Beyoncé returns to her Texan origins and makes country her own

The highly anticipated “Cowboy Carter” is finally released. Queen Bey tells a story. That of a black woman who, with her R&B, pop and hip-hop sounds, travels into the origins of country, and into her own life.

Set to become album of the year, Cowboy Carter which drops Friday, March 29, refreshes country music with R&B, pop and hip-hop sounds. Beyoncé invents her own subgenre and gives history lessons between percussion and tribute to the pioneers.

“For things to stay the same, they have to change again“. Beyoncé greets her “old friend”, country, opening his new album. This first song has a strong title, American Requiem, a musical prayer remembering the souls of deceased black artists, pioneers of the genre. “Amen”. The tone is solemn, the queen of the music industry recalls her origins.

Born in Houston, Texas, a city in the south of the United States where country music developed, Beyoncé grew up with the sounds of the genre. And this isn’t the first time she’s tackled it. In 2016 she came out Daddy Lessonsfor his album Lemonade. She performed the song the same year at the Country Music Awards and received a wave of racist criticism. “Then the rejection came, they said I wasn’t country enough.” she castigates in the introduction to the album.

Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus

Faithful to the genre in which telling oneself is obligatory, Beyoncé introspects, talks about her doubts, her struggles and the difficulties she manages to overcome. She discusses the challenges that pushed her to reclaim the genre. This album is the second in a trilogy started in 2022 with the album Renaissance . With this three-act project, Beyoncé reappropriates the musical genres born thanks to black artists. After house, it’s time for country, which draws on African-American roots.

There is no longer any question of black people being kept out of contemporary country music. Beyoncé wants to bring together artists from yesterday and today. She lets the legend Willie Nelson become a radio host. He punctuates the album with interludes. “Welcome to Smoke Time on KNTRY Radio Texas”. A tribute to the popular shows devoted to country music which multiplied in the 1930s. The album is littered with collaborations with artists who are country fans. We find Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Shaboozey and the young prodigies of the genre, Willie Jones and Tanner Adell.

Above all, it is two covers of unforgettable titles that call out. First that of the memorable Jolene by Dolly Parton. Beyoncé changes the lyrics of this 1973 classic. Besides the essential chorus in which Dolly Parton implores Jolene not to steal her lover, Beyoncé still reminds us that she is a “queen” and an “Creole banjee from Louisiana”.

We also note the multiple innuendoes to his relationship with Jay-Z and the latter’s alleged adultery, largely distilled in the album Lemonade. A nevertheless timid cover which does not live up to the original.

Another adaptation, that of Blackbird of the Beatles. Beyoncé is forming a new group made up of the genre’s hopefuls, the new black women of country. We find the harmonious hearts of Reyna Roberts, Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy, and the sweet verse of Tanner Adell, new to the country scene.

“Real sound of the country”

“This particular song spans a range of genres. And that’s what makes it a unique listening experience.”

It’s the turn of Linda Carter, the first black female artist to achieve commercial success in country music, to become a host. She introduces ultra dancing Ya Ya which uses the lyrics of the hit hit Good Vibrations (1966), from The Beach Boys. Beyoncé’s version invites you to twerk and sway your hips shamelessly.

The excellent Riverdance also invites you to dance, this time country and “without hands“, with banjo notes in electronic version. This instrument is one of those brought by African slaves deported to the Americas and the Caribbean in the 1600s.

Beyoncé has fun mixing genres. She indulges in a frantic rap in the title spaghetti or returns to the sacred with the immaculate gospel notes of Just For Fun.

Honky tonk, rockabilly, country blues or pop… We can no longer count the multiple subgenres of country and Beyoncé draws inspiration from each of them in her 23 songs. Through his ballads like the moving lyrical title Daughter or the catchy pop of BodyguardBeyoncé shares social, family, even religious, but above all popular values.

It offers a precise musical experience where each song has a careful place, complements the previous one and tells a story. That of a black woman who travels into the origins of country music and into her own life.

“Country music is a bit like the blues… It’s simple, honest. I love this real sound of the country, this purity in it… We should never abandon this sound, these melodies of our hills and our mountains.” The right words from Ray Charles, the black singer of the legendary I Can’t Stop Loving You (1962), still resonate 62 years later with the music of Queen Bey. After this album, country is in no danger of being neglected.

“Cowboy Carter”, Beyoncé’s new album is available on all music platforms