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Yeehaw!! Beyoncé brings out the lariat. From Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, Willie Nelson to The Beatles: Beyoncé’s new album “Cowboy Carter” is a wild ride through music history. The result is also a political statement.
The world has long been “crazy in love” with Beyoncé. 30 years ago, Beyoncé became an R&B star with Destiny’s Child, and her solo career has been on the rise since the noughties. Her idea of pop never gets boring because she always breaks conventions and since «Lemonade» (2016) their albums are also political statements. This also applies to her new album “Cowboy Carter”.
This album is also a revenge
Beyoncé and country have a past: the performance of her country song «Daddy Lessons» led to a defamatory statement at the US Country Music Awards in 2016 Online Shitstorm and culminated in the song’s exclusion from the country category Grammys 2016. Dies prompted Beyoncé, to explore the African-American roots of country history. The result is called “Cowboy Carter”, a dense musical mosaic and a hopeful attempt at overcoming. The 2025 Grammys definitely won’t be able to handle it like they did in 2016.
“That’s not country, that’s Beyoncé!”
The album starts with one Totenmesse. And already with the second track we are resurrected: with a stirring cover version of the Paul McCartney classic «Blackbird» you can tell that Beyoncé has waited a long time to prove to the world with her album that music should have nothing to do with skin color, origin or heritage. It also fulfills what she announced via social media before its release: “This isn’t country, it’s Beyoncé!”
Beyoncé rewrites “Jolene”.
Despite political overtones, the album is a lot of fun. At the latest when country legends like Linda Martell or Willie Nelson When you tune in to guide us through the album as hosts, you feel like you’re in a well-written Hollywood film. And then follows Beyoncé’s version of one of the greatest country songs of the last century: «Jolene», hosted by Dolly Parton herself. Beyoncé remains musically true to the original, but rewrites the lyrics makes it even more urgent. A high-wire act that easily succeeds, as does her heartfelt duet with Miley Cyrus.
There is so much “hood” in the Wild West
In the middle of the album an “Outlaw” surprises with a song. A trap song that breaks up the country idyll once again: “Spaghettii” is shot sharply, with Rapper Shaboozey at Beyoncé’s side. This is also the case again later on “Sweet Honey Buckiin’” – songs that put musical country clichés through the digital meat grinder. The most exciting songs on “Cowboy Carter” look back and forward at the same time. The double i in the song titles is also a constant reminder that we are in the second part of a three-part saga that began in 2022 with “Act I: Renaissance”.
Where are we headed, Beyoncé?
It takes a long time before the question arises as to whether Beyoncé spans the musical spectrum on “Cowboy Carter”. Do you still need this mixed flamenco guitar and the obligatory vuvuzela? fragment von Chuck Berry and there Quote von Patsy Cline? Yes, it does. Because that’s exactly what this is about: the unmistakable overload of references. The perfect collage that cuts up the past, digs up the old field and allows something new to grow. You think so Fan speculationshe will continue this on the next album (Act III) and plow through rock history.
Facts zum Album «Cowboy Carter»
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“Act II – Cowboy Carter” is Beyoncé’s eighth studio album and the second album in her ongoing album trilogy recorded during the Covid pandemic. The album and follows that Grammy Records brechende Album “Act I – Rennaissance” (2022).
“Cowboy Carter” is her exploration of the African-American roots of American country music. The result combines various genres such as blues, soul, rock, R&B, hip hop, zydeco, folk, flamenco and fado.
Dolly Parton, Linda Martell and Willie Nelson act on the album as presenters who lead through a fictional radio show. Shaboozey, Stevie Wonder, Nile Rodgers, Jon Batiste and Miley Cyrus performed musically.