A world-renowned pop artist, winning Grammy after Grammy as each year passes jumps out with a surprise to shock the whole nation with a new country album.
If it is not public news already, Beyonce has released a new country album called CowBoy Carter. The album primarily consists of covers of songs, such as Jolene by Dolly Parton and American Requiem by James Carroll, just to name a few, as tribute to pioneering country artists. When news of this album was released, many fans were skeptical, and it is sad to say that most were disappointed.
Many forms of social media, such as TikTok, make fun of the music or talk about how they dislike this new era of Beyonce. These criticisms led to Beyonce announcing on her Apple Music description that she does not consider this album a country album but instead a ‘Beyonce’ album, implying that this album reveals a raw side of herself that she has not seen before. She also quotes Linda Martell with, “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they?”
The most popular song on this new album is “Texas Hold Em,” which has circulated through TikTok, Instagram, and all aspects of Pop culture. It is an apparent spotlight on Beyonce’s newfound liberation in the country genre. Many reviews of this song are that it is annoying, and not many people take it seriously. However, it is a good song for what it is. Another song that gained a lot of traction, was her cover of “Jolene,” originally by Dolly Parton. A line that stood out was when Dolly would say,‘Please don’t come for my man,’ and Beyonce modified it to say, ‘I’m warning you, don’t come for my man.’ This change caused an uproar in the pop culture community because many people laughed at Beyonce’s husband Jay Z’s objectively attractive looks. Besides the drama, this song did not stand out, considering it was a complete cover of another artist’s work. Thus far, the album was turning out to be mid, however, there is one song on the album that I liked. The song “ 16 Carriages” was essentially Beyonce reflecting on her younger life and being very vulnerable with her audience. In this song, Beyonce indeed shows her fans how much emotion and passion she has had for this album, despite many thinking she just made this album as a money grab and to stay relevant. It has a catchy tune and beat, but still, the song will not make it onto my playlist. Overall, this album is not one I will find myself listening to again, but it is not terrible, and I think die-hard Beyonce fans are still satisfied with this release.
