Beyonce took a leap with her musical career at the end of March by releasing her first ever country album “Cowboy Carter.” Despite the general label of “country,” the album meshes various elements of differing musical genres together, making it an undoubtedly unique piece. The step outside of Beyonce’s comfort zone absolutely stunned many of her fans, while simultaneously leaving some dissatisfied with the album.
When it first came out, fans were shocked to see so many features throughout the album, including some of the biggest artists such as Miley Cyrus and Post Malone. In addition to these two big names, there were eight more artists in Beyonce’s songs, each of which bringing completely different elements to their respective songs. Beyonce and Cyrus worked together on “II Most Wanted” to produce a slower vocal masterpiece while her collaboration with Linda Martell and Shaboozey on “Spaghettii” incorporated more of a hip-hop style into the album. The variety of the album ensures that there’s something for everyone, while demonstrating how talented Beyonce is in her ability to dabble in different music genres, succeeding every time.
Unlike most of her previous albums, Beyonce included numerous covers in the album like the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Chuck Berry’s “Louisiana.” While keeping some of the primary elements of each of these songs, Beyonce added her own twist on each piece allowing her to pay her respects to these classics while simultaneously making it her own. Fans had mixed reactions to these covers.
“The amount of covers that Beyonce had in the album was definitely a choice. I think it was cool how she altered some really well-known pieces and kind of made it her own, but at the same time I wish there was more original work from her. I didn’t really like ‘Cowboy Carter’ at first, but it eventually grew on me,” junior Bella Relacion said.
One more element of the album that really stood out to fans when they first heard it was the amount of talking in the songs. Though it’s a common thing that many musical artists have done in the past and continue to do in new productions, it’s something that isn’t super typical for Beyonce, which surprised fans. Some appreciate Beyonce’s testing of new concepts in her work, while others simply don’t see the need for a 20 second clip of Dolly Parton talking and interrupting the musical flow of the album.
Overall, “Cowboy Carter” has provoked a wide variety of reactions with some listeners obsessed and others dissatisfied. Despite the critiques, it’s important to note that this is Beyonce’s first country album and is ought to be flawed in one way or another. Nonetheless, the release of “Cowboy Carter” has brought Beyonce into a new genre of music, only widening her musical horizons further.
