What is country music? How do you define it? Some would say it’s built on a few major chords: life is tough, and the whiskey consumed on the road is often a nice way to compensate. Add a chorus about the past being better than the present, and you’re not far from the truth. It’s perhaps in this last precept that the racial divide, into which country music has fallen, was born. In the world of white people, the past serves as a fantasized chimera. And while it took until February 24, 2024, for a Black woman to reach the top of the Hot Country Songs chart, it’s still undeniably hard for a Black woman to make a name for herself in a white-dominated environment. Even when that woman is Beyoncé. Despite the resounding success of *COWBOY CARTER*, her latest album infused with country sounds, almost as a way of claiming a musical heritage that has long been associated with the white history of the United States, it received no nominations for the Country Music Awards. A rather sad way to highlight what the artist declared with her opus released in March 2024: defining who can make country music is, in a subtle way, defining who can claim to be American.
RENAISSANCE: a project envisioned as a triptych by Beyoncé
A woman is at the wheel. From behind, she drives through the American desert, hair in the wind, a cowboy hat on her head. On the radio, a banjo rings out. She accompanies Beyoncé’s voice. On the side of the road, a group of men look up at a gigantic billboard where the star appears in red underwear, a big smile on her lips, and greets passersby. The words “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” appear beside her in painted letters – meaning: the title of the American’s new track, like a turn in her career, in that it takes up the aesthetic and traditional sounds of country. This video was released as part of an advertisement broadcast during the Super Bowl. Thus, a week after Taylor Swift at the Grammy Awards, it is Beyoncé’s turn to use a major event, with a monumental audience (the Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event in the world) to announce the release date of her next project. Superimposed on the video are the words “act II” and the date March 29: the release date of *COWBOY CARTER*, the artist’s eighth album. Unveiled in 2022, *RENAISSANCE*, the artist’s seventh album, was a celebration of house music, which in the collective imagination has become a dance music for white people, even though it was invented by the Black and queer community of Chicago in the late 1970s, and then in the 1980s. A concept album, then, as she has become accustomed to imagining them, and above all the first act of a new project, conceived as the re-appropriation of music whose history has been partially erased by an American society steeped in racism. With *COWBOY CARTER*, Beyoncé continues on her way, this time tackling country music, a pillar of Southern United States culture if there ever was one.
Beyoncé and country: a history fraught with pitfalls
Despite the general surprise caused by the announcement of Beyoncé’s new album, it must be acknowledged that this is not her first foray into the cartoonish world of country. In 2016, in *Lemonade*, her impressive sixth album, she presented the track “Daddy Lessons”, whose sounds flirted with this genre that appeared in the Southern United States in the 1920s, at the heart of the American working class. But where “Daddy Lessons” only borrowed bursts of the musical genre, “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” marks a further step for the superstar in the universe of banjos and harmonicas. In less than four minutes, in an uptempo song, the singer lists all the most obvious symbols of the genre, like the glass of whiskey you drink at the local bar. With “16 CARRIAGES”, the second track she unveiled during the night and which is more akin to a sentimental ballad, Beyoncé confides more about her personal life, and in particular about her youth spent in Houston: “At fifteen, innocence flew away / I had to leave home very young / I saw Mom pray, I saw Dad work / All my tender problems, I had to leave them behind me”.
However, since the release of “Daddy Lessons”, Beyoncé’s journey into the heart of country music has also been fraught with pitfalls. For example, the reception of the song’s performance, which the artist chose to sing at the 50th edition of the Country Music Association Awards, alongside the Dixie Chicks. A performance received with general disdain, and racism trivialized to the extreme. “How can Beyoncé be a credible country artist?” wonders a part of the assembly, undoubtedly ignoring how much country music is the product of a melting pot, between Irish, German immigration, and the slave trade, which gave rise years later to blues music in the United States. The latter largely fed country music, although some would prefer not to see it, or in this case, hear it. American singer Travis Tritt went so far as to declare on X (formerly Twitter): “As a country artist, I feel insulted that the Country Music Awards think we need to invite a pop artist to draw the crowds” or even: “Apparently, the Country Music Awards think Beyoncé is as relevant to country music as Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette or Patsy Cline”. With the release of the singles “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and “16 CARRIAGES” in the dawn of 2024, Beyoncé again faced racist backlash from the country music community. Indeed, the two tracks faced a refusal to be played by an Oklahoma radio station, until the artist’s fans revolted. This did not prevent Beyoncé from making history by becoming the first Black woman to reach the top of the Hot Country Songs chart. A new milestone she accompanied with a text, published on her Instagram account: “I hope that in a few years, mentioning an artist’s race, with regard to the broadcasting of musical genres, will be a thing of the past. This album is the product of more than five years of work. It was born from an experience I had several years ago, where I didn’t feel welcome… and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But this experience pushed me to delve into the history of country music and study our rich musical archives. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated a large part of their lives to teaching our musical history. The criticism I faced when I ventured into this genre forced me to break through the limits that had been imposed on me. Act II is the result of a challenge I set myself, and the time I took to bend and blend genres to create this body of work”.
“This is not a country album”, the artist clarifies, still on Instagram. “It’s a Beyoncé album. It’s *COWBOY CARTER* act II, and I’m proud to share it with you all!”
With *COWBOY CARTER*, Beyoncé pays tribute to the Black artists who shaped country music
Throughout her career, and particularly through her various documentaries, Beyoncé has often referred to her happy childhood spent in Texas, the birthplace of blues and country music. Of African descent, the singer has only recently reconnected with these two genres, which she claims as Black music. Thus, some may notice the presence of musician Rhiannon Giddens in the credits of the song “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” (she is the singer, violinist and banjo player of the country group Carolina Chocolate Drops and frequently reminds that the banjo was above all a Black instrument, before becoming a white instrument). On “16 CARRIAGES”, it’s another famous Black musician you can hear playing the lapsteel (a string instrument designed by slaves from South Africa deported to America): Robert Randolph. As *COWBOY CARTER* is finally available, it is possible to explore even further the way in which Beyoncé wished to pay tribute, on the 27 tracks that make up the album, to the contribution of the Black community to country music – while making her own contribution to the edifice. Because yes, country music has had Black founders. A man like singer Roy Acuff, shared the stage with Charley Pride, DeFord Bailey, harmonica player and descendant of slaves from Tennessee, and Ray Charles. With *COWBOY CARTER*, Beyoncé follows in the footsteps of DeFord Bailey, as her songs are rooted in a rural reality of the Southern United States. But she also follows in the footsteps of Charley Pride, by singing a radiant sexuality, both fiery and sacred, like the trace of lipstick left on a cigarette in the song “BODYGUARD”. Finally, like Herb Jeffries, she becomes the cowboy close to nature, and even more so to his weapons.
Country music is not, as many believe, a genre influenced by Black people without them ever having been present. Black women, in particular, have been present since the earliest days, from studios, to radio, from the stage to award ceremonies. They are called Linda Martell, the Pointer Sisters, Rissi Palmer, Rhiannon Giddens, Mickey Guyton, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, to name but a few. And as Beyoncé became the first Black artist to top the national charts, she invited a few of them on her own tracks, like “BLACKBIIRD”, an unexpected Beatles cover.
Ultimately, what is the essence of country music, whose ancestors range from Cameroon to Nigeria, via Mali, Scotland, England and Ireland? Perhaps a certain desire to make the weight of existence bearable, especially when it becomes too heavy to bear. On a track like “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”, that’s precisely what Beyoncé is trying to do. To transform difficulty into playful joy, a glimmer of hope in the twilight. In a Time article entitled “How Does Beyoncé Fit Into the Historical Legacy of Black Country?”, composer and author of the book *My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future*, Alice Randall sees Beyoncé as the spiritual daughter of Ray Charles, the one who will eclipse the father. After listening to the artist’s eighth album, one can only agree – what is *COWBOY CARTER*, if not a new exploration of country music, resolutely modernized. Its contours are completely redefined, for example on the track “SPAGHETTII” which builds a bridge between country and rap. By inviting such iconic and diverse artists, from Dolly Parton to Miley Cyrus, via Shaboozey or Willie Nelson, Beyoncé addresses anyone who has ever questioned her legitimacy to make country music. And trades her queen bee crown for a good old cowboy hat.
*COWBOY CARTER*, by Beyoncé, available now.
