The people, songs, and history behind Beyonces Americana odyssey.
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Beyoncedid warn us.Cowboy Carteris bigger than a country album its a Beyonce album.
She didnt do it alone.
That all makes for a Texas-size list of things to unpack.
As you two-step throughCowboy Carter, these are the big names and the musical references to know.
.Who got invited to the hoedown?
, which is what Duke Ellington told him.
I really believe that is our generations role, led by a few artists willing to take this leap.
Her most recent album,The Otherside, came out in 2020.
My brain and heart have melted, shesaid on Instagramof working with Beyonce.
I always say Beyonce raised me, shewrote on Instagramafter.
Beyonce taught me how to be soft but strong.
A force of nature.
(Shes also been touring with fellowCowboy Carterguest Willie Nelson.)
Spencer has cited Beyonce as an influence andsaidthat her releasing a country album was mind-blowing and monumental.
She released her debut albumMy Stupid Lifein January.
I cannot believe it.
God is so good, shetweetedof her feature onCowboy Carter.
She wanted to do something with some playing, with some country fire, RandolphtoldRolling Stone.
She said she liked the way I make my instrument sound like a singer.
Randolph also plays steel on Ya Ya.
(Lets hope Sir gets his spotlight onAct III.)
The fellow Texas native previouslyperformedwith Beyonce in 2015, for the Grammys tribute concert to Stevie Wonder.
As a major figure in outlaw country, Nelson knows all about breaking out of the industrys boundaries.
(He also knows all about weed, hence the titles of his interludes, Smoke Hour.)
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Im here.
Once Beyonce picks up the banjo, my job is done, shetold theBelieverlast year.
Linda Martell
Beyonce has saidCowboy Carteris not a country album.
Its a Beyonce album.
Genres are a funny little concept, arent they?
Yes they are, she says at the beginning of Spaghettii,Cowboy Carters 180-degree turn into Southern trap.
Shaboozey
Nigerian-American musician Shaboozey is a little country, a little hip-hop, and a little rock.
Fittingly, he ad-libs on Spaghettii,Cowboy Carters Southern rap interlude.
He later reappears to drop a full verse on Sweet Honey Buckiin.
It dont matter what nobody says / Country boy til the day that Im dead, he raps.
LIFE NOT EVEN REAL RN!!!
YALL CANT TELL ME NUN!!!!
He started his career onX-Factorin 2012, and released his latest albumSomething to Dance Toin 2023.
Is it country, R&B, or soul / Hip-hop or funk or even rock and roll?
/ Dont bother answerin or care to choose, he sings on his 2021 song Country Soul.
for the Stand Up to Cancer telethon.
My admiration runs so much deeper now that Ive created alongside of her.
Sarasaidon an Instagram Story that they recorded a month or so ago, between tour stops with their band.
He also plays piano on Ameriican Requiem.
.Whats on the jukebox?
Blackbird, the Beatles
So whats a Beatles cover doing on Beyonces Americana album?
13 on the pop chart, despite the eras musical segregation.
Jolene, Dolly Parton
Beyonce updates Dolly Pssignature revenge song the original Sorry with more modern lyrics.
You dont want this smoke, so shoot your shot with someone else, she sings.
Now, Beyonce and Miley Cyrus seem to interpolate the chord progression on II Most Wanted.
Its one of the albums many nods to Beyonces Louisiana heritage on her mothers side.
.Anything else yall wanna know?
How countryisBeyonce?
(Still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisian, Bey sings later on Jolene.)
No confirmation on that moonshining yet, though.
What was the Chitlin Circuit?
Beyonce first teasedCowboy Carters tracklist with a colorful poster advertising Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin Circuit.
(Its named after chitlins, a soul food dish of pig intestines that originates from slave cooking.)
Beyonce goes on to reference Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin Circuit on Ya Ya.
A post shared by Beyonce (@beyonce)
What other styles of music are onCowboy Carter?
Did the album have other country influences?
According to a press release, Beyonce was heavily inspired by western films while makingCowboy Carter.
She paired certain films with certain tracks, and would even play some in the studio while recording.
Fittingly, she name-checks western star John Wayne on one of the albums most cinematic cuts, Bodyguard.
What country tropes is Beyonce playing with?
16 Carriages and Bodyguard are classic road songs, while II Most Wanted and Tyrant draw from outlaw imagery.
Guns and whiskey abound on the album too.
This story has been updated throughout.
This story previously identified the yodeler on Smoke Hour * Willie Nelson as Mike Johnson, not Charles Anderson.
