Beyoncé is many things, first and foremost an artist. But Cowboy Carter also proves that she’s a historian. Previously, the singer said feeling unwelcome in the genre prompted her to do “a deeper dive into the history of Country music and [study] our rich musical archive.” Now that the album is out, a Parkwood Entertainment press release describes it as “dismantling accepted false norms about Americana culture. It pays homage to the past, honoring musical pioneers in Country, Rock, Classical, and Opera.” The homage, as it turns out, is not just limited to music—apparently, Bey also was inspired by and paid homage to American filmmakers like Martin Scorsese on the album, too.
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According to that Parkwood press release, each song on Cowboy Carter “is its own version of a reimagined Western film.” While recording, Beyoncé reportedly had a screen in the studio to play films like Five Fingers For Marseilles, Urban Cowboy, The Hateful Eight, Space Cowboys, The Harder They Fall, and Killers Of The Flower Moon. Further:
“Some aspects of the percussion were inspired by the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, where it was more Bluegrass. This body of work undulates from singing cowboy and Blaxploitation to Spaghetti westerns and fantasy with Beyoncé weaving between personal experiences, honoring Black history, to exaggerated character building. The limited-edition vinyl depicts a microphone in the shape of a gun a la Thelma and Louise running from the law, but the gun is invisible, hyper exaggerated reality.”
Beyoncé’s country pivot already had the support of fans before its release; the Beyhive fought to get her singles played on country radio, and she ultimately became the first Black female artist to have a #1 on the Country Billboard chart. She’s also been supported by fellow artists, like Dolly Parton, whose dream of having the Grammy winner cover “Jolene” finally came true with Cowboy Carter. (Parton introduces the song on the album with a reference to Lemonade’s “Sorry”: “You know, that hussy with the good hair you sang about reminded me of someone I knew back when….”)
In addition to Parton, the album features “musical contributions” from Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Post Malone, Jon Batiste, Rhiannon Giddens, Nile Rodgers, Robert Randolph, Gary Clark, Jr., Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, Shaboozey, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, and Miley Cyrus. The latter posted about their duet II Most Wanted on social media, writing, “I’ve loved Beyonce since long before I had the opportunity to meet & work with her. My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created along side of her. Thank you Beyonce. You’re everything & more. Love you. To everyone who spent time making this song so special thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
As has been rumored, Beyoncé had this supersized, history-rich country record locked and loaded for years before pulling the trigger. “This album took over five years,” she says in the Parkwood press release. “It’s been really great to have the time and the grace to be able to take my time with it. I was initially going to put Cowboy Carter out first, but with the pandemic, there was too much heaviness in the world. We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance. But I had to trust God’s timing.”