On Christmas Day 2024, Beyoncé stunned in her hometown of Houston, Texas. Draped in all white, she set off to perform the first live setlist of her latest album, COWBOY CARTER. Leading up to her performance, discourse surrounding the use of American imagery in promotional material arose. In this performance, Beyoncé utilized many of the images and motifs that have dominated this album cycle. Thus, Beyoncé was seen by some online as egregiously and controversially promoting a nationalistic idea of Americana in the wake of a scorned population following the 2024 Presidential election. Continually, the album, conceived as an exploration of Beyoncé’s familial lineage through the American South, has been critiqued as a blind advertisement for American nationalism. However, beyond the surface, COWBOY CARTER is not just an attempt to portray the experiences of being Black in America’s South, but a collaborative, cultural text that lends itself to being a seminal piece of art.

To accomplish this, COWBOY CARTER has a long credit list. Which to some critics, may indicate a lack of personability and intimacy with the music that Beyoncé claims is integral to the records creation. Although, with features from artists who are key to the history of Country music, such as Linda Martell, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, (and more), span throughout the 27-song tracklist, COWBOY CARTER acknowledges the icons of the past to further uplift the Black country artists of the future. This can be seen in the astronomical success of Shaboozey, who is featured on “SPAGHETTII,” “SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN,” and is most known for his 2024 solo smash “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” The latter became tied for the longest-running number one song of all time on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, running for 19 weeks at the top of the chart.
Dissecting COWBOY CARTER allows you to see the reason why its credits are long — songwriting and music are being used in a form of cultural preservation. COWBOY CARTER sends a reminder through its tracks that contemporary superstars can create albums that are not just meant to be listened to, but intentionally heard. Beyoncé, although notoriously secretive (especially about her current album trilogy), did send a press release alongside the album’s drop, in which she noted that: “the more I see the world evolving the more I felt a deeper connection to purity. With artificial intelligence and digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones. I didn’t want some layers of instruments like strings, especially guitars, and organs perfectly in tune. I kept some songs raw and leaned into folk.” This delicate form of songwriting and composition lends itself to something larger than music, but an attempt to create a cohesive, collaborative, cultural text as a means of preservation. COWBOY CARTER approaches collaboration by using the talents of its assemblers to enrich the sound of the album. The themes presented in COWBOY CARTER’s lyrical and compositional production are uplifted by the contributions of Beyoncé’s collaborators.
Much like her previous projects, such as the 2022 Grammy-Award winning RENAISSANCE, Beyoncé intended to capture a specific cultural moment and movement in American history through COWBOY CARTER. According to the album’s press release, “the character, Cowboy Carter was birth[ed] […] and inspired by the original Black cowboys of the American West.” However, not only focused on the past, COWBOY CARTER goes beyond preserving and exploring the history of Black country music by moving beyond its analysis to paint a clear portrait of what COWBOY CARTER perceives as America’s present.
The intersection between past and present is laid bare for all to hear on COWBOY CARTER. Although Beyoncé drapes herself in the American flag she is not condoning the injustices that are currently being faced in the U.S. Rather, COWBOY CARTER assembles giants and new voices from Black country and similar genres to illustrate the intergenerational nature of racism, discrimination, and political corruption. COWBOY CARTER sets itself apart from other contemporary releases through not only honouring its predecessors and the history of its genres, but incorporating them thematically and sonically to preserve their sound and message.
One Response
Just awesome and historic in theme. True and real.