"BREAKING NEWS: New York journalist discovers new genre of music called "country" due to the release of Beyonce's new record "Cowboy Carter"."It came unexpected, when pop superstar Beyoncé announced her new album at the 2024 Super Bowl event. It caused huge excitement among the pop artist's fans (who call themselves the Beyhive). At the same time, however, the advance release of the first two songs from the project ('Texas Hild 'Em' and '16 Carriages') gave rise to bewilderment and speculation. Did mega-pop star Beyoncé really make a country album or is it all just part of a marketing plan?
Only 10 days before the release of the project, she wrote on her Instagram page (with a most likely reference to her performance at the Country Music Association [CMA] Awards 2016 with The Chicks): "This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive."
So Beyoncé did indeed get involved with country music! Although as with her previous project ("Rennaisance"), it is once again her central concern to specifically address the role of women artists of color.
She says: "I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant."
Beyoncé's painful, personal rejection suffered at the 2016 CMA Awards is probably not entirely unreasonable because of her ethnic origins. Although the emergence of country music, like that of rock 'n' roll later on, is closely linked to the music of black artists, the commercialization of music in the 1920s led to labels promoting music made by-blacks-for-blacks as race music and those made by-whites-for-whites as hillbilly music.
It was the assumption, that by doing so, music could be more easily marketed and sold to the respective audience. It did not only play into the hands of legal racial segregation, but also created an entrenched system in country music early on, in which artists of color did not completely disappear, but remained the exception for a long time to come.
In contrast, rock 'n' roll, both as a rebellious genre as well as in terms of it's audience, was young and open-minded enough not to remain stuck in old patterns in 1964, when racial segregation was finally declared illegal in the USA. Country music was different. Up until the 1990s, there was barely a handful of colored artists in the genre. Among them only Charley Pride, who became one of the most recognized and successful stars of the genre from the late 1960s to the 1980s.
However, it is also important to note that rejection in Nashville did not necessarily always have to do with skin color. Well-known artists such as John Denver and Olivia Newton-John also endured contempt and rejection. They were denied recognition because they simply did not grow up musically in Nashville.
"Cowboy Carter" primarily sparks a discussion about the inclusivity of country music in the USA. It triggers long articles about the role of (or lack of) black artists in the development of the genre and the question why, despite the important influence on its roots, so few traces have remained in the end. But also about Nashville's elitism and its historical closedness to artists from other genres.
Apart from that, the release of "Cowboy Carter" strikes another important bell! After all Beyoncé is probably the biggest pop star in the world right now (next to Taylor Swift). So when she makes a musical statement, global audiences are listening. And thereby drawing country music into the worldwide conversation.
A goal that the country music industry and its biggest stars have been struggling with more or less unsuccessfully for decaded. It makes it all the more bizarre that a colored female artist from another genre achieves it quite casually with the surprise release of an album.
Because suddenly music journalists are foreced to deal with a genre that they traditionally prefer to avoid. As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, it now requires them to take a serious look at the genre. In other words: the output has to be more than just superficial satire, as has typically been the case so far! After all it has to do something with respect, that someone like Beyoncé at the peak of her career rightfully deserves.
Unfortunately, this becomes something of a radical challenge for many. Until now, people hardly knew how to pronounce the name of the genre and whether Western was still part of it or not. In the rare cases in which country was being talked about, media quickly resorted to overloading it with clichés, prejudices and ignorance as quickly as possible and kicking it back into its dark and dirty corner!
After the predominantly positive international reviews surrounding Beyoncé's new project, it also means for the media landscape over here that it is no longer enough to simply argue with the genre for justifying a scathing review. Not everyone will succeed however. Some will remain on their high horse for pure simplicity.
A narrow-minded attitude, that had already appalled Garth Brooks at this press conferences in the 1990s and was probably an important reason why he has never set foot on European soil again (apart from Ireland).
A first example of the positive Beyoncé effect of suddenly wanting to deal with the topic can already be seen in the commendable attempt of the Generation Sound - FM4 podacst. Under the title "Can Beyoncé make country cool?", moderator Christoph Sepin talks to black Beyoncé fan Daliah Ahmed about the fact, whether "country is as uncool as you think".
Unfortunately, the hope of an informative and enlightening conversation quickly gave way to disillusionment, lead by lack of knowledge. It's quite understandable when a Beyoncé fan confidently admits that she hasn't heard any country before and therefore has no idea about it. Instead it is commendable when she signals openness for exposing herself to it.
At the same time it does not feel authentic when putting forward arguments of racism and over the top national pride quoted from others in order to explain the personal lack of contact with the genre.
Moderator Christoph Sepin at least knows Johnny Cash. And by doing so is probably no different from 99% of the population outside of North America. After all, there is even a movie about him and his name can be found on many a T-shirt. However, one would expect a little more research in preparation for a public podcast. But the only other contribution was a quote about country music from a music scientist.
Consequently, the discussion of the genre remained amateurish. All that was done, was to go back 100 years to talk about the banjo and the Carter Family as the first commercially successful country group from the 1920s. An incredibly long swing without ever beginning to complete the circle. Artist names from the country genre of the 21st century remain totally unmentioned. Is it to avoid overwhelming the audience or simply the personal lack of preparation?
And no, there was no mass exodus from country music just because Taylor Swift officially decided to make pop music a few years back. And Lil Nas X never really wanted to make country music, but rather make himself a quick name and gain some commercial success.
Eventually both presenters seemed to be totally at loss as to why so many (pop) artists suddenly want to do country. It's as if they are racking their brains as to why so many car companies are suddenly producing electric cars. Seriously?
Even for total beginners, the simplest answer still is that the music industry continues to be about commercial success. "Country music was one of 2023's fastest growing streaming genres in the U.S., according to industry data firm Luminate, with country on-demand audio streams exceeding 20 billion, a 23.7 percent increase over the prior year.," noted Newsweek, for example.
So the real question is not so much why pop stars want to do country, but rather why country stars are suddently so successful on the pop charts? According to Billboard Magazine, Morgan Wallen was the commercially most successful musician in the United States in 2023. In addition to him, artists such as Zach Bryan, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Hardy, Lainey Wilson and Chris Stapleton were other key reasons for country's crossover success last year. All this makes the genre naturally also more attractive to pop artists.
Triggered by a personal experience, Beyoncé dives into the genre of country music on "Cowboy Carter": "The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work."
Of course, she describes her project as hers and not belonging to any particular genre. That way she takes the wind out of the sails of any critic who might want to critizice her for not following any possible genre rules.
"This ain’t a Country album. This is a 'Beyoncé' album."
While the media landscape over here has successfully convinced audiences for decades how uncool country is, one crucial element in the system has changed and gives hope: namely the way music is consumed today.
With the possibilites of streaming, anyone interested in music no longer has to rely on radio stations or opinion-setting music critics, but can get their own fill of musical tastes at any time. And it can be assumed that more and more music fans are increasingly taking advantage of this independence.
Which in the end makes "Cowboy Carter" not only an enabler-project, but potentially the most important album of the last 30 years for (the global recognition and acceptance of) country music!
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