Beyoncé winning the Grammy for Album of the Year has been a source of controversy since the award was handed to her. Beyoncé’s country album, “Cowboy Carter,” is the artist’s first shift into the country genre, a shift that has been faced with a lot of backlash. So many times have I heard that the album is “a fake country album” and that it did not deserve the Grammy. The question still stands, did Beyoncé, the most celebrated artist in Grammy history, deserve this Grammy? Yes, she did.
Beyoncé’s eighth studio album contrasts heavily from her other albums, which are prominently pop and R&B albums. While “Cowboy Carter” is a country album, it also blends the Americana, pop, blues, folk, classic rock, hip hop, R&B, zydeco, psychedelic soul, funk, gospel, bluegrass, opera, honky-tonk and go-go genres. Many of these genres being styles originated from African Americans and music that Beyoncé listened to while growing up in Texas. The album uses a variety of different instruments in the album ranging from the acoustic guitar, banjo, accordion, organ, fiddle, and the ukulele. The variety mirrors the different genres Beyoncé mixes in her album. She also uses sounds commonly associated with the country genre like horseshoe steps, boot stomps, and handclaps. In the song “RIIVERDANCE,” there is even a guest appearance of Beyoncé’s nails as percussion.
In reference to the discourse about her shift in genre, Beyoncé’s first track on the album, “AMERIICAN REQUIEM,” begins with the lines: “It’s a lot of talkin’ goin’ on, While I sing my song.’” It’s true, many were not accepting of the shift, including the 2024 CMA Awards where the singer was not nominated for any awards, despite being the first black woman to have a number-one single on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart.
Many artists, including Post Malone and Lana Del Rey, transitioned to making country music around the same time as Beyoncé, so why is she the only one facing as much backlash as she is? Could it be how she mixes different styles different from country in the album? Could it be blatant racism? I think it could go either way.
The title of the album is based on a character Beyoncé Knowles-Carter made for herself who is inspired by the original cowboys, who were black. Beyoncé explains in an interview for the press release of the album that “The word cowboy itself was used in a derogatory way to describe the former slaves as ‘boys’, who were the most skilled and had the hardest jobs of handling horses and cattle, alike.” Black cowboys have been effectively erased from the portrayals and Beyoncé spreads awareness to the black cowboys through her album. Beyoncé’s history lesson to listeners does not end just with the title. Her usage of diverse genres originating from African Americans honors their roots which have been forgotten as the media directs the genres to a primarily white audience.
Beyoncé’s country album, “Cowboy Carter” represents black history in America through music and lyrics and is deserving of the title Album of the Year.
