17. Beyoncé does it again
Cowboy Carter is not objectively a country album, it is a Beyoncé album with a country theme. Did you hear what I just said? Cowboy Carter is a Beyoncé album, so we don’t take this lightly. This means it’s a body of work with levels of thought put into it like NASA launching a rocket into space. This is a precision album, much like Lemonade and Renaissance (Act I). Cowboy Carter (Act II) is the second installment to the apparent trilogy of albums Bey has worked on for the past several years.
In her post to Instagram, Beyoncé states that she studied country music’s roots and history to ensure this album contributed to the unifying powers country music can have. This post and album lyrics lead us to believe Cowboy Carter with a taste of spite in her mouth when Beyoncé’s inclusion and performance at the 2016 Country Music Awards was not received positively.
The first eleven tracks are country-inspired songs and musically feature traditional old-timey country instrumentals and sometimes solemn, intimate lyrics. Track eight, “Bodyguard, was slightly different, feeling a loveable 70’s groove, and makes me think of the iconic film. Listening, I thought, “Great take on country music Bey, well done on taking it and making it your own.” Next thing, “Spaghettii” begins with Linda Martell’s voice, “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes, they are” before getting slapped in the face by the beat to remind me that this is a Beyoncé album and she does what she pleases. She even tells us so in the verse to the hard beat: “I ain’t no regular singer now come get everythin’ you came for.” I can attest, I got everythin’ I came for from this album.
Beyoncé’s albums are true cohesive works of storytelling, this album following suit with “Renaissance”, where songs seamlessly blend into one another, insinuating you should be listening to this in the order the Queen intended. With albums as good as this, you should only listen to it in order; don’t let me see you press shuffle on a Bey album or we might just have a problem.
There are duets and collaborations galore on this album, one of my favourites being “Levii’s Jeans” with Post Malone, another artist who has dabbled between the country and pop genres. Track 20, “Ya Ya”, had me dancing around my room like nobody was watching, and thank goodness they weren’t.
This lyric in “Sweet Honey Buckin” made my jaw drop: “AOTY I ain’t win (That’s cool)/I ain’t stuntin’ ‘bout them/Take that shit on the chin/Come back and fuck up the pen”. The AOTY, or the Album of The Year Grammy is one Bey SOMEHOW continuously misses out on taking home. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter isn’t hiding from anything or anyone she’s out here making intentional music.
The entire point of this body of work is to push the envelope and force us to ask: who writes the rules of music genres and decides where artists belong? As I said, please go put on Cowboy Carter, play it from head-to-toe, twice at least and leave your preconceived notions of who you think “belongs” in the country genre and who doesn’t at the door with your cowboy boots.
