territory.
Post Malone (“LEVII’S JEANS”), Miley Cyrus and Black Country acts Shaboozey and Willie Jones also make guest appearances throughout the album’s 27 tracks, along with her youngest daughter Rumi Carter on “PROTECTOR” — an insanely beautiful “lullaby” that evokes tears on the right listen. While “JUST FOR FUN” sounds like pure healing in a song, “II MOST WANTED” is the Country-tinged “cruisin’ down the highway with the top down and our hair blowing in the wind”-type duet that this album probably wouldn’t be complete without. And after being personally requested by “Dolly P” herself, Bey flips “JOLENE” on its head — turning the iconic Country tune from a desperate plea into a slick warning that only a Creole banjee-bitch from Louisian’ could deliver. It’s not my favorite on the album, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless.
The album’s biggest weakness is its length. 27 tracks is exceptionally long for a Beyoncé record, and most of its interludes and skits, while understandable in the greater context of the album’s many messages, could have been left off. The heavy tracklist tend to weigh the album down in certain moments. Despite this, nothing on this album sounds like your typical or quintessential “Beyoncé song,” and that happens to be one of the album’s biggest strengths. She keeps you engaged at every unexpected turn. You’re not going to “get it” from just the first listen, or even the second. An album this layered and nuanced takes some time to truly grasp, understand, and ultimately appreciate. There’s no wonder Ivy-League institutions like Yale are introducing Beyoncé curriculums to expound on her cultural influence. As she reminded us on her last record, she’s just that girl.
“This ain’t a Country album. This is a Beyoncé album,” she said while announcing the title. And she was right. To label and minimize it as just one thing would be to erase everything it represents. It’s not just Country. It’s folk. It’s Americana. It’s psychedelic Rock, Pop, R&B, Soul, Rap. It’s upbeat, it’s mellow, it’s hype, it’s calm. It’s gritty, rusted, polished, baroque, strong — and fragile, too. It’s music, babe! And it’s damn good. Following the release of the Act II, the Black Country acts featured on the album all saw rises in streaming for their respective catalogs. Shaboozey scored a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which has sense broken the record for the longest-running #1 single of all time. We’ve come quite a long way from the Chitlin’ Circuit, I’d say.
These moments are exactly why this album was created in the first place. To show that we don’t have to limit ourselves creatively to these imaginary boundaries we call “genres.” To shine a long-deserved light on the Black pioneers of Country music in America and break the doors open for the modern acts that are keeping the legacy alive, navigating a precious but prejudice-filled space in contemporary music with tenacity and grace. To remind the world of our influence and our contributions to this land and its many diverse sounds.
The record forces you to take a look back at your own upbringing — your roots, and the trials and tribulations you faced in-between those times as a kid in your backyard up until now. Like many of her albums that preceded it, ‘COWBOY CARTER’ is an album that could have only been crafted by Beyoncé, and only by the Beyoncé at this specific stage in her career. She had to experience what she did with ‘Lemonade’ and “Daddy Lessons.” She had to play Etta James in Cadillac Records. She had to go through those beginning years with Destiny’s Child. All of those experiences shaped the Beyoncé that crafted this record.
Outside of her insane vocal abilities and her one-of-one tier artistry overall in the studio, an album of this magnitude was also pretty fucking expensive to create, and it sounds like it, too! Again — only Beyoncé, with endless cash and resources at her coveted disposal — could have crafted a single LP that has Stevie Wonder on harmonica (“JOLENE”), Rhiannon Giddens on the bango (and the viola!), and Gary Clark Jr. on guitar. It is only her that could curate a single record that has to pay out royalties to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Dolly Parton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Chuck Berry, Fleetwood Mac and Nancy Sinatra. That is literally insane. But, we are talking about Beyoncé.
She is in a whole new stratosphere as a recording artist, one much less concerned with the “pop star formula” and much more with what’s going to last way beyond her existence — the music. Her constant desire to keep evolving with each project makes all of this so much more enjoyable as a listener. If the richly contextual and nuanced musical gumbo of Act I and II are any indication of what’s next to come with Act III, we are definitely in for a treat. ‘COWBOY CARTER’ for Album of the Year. Deadass.
My Top 5:
RIIVERDANCE
BODYGUARD
FLAMENCO
16 CARRIAGES
YA YA