When Beyoncé released the songs “Texas Hold’em” and “16 Carriages” without warning in February, she made history.
The former made her the first black female artist to top the US country charts. At the time of writing, “Texas Hold’em” has almost 212 million plays on Spotify since 11 February.
The week before, the pop artist had appeared at the Grammys wearing a white cowboy hat. It was a clear hint to her eighth studio album, which was launched on the night of Good Friday
COUNTRY ROADS: The pop artist’s eighth album sets out on new country roads. After the first single was released in February, interest in cowboy-inspired fashion has skyrocketed across the world.
Photo: AP
The 27 new songs are part two of Beyoncé’s three-part “Renaissance” project. The first album came in 2022.
– I have been looking forward to this album like a child on Christmas Eve. So it’s a holy day in other words, says artist, songwriter and Beyoncé expert Lise Mæland to NRK.
Country as a music genre, despite an enormous preponderance of white artists, also has roots in black culture. But Beyoncé has been clear on Instagram beforehand:
“This is not a country album, but a Beyoncé album.”
– I stand behind that, says Adiele Helen Krüger Arukwe to NRK.
She is a journalist at Musikkrommet and a DJ, as well as former music manager at P3, and so far has a good first impression of the album.
– It is difficult to speak objectively, but personally I think it suits her very well. I think it’s cool that she has put so much of her own touch in the songs.
Appears with greetings
“Cowboy Carter” contains, among other things, a cover of Dolly Parton’s well-known “Jolene” from 1977.
There have long been rumors that “Jolene” would appear in some form on the album. Now it turns out that Dolly Parton herself has a guest appearance in one of the songs.
Dolly Parton has read an introduction to one of the songs. Artists such as Willie Nelson, Miley Cyrus and Post Malone also feature on the album.
Photo: Wade Payne/AP
For fans of The Beatles, another song will also sound familiar. The album’s second track is a cover song of Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird” from 1968.
Mæland, known under the stage name “Melis”, currently highlights “Protector”, “Riiverdance” and “Levii’s Jeans” as favourites. As a blood fan, she certainly emphasizes that she is extremely incompetent.
– I love everything she does, no matter what she comes up with. Although I frowned a little at some choices she has made. I would, for example, wish she had toned down the cover version of Blackbird a bit, and not filled it up with ten thousand choruses, she says.
– But at the same time: She is Beyoncé. I love that she settles in without “asking for permission”.
Wasn’t played at first
“Texas Hold’em” has topped Billboard’s country chart for six consecutive weeks. But despite the smash success, it took time for American country stations to join the wave.
Country music is very popular in the United States, with over 2,100 radio stations dedicated to the genre.
However, on the first day after its release, only eight of 150 radio stations reporting their playlists to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart played the song. Only one played it more than twice, while “16 Carriages” was not heard at all.
An Oklahoma radio station has come under fire for refusing to play Beyoncé’s new music because “they’re a country music station.” They later explained to Today that they did not know about the song.
– Genre is fluid
Beyoncé received a lot of flak when she released her first country-inspired track in 2016. After performing “Daddy Lessons” with The Chicks at the Country Music Association Awards, comments were flooded with negative comments.
The song was also rejected by the country committee for the Grammy Awards, and also did not appear much on country stations in the US that year.
Krüger Arukwe believes the discussion about whether the album is really a country album has gone a bit far.
– Genres are fluid, and they flow into each other. In order for them to develop further, it requires musicians to expand the concept of genre and interpret it in new and unique ways.
Krüger Arukwe is a DJ and former editor-in-chief at P3, but is currently a journalist at Musikkrommet.
Photo: Madeleine Delp Bergsjø
At the same time, country as a genre has a lot of culture mixed in, she says.
– Beyoncé has deep roots in the southern states. Now it must be said that she is also an artist at such a high level, and all such artists explore widely in different directions to reach a wider audience.
Lise Mæland believes that the artist’s career is so stable that the album is not dependent on good reception from absolutely all quarters.
– She rests well in herself and does what she feels like. And maybe that’s also why every time she releases something new, she becomes a guide when it comes to breaking rules and patterns, says Mæland.
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