Beyoncé's “Cowboy Carter'' is not a recycled album. Rather, it's a declaration of the place black people have always held in country music, and a middle finger to the industry gatekeepers who are trying to keep us out.
Bey makes this clear in the first song, “American Requim.” The album's theme, she sings, is, “Plant your bare feet on solid ground for all these years/They ain't, you don't know how much I've had to struggle for this.” I sing.
Beyoncé is also American. She also embodies the countryside.
She spends the next 26 songs challenging, fusing, and twisting the boundaries that Nashville, Tennessee has placed on the genre. After all, she told us: “This is not a country album.” This is a Beyoncé album. ”
“She's doing very deliberate work to say this is my critique, my analysis, my understanding, my lived experience as a black woman in America,” said journalist Taylor Crampton. We talked about the lead track for this week's episode. “I know that's right.”
“When you first hear it, you feel like she's the Statue of Liberty and we're seeing America through her eyes.”
But it's over the heads of many people.
Among them: Washington Post reporter Chris Richards calling the album a “failure” and claiming Beyoncé made “an album about award shows,” and Azealia Banks criticizing Bey cosplaying as a white woman. This includes claiming that Bey's foray into country music was “calculated”, and Lily Allen calling Bey's foray into country music “calculated.” In particular, it was a cover of Dolly Parton's classic hit “Jolene.” (Never mind the fact that Parton asked Beyoncé to cover it.)
As she pointed out in an Instagram post ahead of Cowboy Carter's release, the prejudice behind these opinions is what led the global superstar to make the album in the first place.
But what the naysayers miss is that Bay wasn't trying to win back lost awards, gimmick, or appeal to a broader fan base. She made this album to revisit a genre that has tried to deny her black contributions. She stands on the shoulders of artists like Linda Martel, Leslie Riddle, and many others, while raising the profile of a younger generation of black country artists like Tanner Adele and Shabouzy.
Crampton noted that while Bey made history as the first black woman to reach the No. 1 spot on Billboard's country songs chart, she wasn't the only one. If the industry in this country knew what was best, she would rise to the challenge set by Beyoncé and lift up more black artists.
Beyoncé had nothing to prove with this album. She's not trying to be something she's not. She just doesn't fit the mold of what you think someone should be.
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