Music / Cowboy Carter

"This ain't a country album. This is a "Beyoncé" album."

Looka there, looka in my hand
The grandbaby of a moonshine man
Gadsden, Alabama
Got folk down in Galveston, rooted in Louisiana
Used to say I spoke "too country"
And the rejection came, said I wasn't "country 'nough"
Said I wouldn't saddle up, but
If that ain't country, tell me what is

— "AMERIICAN REQUIEM"

Cowboy Carter (also known as act ii: Cowboy Carter or ACT II: BEYINCÉ on limited edition pressings) is the eighth studio album by American singer Beyoncé, released on March 29, 2024. It is the second installment of her three-act project which began with Renaissance released July of 2022.

The album was first teased on February 11, 2024 during Super Bowl LVIII with her "Can't B Broken" commercial created in partnership with Verizon. That same night, the lead singles "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" and "16 CARRIAGES" were released. The singles were a noticeable departure from much of the singer's past work, seeing Beyoncé embrace Country Music for the first time since "Daddy Lessons" from 2016's Lemonade.

In a message commemorating the ten-day countdown ahead of the album's release, Beyoncé explains that Cowboy Carter was born from an experience where she was made to feel uncomfortable. The experience in question was the backlash the singer received for her performance of "Daddy Lessons" at the 2016 Country Music Awards with The Chicks. Many country fans felt that the singer "did not belong" at the ceremony because she wasn't a primarly country artist; for others, their reasoning for her not belonging was because she was Black. The country music industry is notoriously difficult for Black artists to break into. The backlash inspired Beyoncé to research the origins of country music, leading to the creation of Cowboy Carter.

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Tracklist (digital edition)

1. "AMERIICAN REQUIEM"
2. "BLACKBIIRD" (featuring Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, and Tiera Kennedy)
3. "16 CARRIAGES"
4. "PROTECTOR" (featuring Rumi Carter)
5. "MY ROSE"
6. "SMOKE HOUR ★ WILLIE NELSON" (featuring Willie Nelson)
7. "TEXAS HOLD 'EM"
8. "BODYGUARD"
9. "DOLLY P"
10. "JOLENE"
11. "DAUGHTER"
12. "SPAGHETTII" (featuring Linda Martell and Shaboozey)
13. "ALLIIGATOR TEARS"
14. "SMOKE HOUR II" (featuring Willie Nelson)
15. "JUST FOR FUN" (featuring Willie Jones)
16. "II MOST WANTED" (featuring Miley Cyrus)
17. "LEVII'S JEANS" (featuring Post Malone)
18. "FLAMENCO"
19. "THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW"
20. "YA YA"
21. "OH LOUISIANA"
22. "DESERT EAGLE"
23. "RIIVERDANCE"
24. "II HANDS II HEAVEN"
25. "TYRANT"
26. "SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN'" (featuring Shaboozey)
27. "AMEN"

Singles

1. "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" / "16 CARRIAGES"
2. "II MOST WANTED"

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Lay your tropes down, down, down, down!

• Alternate Album Cover: The limited edition cover of the album features a nude Beyoncé with beaded braids, holding a smoking gun, and covered only by the album's sash. Instead of bearing the album's title as it does on the standard edition cover, the sash reads "act ii: BEYINCÉ."
• Animal Motifs: Horses, continuing from Act I.
  • Beyoncé once again appears atop a horse on the album's cover. This time, it is a live horse mid-gallop. According to her Parkwood team, this horse is named "Chardonneigh."
• Beware the Nice Ones: Beyoncé establishes herself as her man's bodyguard in "BODYGUARD" and warns any woman who may be trying to court him to stay away in "JOLENE." In "DAUGHTER," it seems Jolene paid no heed to her warning and found out the hard way...
• Breaking Old Trends: Cowboy Carter marks the first time Beyoncé has released an album whose title wasn't a singular word (or number) since I Am... Sasha Fierce's release fifteen years prior.
• Changing Yourself for Love: In "ALLIIGATOR TEARS," Beyoncé explains that along with doing anything to keep her man, including converting.
  You say change religion
  Now I spend Sundays with you
• The Cover Changes the Meaning: The singer in the original version of "Jolene" is pleading with the titular beauty to not come between her and her man. In Beyoncé's version, the singer is warning Jolene of violence that might come to her if she tries to break up the singer's marriage.
• Cover Version: As mentioned above, "JOLENE" is a repurposed cover of the Dolly Parton original. "BLACKBIIRD" is also a cover of The Beatles' song of the same name.
• Cowboy: Beyoncé wholeheartedly embraces this aesthetic for this album. On the album's cover, she appears dressed similarly to a rodeo queen atop her horse.
• Crocodile Tears: "ALLIIGATOR TEARS" explores Beyoncé acknowledging how her partner's manipulation changes the way that she acts.
• Eagle Land: As there's more to this album than "Country" as a genre, it's Beyonce looking at the country itself and the culture that shaped it.
• Fading into the Next Song: Just as its predecessor, Cowboy Carter possesses several songs like this.
  • "DOLLY P" —> "JOLENE"
  • "YA YA" —> "OH LOUISIANA"
  • "RIIVERDANCE" —> "II HANDS II HEAVEN"
• Fake Radio Show Album: The "Smoke Hour" interludes with Willie Nelson make the album feel like this.
• Genre Mashup: The album is built around the reclamation of Country as a genre with Black roots, but it also incorporates a plethora of other genres: Gospel, Folk, Rock & Roll, Southern Rap, Funk, and Jersey club. As Beyoncé herself explained, Cowboy Carter isn't a country album, it's a Beyoncé album.
  • On "SPAGHETTII," Linda Martell says this:
    "Genres are a funny little concept, aren't they? Yes, they are. In theory, they have a simple definition that's easy to understand, but in practice, well, some may feel confined."
• Let's Duet: Cowboy Carter features three duets:
  • "JUST FOR FUN" with country singer Willie Jones.
  • "II MOST WANTED" with Miley Cyrus.
  • "LEVII'S JEANS" with Post Malone.
• Meaningful Name: The name Beyincé^note pronounced the name as the "Beyoncé" spelling—featured on the limited edition cover—is the original form of the singer's name which was her mother Tina's maiden name which was misspelled by the hospital. Tina explained that her mother (Beyoncé's grandmother) attempted to have it fixed but was told by the clerk that she should be grateful they received a certificate at all because they were Black.
• Mood Whiplash: "SPAGHETTII" is a boisterous Southern rap track placed fitted between the morbid "DAUGHTER" and the sobering "ALLIIGATOR TEARS."
• Murder the Hypotenuse: "DAUGHTER" implies this to be Jolene's fate.
• Non-Appearing Title:
  • "DAUGHTER"
  • "FLAMENCO"
• Playing Card Motifs: Explored in "TEXAS HOLD 'EM," a song named after the similarly-titled card game.
• Punny Name:
  • KNTRY Radio Texas.
  • The name of Act II's horse, Chardonneigh, is a homophone of the wine Chardonnay.
• Sampling: Just like its predecessor, Cowboy Carter uses a plethora of samples and interpolations:
  • "DAUGHTER" interpolates the aria "Caro Mio Ben."
  • "SPAGHETTII" samples "Aquecimento – Vem Vem Vai Vai" by Dedé Mandrake.
  • "II MOST WANTED" interpolates "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac.
  • "YA YA" samples "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra and interpolates "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys.
  • "OH LOUISIANA" samples Chuck Berry's song of the same name.
  • "II HANDS II HEAVEN" samples "Born Slippy Nuxx" by Underworld.
• Special Guest:
  • Beyoncé's daughter Rumi is featured for her spoken lines on "PROTECTOR."
  • Linda Martell, the first commercially successful Black woman in Country music, appears on "SPAGHETII" where she explains that genres can sometimes be constraining; and "THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW" (named in her honor) where she prepares the listeners for the musical journey that is "YA YA."
  • Willie Nelson serves as the KNTRY Radio Texas host during the "SMOKE HOUR" interludes.
  • Dolly Parton leaves Beyoncé a message "DOLLY P" serving as the prelude to her cover of Parton's own classic song. She appears again on "TYRANT," spurring Cowboy Carter to begin the song.
• Spelling Song: "YA YA" makes it clear that Beyincé was no typo.
• Spoken Word in Music: Linda Martell's, Dolly Parton's, Willie Nelson's, and daughter Rumi's appearances on the album are this.
• Trilogy: This album serves as Act II of Beyoncé's three-act project. She explained it as a continuation of Renaissance.
• WPUN: Willie Nelson serves as the radio personality of KNTRY Radio Texas. This continues the trend of the application of Country Matters started in Renaissance while also acknowledging the shift in acts.
• Yandere: Beyoncé has first hinted at being this in "JOLENE" but "DAUGHTER" takes it up the ante.
  Your body laid on these filthy floors
  Your bloodstains on my custom coutures