Album Review: COWBOY CARTER | Beyoncé
Queen B teaches us a lesson on American Music history.
54 years ago, Linda Martell performed at the biggest stage in country music at the time, The Grand Ole Opry. Today, Martell still performs on the biggest stage in country music - Beyoncé's COWBOY CARTER. Throughout country music history, black artists like Martell have contributed every step along the way. However, their stories are often left unheard.
"This ain't a Country album, this is a Beyoncé album," Queen B loudly declared a few weeks ago when she unveiled the cover art to her 8th studio album, COWBOY CARTER. This release also marks Act II of her 3-part project following RENAISSANCE (with clever II numerals marked all over the track list). She was right - this is much more than just a country album.
To understand the "why" of this album - we need to take a quick detour to 2016. Beyoncé surprised dropped Lemonade, which fused several different genres and sounds, including an album track Daddy Lessons. A few months later, Beyoncé appeared during the Country Music Awards to perform the track alongside The Dixie Chicks. To her surprise, she was not warmly welcomed to the award show, and many viewers left unkind remarks about her. Whether it was her perceived lack of country cred, her politics, or her race (we tend to think it's the latter) - Beyoncé received a clear message that she was not welcome in country music.
Fans speculate that Beyonce's 3 Act project is a venture of reclaiming and paying homage to genres that tend to underplay the influences of Black culture. Act I is house music, and Act II is country. Instead of letting the criticism force her out of the genre, Beyoncé erupted into the genre's history and how much Black, brown, and Native cowboy stories are missing in American history and popular culture.
Beyoncé prepares her thesis statement for this record on the opening track, AMERIICAN REQUIEM. For anyone who doesn't know, a requiem is a musical piece composed in memoriam for a person or a tribute for someone or something. The tradition of requiems goes back to Mozart - who famously composed his requiem before he passed. Beyoncé tells us that she's about to deeply dive into American music from the past and the present, saying, "There are big ideas buried here." She's laying the foundation here that she believes that country music is much more expansive than we typically categorize it.
“This is the moment yall, where we dismantle the genre machine…. Producing and writing for AMERIICAN REQUIEM was an example of extraordinary alignment—when many leading artists see a similar vision at the same time, that's when you know a major shift is happening. A new era, long time coming. Let's liberate ourselves from genre and break the barriers that marginalize who we are and the art that we create.”
- Jon Batiste
The record’s mission of recognizing the role of black art in country music is accomplished in a few ways. First and foremost, Beyoncé assembles the Avengers of black female country musicians on BLACKBIIRD, a cover of the famous Beatles song. The original, written by Paul McCartney in 1968, was written from the perspective of the Little Rock Nine and the treatment of black women in America at the time. An entire generation of black female country artists rerecording this song to create a moment here & now, 56 years after the original is quite special.
COWBOY CARTER is co-signed by country legends Willie Nelson & Dolly Parton, who are sprinkled all over this record. Most notably, Dolly P gives Beyoncé her blessing for B's very own version of JOLENE. The original, ranked by Rolling Stone as the 9th best country song of all time, is a story of infidelity and heartbreak that resonates too close to home for Beyoncé (documented in detail on Lemonade & Jay-Z's 4:44).
“You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about?” Dolly says to Beyoncé, referencing the famous “Becky with the good hair” lyric on her 2016 song Sorry. “Reminded me of someone I knew back when, except she has flamin’ locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
Beyoncé flips the script on the country classic, taking a more assertive stance to warn JOLENE not to mess with her and her man: "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. I'm warnin' you, don't come for my man." The approval and encouragement from country music titans like Parton and Nelson add credibility to Beyoncé's mission with this record. Not to mention, the structure of this record plays along with the seemingly more common "radio station" host skipping through the tracks. Willie Nelson tends to be our main narrator as we venture into the world of COWBOY CARTER. This structure works on this album and adds to its cohesiveness.
COWBOY CARTER is sonically and thematically layered. The beauty and genius behind this record is that you can take what you want from it. It has country bops, some beautiful ballads, experimental moments, and layered samples and moments that are more profound than they present. A lot is happening here. It's music you can dance to, but also music that makes you think. This album recognizes an emerging trend within the industry of not allowing preconceived notions of genre to limit an artist's creative expression.
“Genres are a funny little concept, aren't they? In theory, they have a simple definition that's easy to understand, but in practice, well, some may feel confined.”. - Linda Martell, on the intro of Spaghetti
COWBOY CARTER is about genre and borrowing from her influences. It's not limited to any genre but primarily rooted in country, just not the familiar tropes of country radio and the Nashville machine of good beer, dirt roads, and blue jeans. However, moments on this record still feel adjacent to that Top 40 sound. Lead single Texas Hold' Em proves that Beyoncé can make a fun country song or take Post Malone collaboration Levii's Jeans. For most of this record, Beyonce pivots and advances the country music genre to create a distinctive listening experience. Linda Martell explicitly discusses this idea in her interlude into Motown-inspired YA YA. The track delivers on its promise of being a unique listening experience stretching across familiar sounds within genres but not limited to any sound. It opens with a sample of Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Were Made for Walking and includes a sample from the Beach Boys Good Vibrations. Beyonce's boots were made for walking all over American music history. Outside this song, she samples Fleetwood Mac's Landslide on a duet with Miley Cyrus, II Most Wanted. Elsewhere, she turns even more into a historian to bring classic American artists like Chuck Berry, Patsy Cline, and Roy Hamilton into this record.
Beyonce's artistry shines through on this record, a seamless blend of many different sounds. Based in the country, it has moments of opera, gospel, trap, blues, soul, British invasion via the Beatles, and house music. She even goes on to invent and introduce all new music material. A piece of Celtic-house music on Riverdance, fiddle-trap on Tyrant, and spaghetti hip-hop on Spaghetti. This is hands down one of the most creative records we've heard in recent memory. It should be chronicled as a Great American Record because it beautifully canvasses many historical music moments.
Check out our favorite tracks, listen to the album, and see our scores below:
Can’t Miss: Texas Hold ‘Em, Bodyguard, Jolene, II Hand II Heaven
You Can Skip: Just For Fun, Sweet Honey Buckin
BY THE NUMBERS
Please note we removed a couple of the short interludes because while they do add to the record, it felt weird to give a spoken interlude a rating and bring the averages down
Bennett’s Score: 7.65
Carson’s Score: 7.78
Album Score: 15.43
Beyonce lands in the Top 5!
Notes from Bennett:
Beyoncé Is about to have the best three-album run of all time. Highlighting how black musicians have been marginalized within genres for decades, doing that genre better than anybody right now, and then critiquing how the genre is constructed and how the construction limits artistry. Totally up my alley.
As for this record. yeah. we streaming.
The harmonies on Ameriican Requiem are insane to me. I know that the vocal engineer here got PAID. absolutely wild, and deserves consideration for mixing & mastering Grammys for this mix alone.
What in the genre?!?! DAUGHTER ??!?! She singing in Italian?!?!? HUH
The features on this album are - weird at times. Willie Jones was strange to me, but good. I think beyonce just outshines people easily. (see Post Malone’s feature)
Miley ATE on II Most Wanted, really enjoy this tune. Sounds healing, what America needs
I JUMPED when I heard the bass on DESERT EAGLE - to be fair, I thought it was legendary bass king Thundercat, it ended up being someone doing their best Thundercat impression.
“D.A. GOT THAT DOPE.”
Pharrell Moment, SWEET HONEY BUCKIN , super weird, not super enjoyable for me here, unorganized but in the name of anti-genre so, cool?
Notes from Carson:
Where do I even start… really enjoying this record. Not necessarily because of the music being good but just because it’s so interesting. There is so much here to unpack!
BODYGUARD is an absolute career highlight from her in my opinion. It’s such a gorgeous, springtime track that really works for me. I also can’t unhear Taylor Swift doing background vocals even though it was confirmed to be fake.
Legitimately think you could write a whole dissertation on this album. This is why Beyonce is the best in the game is because her music is just so creative and causes so much dissection and conversation.
DAUGHTER is off-putting on first bc why is she singing in opera but is actually a gorgeous song.
This album made me like appreciate music that came out pre-2005. Which is big.
The only “misses” from me on this are the songs with Shaboozey and Spaghetti. Some of the lyrics are corny “At the snap of my fingers, I'm Thanos, da-na, da-na”
Are you Lobsessed with Pop Lobster? Hit subscribe below or share with a friend!
Here is our all-time top albums featured on Pop Lobster.
Funk Wav Bounces, Vol 1 | Calvin Harris | Score: 16.60
GUTS | Olivia Rodrigo | Score: 16.33
Speak Now | Taylor Swift | Score: 15.68
1989 | Taylor Swift | Score 15.67
**COWBOY CARTER | Beyoncé | Score: 15.43**
SOS | SZA | Score 15.22
Heaven knows | PinkPantheress | Score: 14.85
eternal sunshine | Ariana Grande | Score: 14.69
the record | boygenius | Score: 14.48
Lover | Taylor Swift | Score: 14.42
AUSTIN | Post Malone | Score: 14.41
Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd | Lana Del Rey | Score: 14.38
Deeper Well | Kacey Musgraves | Score: 14.36
Sunburn | Dominic Fike | Score: 14.33
Zach Bryan / Zach Bryan | Score: 14.19
Midnights | Taylor Swift | Score 14.09
Endless Summer Vacation | Miley Cyrus | Score: 14.00
Unreal Unearth | Hozier | Score: 14.00
In The End It Always Does | The Japanese House | Score: 13.92
Prelude To Ecstacy | The Last Dinner Party | Score: 13.92
Barbie: The Album | Various Artists | Score: 13.88
Jaguar II | Victoria Monet | Score: 13.82
Gag Order | Kesha | Score: 13.77
The Age of Pleaure | Janelle Monáe | Score: 13.21
Snow Angel | Reneé Rapp | Score: 13.00
UTOPIA | Travis Scott | Score: 12.79
The Album | Jonas Brothers | Score: 12.67
I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet | Del Water Gap | Score: 12.58
Bewitched | Laufey | Score: 12.50
THE FIRST TIME | The Kid Laroi | Score: 12.47
Stick Season | Noah Kahan | Score: 12.43
The Show | Niall Horan | Score: 11.42
For All The Dogs | Drake | Score: 11.35
American Dream | 21 Savage | Score: 11.33
Scarlet | Doja Cat | Score: 11.24
WE DON’T TRUST YOU | Future & Metro Boomin | Score: 11.06
World Music Radio | Jon Batiste | Score: 11.05
Pink Friday 2 | Nicki Minaj | Score: 10.67
COMING HOME | Usher | Score: 9.55