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“Genres are a funny little concept aren’t they?” American country icon Linda Martell muses on a sample on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter, her eighth studio album. As Beyoncé herself has said about this record: it’s not a country album, it’s a Beyoncé album.
Across 27 songs, the musician dips in and out of sounds from a folk and country palette, plays with language and Americana iconography, and creates a seamless landscape that’s both sprawling and focused. Along the way, she pulls in collaborators like Miley Cyrus, Dolly Parton, Willie Jones, Willie Nelson, and Tanner Adell to fill out her world, pairing their voices with an adventurousness and swagger wholly her own.
"The joy of creating music is that there are no rules," Beyoncé said in a press release. "I think people are going to be surprised because I don't think this music is what everyone expects, but it's the best music I've ever made."
To unpack the album, Teen Vogue editors Kaitlyn McNab, Aiyana Ishmael, P. Claire Dodson, Jillian Selzer, and Versha Sharma parked in a group chat and listened through the 27 tracks on Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter together.
P. Claire Dodson, Senior Culture Editor: okay what is your favorite Beyoncé album era
Jillian Selzer, Social Media Manager: i had a visceral reaction to deja vu the first time i heard it so i'm inclined to say B'Day
Jillian: but self-titled came out at a very pivotal time in my life sooooo
Kaitlyn McNab, Culture News Editor: whew that’s hard
Kaitlyn: i know self-titled literally changed the world and everything
Kaitlyn: but 4 and Lemonade changed my life 😭
Jillian: RT to lemonade
Jillian: she was already obviously an icon when it came out, but i specifically remember watching the visual album for it and being like “oh sh*t”
Jillian: it immediately felt like (and is) one of the most monumental musical projects in our lifetime
Kaitlyn: i think that’s the incredible thing about Bey: each project is more monumental than the last
Kaitlyn: it is a life event, every single time
Jillian: do i reflect on my life at specific ages or personal major events? no
Jillian: i track it by beyoncé drops
Versha Sharma, Editor-in-Chief: For me it was probably self-titled until Lemonade which yes, changed everything. I remember being on vacation with friends and just rewatching the visual album on my own on loop lmao.
Versha: And the Formation world tour was just incredible. It was during the 2016 election so have to say being with thousands of people in Queens while Beyoncé stood in front of a giant FEMINIST screen listening to Chimamanda’s voice like the voice of God was everything. It felt like church. One that I’ll always go back to
Aiyana Ishmael, Associate Editor: Lemonade was pivotal tbh I graduated high school when it came out and it was such a moment for me in my life, but Renaissance came at a time where my life was in turmoil so it really was an emotional experience for me! Literally from the moment it came out up until I went to the concert I listened to the album on repeat while at the gym to release the bad juju in my body sksksksk
Claire: i love that
Claire: mine was definitely self-titled, “XO” and the music video shot at coney island changed my brain chemistry
Jillian: not Bey romanticizing coney island
Claire: but also favorite bey era generally is when she was in that movie Obsessed
Claire: i was ~ obsessed ~ with that movie
Claire: alright y'all let's get into it… we have an array of southern representation and varying levels of beyoncé and country music expertise, excited to dive into Cowboy Carter
Jillian: oh my god
Claire: hahah
Jillian: this is spiritual already
Kaitlyn: Ameriican Requiem!!!!!!!!
Aiyana: I love a southern baptist opening
Kaitlyn: DO YOU HEAR ME
Versha: The gospel of Yoncé
Jillian: we're goin to church, y'all
Kaitlyn: this is a funeral song, a warning shot, a cinematic opening for a western epic
Jillian: i feel like we're gearing up to take someone down
Versha: “It’s a lot of chatter in here, but let me make myself clear” was just reading about the 2016 CMAs performance with the Dixie Chicks and this is a great response
Kaitlyn: i can feel the shuddering of all the crusty dusties who dared to tell her she did not belong, it’s in the bass it’s in the tambourine, God
Jillian: "salty tears beyond my gaze" why u cry, yoncé?
Aiyana: It feels like the song that’ll play at the ending of a western movie when the main character, a scorned woman, is walking away from the burning building in her small town that she’s finally moving away from (edited)
Kaitlyn: i actually think it’s the opening
Kaitlyn: Pam Grier in a cowboy hat
Jillian: not to be too on the nose with the album cover, but this is her riding into the battlefield
Versha: “A lot of taking up space” 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡
Jillian: "now is the time to face the wind"
Jillian: she makes me feel so unafraid and unapologetic!!!!
Aiyana: She's speaking to the country Beyoncé nonbelievers
Versha: The Beyoncé battle hymn !!
Aiyana: C*T Awards be scared!!!
Kaitlyn: How dare they second guess her lineage!!! how dare they deny her BIRTHRIGHT
Jillian: i LOVE the callout of people telling her she isn't enough anywhere
Kaitlyn: VINDICATION!!!!!!
Jillian: TELL 'EM
Kaitlyn: my favorite part about the bookends of this album is it is the definition of a reset. Beyoncé has always been the rapture
Aiyana: Pretty house we never settled in, a funeral for the fair weather friends
Aiyana: crying
Jillian: hell yeah kaitlyn
Kaitlyn: She is always the first to touch new earth. HOW?
Kaitlyn: MY GOD. I’m sorry I just—
Aiyana: My sisters!!!
Claire: i loveeeee this grouping
Aiyana: I will say I wish this song were longer and each girl got their own moment, but their harmonizing is wonderful.
Jillian Selzer: harmony game STRONG
Kaitlyn: Agreed A
Jillian: sorry not sorry to the Beatles but every cover i've heard of this song has been inexplicably better than the original
Claire: i teared up so hard when blackbird came on
Claire: a mark of good songwriting!
Kaitlyn: I feel like my only critique for this album is that i wish the Black country artists she tapped got as much time and space as Posty and Dolly and Miley
Claire: yeahhh those are true duets
Kaitlyn: but I also understand that the point is that she alone is enough, just like they are enough
Aiyana: I love the symbolism of using four up and coming black country female artists. “You were only waiting for this moment to arise” feels so pivotal.
Aiyana: This was a lot of the girls first feature and for it to be with Beyoncé is amazing for their careers!
Jillian: it is truly wild that Tanner's debut album just came out months ago, and now she's a feature on what WILL be the biggest album of this decade, century, lifetime
Jillian: the trajectory
Aiyana: brb going to cry in the shower
Kaitlyn: Beyoncé’s production is so cinematic, its a full body experience every single time
Aiyana: Y'all this song is so emotional for me. It reminds me of home and growing up in the south.
Jillian: you feel every song in your BONES
Claire: in context this is very early for this kind of song!
Jillian: aiyana i'm there with you
Aiyana: Lone back road, all those tears I cried. Moving 2,000 miles from the south shaped me lord.
Jillian: i may be stuck in Brooklyn, but even driving down the BQE at sunset with this song blasting brings me back to Texas days
Kaitlyn: a song about fear, but also about letting go of fear by force
Versha: I’m curious if anyone else did square dance in PE or if that was a southern thing
Claire: hahah well so many of us are southerners
Claire: so yes
Kaitlyn: No we sure as hell did that up here too LMAOOO
Versha: Love
Claire: also i love now we have a song about being 38
Aiyana: Only God knows is literally me lord I'm crying again
Versha: Overworked and overwhelmed me
Jillian: there's something so beautiful about bey commenting on how she still struggles to this day
Kaitlyn: this final verse speaks to me on a level that is really hard to even articulate
Jillian: it's humbling, relatable, makes me feel safe and seen
Claire: for ~ legacy ~
Kaitlyn: i’ve been thinking so much about the personal sacrifices my icons make for Black culture
Kaitlyn: and culture PERIOD
Aiyana: The way she sang You'll remember me is so important
Aiyana: I think it speaks to the way Black artists and people as a whole have to push so hard to be valued and immortalized
Kaitlyn: i’ll come back to my legacy point, she returns to it later
Jillian: RUMI
Claire: all the children are getting a grammy
Jillian: she is just so rich in her songwriting
Kaitlyn: this song made me bawl the first time i listened to it. i love my mom. i’m about to bawl right now
Aiyana: This song makes me want to call my grandma right now.
Versha: Tell her!!!!!
Versha: Call them!!!!!!!!
Jillian: not a good day for the b*tches with mommy issues LMAO
Aiyana: Nothing like a praying grandmother + mother to get you through your days. No protection like it for me.
Kaitlyn: I move forward by the sheer propulsion of my grandma and my mom’s faith
Versha: I love her cross age appeal. It’s so powerful for you, it’s so powerful for me in a very different life stage than y'all as a new mom to a daughter
Versha: Literally hugging her tight listening to this feels so special
Jillian: that's the same reason i think of my sister during this song, V
Jillian: she's a new mom and her transformation since her daughter's birth has been magical to watch
Versha: Ahhh I love this for a big sister, too. Mine is also my protector.
Versha: What they say is true - having a baby is like having your heart on the outside of your body
Versha: And watching it run around vulnerable to the world, and you want to protect it every way you can.
Aiyana: Vocally there's no one touching Beyoncé and I love when she shows it
Aiyana: I would love a break down of these vocals layer by layer
Kaitlyn: Never can touch her, never ever will
Aiyana: WILLIE
Jillian: these transitions tracks, man
Jillian: we're on a JOURNEY
Aiyana: It literally feels like we're in a film
Jillian: why do i feel like we're traveling through time
Claire: such a good touch to have willie do radio hour, if you can't change the radio make your own
Versha: I actually saw Willie live in Austin once and it was everything — only thing better would be seeing him live with Bey omg I hope the tour brings us that
Jillian: HERE WE GO Y'ALL
Jillian: LET'S GET TO TWO STEPPIN
Jillian: this ain't texas!!!!! ain't no hold 'em!!!!!!!!
Versha: YEEEEEEHAW
Aiyana: Texas Hold Em was made to ease the non-country loving beyhive into the world
Jillian: i wish y'all could see me dancing and singing at my desk right now
Aiyana: Now, weeks post the single release the girlies are practicing in the backyard with their banjos
Versha: I have already seen non American people line dancing to this song
Aiyana: Jillian how you doing… Miss TEXAS
Jillian: i'm FILLED WITH JOY THANK YOU FOR ASKING
Jillian: this song does something to me in a physical sense
Jillian: i am GROOVIN
Jillian: DON'T BE A B*TCH COME TAKE IT TO THE FLOOR NOW
Aiyana: Reminds me of driving an hour from Miami to Davey, FL to go to the Round Up country bar in high school lol
Jillian: that's iconic, A
Aiyana: I also would go to the chili cook off in Miami!
Kaitlyn: I LOVE THIS SONGGGLKGJASLGJSAL
Jillian: OOOOOOH THIS IS A BOP
Aiyana: it's so sultry
Kaitlyn: THIS IS FOR THE REAL YEARNERS
Versha: VERY sultry
Kaitlyn: THE REAL LOVERS
Aiyana: I know you know something bout that, K
Aiyana: Me too tho I get it
Kaitlyn: Complete and total devotion
Kaitlyn: On a cellular level
Aiyana: I can't wait for the day I can relate to a love song
Versha: Now seems like a good time to mention I danced with my dad to “Daddy Lessons” at my wedding
Versha: So I feel I have been waiting for this day for a while!!!!!!!! (More beyonce KNTRY)
Kaitlyn: Territorial Beyoncé is my favorite Beyoncé
Kaitlyn: “I don’t like the way she’s looking at you / Someone better hold me back”
Kaitlyn: is the same woman who asked “If that’s your man, then why he over here?”
Kaitlyn: Lmfaoooooooooooo. Like lady PLEASE
Jillian: i feel like we're in the "tread very lightly" section of the tracklist
Jillian: no sudden movements, watch your back, don't mess with B
Aiyana: “Sometimes I hold you just to know you're real,” my husband better say that in his vows
Versha: YES @Aiyana I love that line sm
Jillian: oooh this GUITAR
Aiyana: This is such an album for a cross country road trip! Let me drop the top real quick!
Kaitlyn: LET’S F*CKING GO
Jillian: YESSSSSSSSS
Jillian: HEY MISS HONEY B
Jillian: BLESS HER HEART
Jillian: THAT IS A PERSONAL ATTACK. THE WORST OF THE WORST
Claire: love a tie-in to bey's lore
Versha: DOLLY P THE ICON
Jillian: jolene you better run, girl
Claire: the change from begging to warning spot on
Aiyana: I love her remix to this song!
Jillian: "you don't want no heat with me" // "we've been in deep love for twenty years i raised that man, i raised his kids, i know that man better than he knows himself" WOOF
Jillian: i LOVE that she made this her own
Kaitlyn: Here comes my favorite line
Kaitlyn: I’M STILL A CREOLE BANJEE B*TCH FROM LOUISIANNNNNNNNNNNNNNE
Jillian: OMFGGGGGGG
Kaitlyn: DO NOT PLAY YOURSELF
Aiyana: "YOU A BIRD GOIN HEAD AND SING YOUR TUNE" TALK YO SH*T BEY
Kaitlyn: I can’t wait to say that sh*t to somebody omg
Kaitlyn: like okay Tweety
Versha Sharma: Here’s a great clip of Dolly saying she wants Beyoncé to cover Jolene two years ago despite the many many covers that already exist
Versha: lol
Aiyana: Not Tweety
Aiyana: Pls
Jillian: this ending
Claire: all the endings of the songs are so intentional and sweeping
Aiyana: She loves a choir moment, gotta respect it
Claire: bringing it back to this collective vibe even though the individual songs are very different
Jillian: she's always going to say her peace with her WHOLE chest and i love that about her
Claire: okay daughter is my favorite
Claire: "she was a big fan"
Jillian: LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO??
Aiyana: The Swifties heads goin poke up
Kaitlyn: Stop it
Claire: look i was trying not to go there but
Kaitlyn: Cut it out
Versha: Hahaha I was going to say the same thing about swifties
Aiyana: In one hour there will be a 500 minute youtube video about how Bey was foreshadowing a Taylor feature on the deluxe album
Versha: Hahahahhaha
Jillian: the delulu swifties are going to be like "reputation is on the way"
Versha: Should you do it @Claire
Claire: i think kaitlyn would plot my demise if i did that
Kaitlyn: Beyoncé singing in her operatic voice is also my favorite thing
Aiyana: It's so gorgeous
Claire: so beautiful!!
Versha: She has the range.
Jillian: *kim kardashian voice* “who sang at my wedding? andrea bocelli.”
Aiyana: I get why she why said this ain't no country album this a Beyoncé album
Aiyana: The way the album is able to intertwine current country, folk, and river so beautifully is such a skill
Jillian: for real this is something so beyond any genre, any category, any silo of music
Claire: genres ARE a funny little concept!!!
Jillian: that Beyoncé virgo sh*t!!!!!
Aiyana: Oh heck yeah this is fun. I love when she starts talking her junk, reminding us that she has nothing to prove and is just having fun with it!!!
Aiyana: She did this for the country hood folk, yup
Claire: ok the thanos line.... didn't love
Kaitlyn: As a Marvel fan I loved it sorry
Claire: just takes me out of it a little, feels like a line anyone could have thrown in, but you all enjoy
Versha: This beat
Kaitlyn: Beyoncé is my favorite rapper
Jillian: i am literally so afraid of her in the most "i'm also in love with her" way
Aiyana: She really does have shooters, have you met the Beyhive?
Aiyana: Oh this my one
Kaitlyn: Ok so i wanted to talk to y’all about the symbolism in here right
Kaitlyn: the phrase is crocodile tears so why do we think the switch
Jillian: oooh that's a great question
Claire: what is the difference between a crocodile and an alligator
Kaitlyn: crocodiles are more aggressive
Aiyana: Floridian it's their nose shapes
Jillian: crocodiles are more narrow in the nose
Aiyana: Crocodiles have long and pointed, V-shaped snouts while alligators have rounded, U-shaped snouts.
Versha: Also alligators are actually more common in Texas and Louisiana than crocodiles (I’m pretty sure!!)
Claire: okay fascinating
Kaitlyn: TRUE V
Versha: Gators are everywhere. Showing up in people’s backyards
Aiyana: Also, sorry the southerner in me: https://andscape.com/features/the-gut-wrenching-history-of-black-babies-and-alligators/
Kaitlyn: Very very true as well ^^
Jillian: oh sh*t aiyana
Aiyana: Something we talked about a lot especially in Florida
Aiyana: And the "how does it feel to be adored" led me to that navigation of Black women in this world
Kaitlyn: the power of Smoke Hour II
Claire: real good sh*t
Kaitlyn: Willie Nelson said shut the hell up and enjoy this
Kaitlyn: again, I would’ve LOVED to hear more of Willie Jones on this song
Versha: Willie Jones is from Shreveport!!!!!!!!!
Versha: That’s my fam / where I went to college
Versha: The Louisiana REP
Aiyana: As soon as he started singing I started crying
Kaitlyn: it seems like an misuse of him almost
Aiyana: He sounds like honey flowing
Kaitlyn: his voice is so richly unique and one of a kind
Versha: Bold K but you might not be wrong…
Kaitlyn: it’s such a complement to Bey’s in that way
Kaitlyn: You would think he would’ve gotten more time and space
Aiyana: I feel this way about all the Black country artists on this album!!
Kaitlyn: Exactly what I was saying earlier yup
Aiyana: Sorry Posty... he ain't need all that time
Versha: It would be really interesting to hear her talk about that
Kaitlyn: Willie’s voice holds centuries
Versha: I still think she’s introducing some of these people to such a crazy massive audience
Versha: More people will probably remember hearing Willie Jones on this album than post Malone lolol
Kaitlyn: Mmmmmmm debatable given Levii’s Jeans is gonna be everywhere
Kaitlyn: but we’re getting ahead of ourselves
Aiyana: I also maybe just hope it forces people to crave these artist's voices and go listen to their standalone work.
Versha: Okay maybe I’m being optimistic lol
Aiyana: Oh here we go
Kaitlyn: This will be on my wedding playlist
Kaitlyn: It might be my wedding song idk
Claire: the landslide interpolation cry
Aiyana: MILEY FEATURE GEN Z Disney GIRLIES WON
Aiyana: I am sobbing. Give them the Grammy for best collaboration omg
Versha: Yes my god I hope they perform together next year
Versha: Their voices together just make sense
Aiyana: "I’ll be your shotgun rider til the day I die" truly feels like a moment for the people who’ve been on this journey with both of them all these years. Growing up with an artists is such an emotional experience
Aiyana: I remember where I was when Hannah Montana premiered. Like this Miley feature feels so correct for me
Claire: and it's hard to sing with miley, the unique voice texture is hard for some people to work with (remember that Taylor grammys duet)
Claire: they go well together
Aiyana: Never forget LOL
Jillian: oof memory unlocked
Claire: do we think they have ever actually hung out
Aiyana: Absolutely
Aiyana: They got together after that performance
Aiyana: and talked sh*t
Claire: smoked a joint together maybe
Claire: friendship anthems, more of those
Kaitlyn: “We’re getting high till we don’t realize time is passing by”
Kaitlyn: Memories of driving through Houston with the windows down at 4 am
Aiyana: This my 2024 The Climb
Jillian: LMAO AIYANA
Aiyana: Here we go
Aiyana: Country stations everywhere are shaking
Versha: Brb yall gotta go change a poopy diaper lol mom life. Beyoncé knows
Kaitlyn: Now, i’ll preface this by saying i love a good Posty feature. I don’t really listen to him outside of his features, but his features are always some of my favorite songs ever
Kaitlyn: and this one is joining Sunflower
Aiyana: Interchangeably this could be a single from any of the current country girlies out right now, imo. It feels very "it" right now of a pop country collab
Aiyana: I honestly think Lainey would've been a cooler feature instead of Posty but I get the appeal
Kaitlyn: and THE GIRLS WITH REAL ASSES KNOW LEVIS ARE THE BEST JEANS
Jillian: that's actually crazy because i have never found a pair of levi's that fit me
Jillian: lmaooo
Claire: ditto for me jillian haha, too short
Aiyana: Same, Jillian
Aiyana: I cannot shop Levi's lol
Jillian: i have honkin' thighs and a big tummy
Jillian: they just ain't for me
Aiyana: I will say this song is sexy lol
Aiyana: Like I'm swinging my hips in my room
Jillian: "girl i want to take you home" the crooooooning
Kaitlyn: okay, touche! i will say my first pair of levis made me cry because i didn’t have the hip-back gap-booty issue i always have
Kaitlyn: so i felt seen idk
Aiyana: Wish I was dancing with someone right now
Claire: i feel sort of lullabyed by this song
Kaitlyn: Aiyana do you wanna dance
Claire: in a nice way
Aiyana: Absolutely
Aiyana: Flamenco! Me gente latino!!!
Kaitlyn: Beyonce’s register allows her to make music that feels like it accesses a different emotional plane
Aiyana: All her shorter tracks have been faves that I wish were longer, smh
Kaitlyn: like no one else can go that low and that high just moments later
Kaitlyn: with that much precision
Jillian: this is more of a logistical note but the balance of short hits and long anthems is fantastically done
Versha: Yeah when I first saw 27 tracks I was like DAMN but it’s perfectly paced
Aiyana: YA YA
Kaitlyn: YA YAAAAAAAAAA
Aiyana: That's my nickname
Kaitlyn: This is a f*cking masterpiece
Kaitlyn: that’s what we call my grandma
Aiyana: Periodt grammy
Versha: This might be my initial favorite
Claire: boots are made for walking
Versha: It’s so good
Aiyana: I can't wait to hear this one live
Jillian: ooooooh this one is getting me riled up
Aiyana: I love the inclusion of the chitlin circuit. It's so important to be giving a peak into the history of Black artists especially in the south
Claire: i love just incorporating the tour opener into the song
Aiyana: Now there will be people googling what happened during Jim Crow + segregation
Aiyana: And the battles Black artists went through to be seen.
Aiyana: We had to make our own spaces, which to this day is so integral to holding up our stories and artistry. I love it so much
Versha: Still fighting for those spaces..
Versha: In 2024
Versha: I feel like this song has everything. What an anthem
Claire: "whole lotta red in that white and blue huh" she does a lot with a little
Kaitlyn: if act III really is rock, this is the most gorgeous segue track
Kaitlyn: James Brown and Little Richard are proud
Claire: ugh i wish i could tell my dad that the beach boys and the beatles are incorporated into the new beyoncé album
Aiyana: Hugging you Claire
Kaitlyn: the “VOTE!” is interesting.
Kaitlyn: i know she gave us 27 tracks. i know
Kaitlyn: but i really really wish she gave us one zydeco record
Jillian: that transition to oh louisiana was SEAMLESS
Aiyana: LOUISIANA
Aiyana: Versha RISE UP
Versha: Okay when I first saw this on the track listing I was SO EXCITED
Jillian: it's your MOMENT, V
Claire: i almost missed the song change it was so seamless!!
Aiyana: Always. She's so good at blending songs together
Aiyana: It's masterful
Versha: and then I saw it was 1:00 and I was like damn.
Versha: But this is 1971 Chuck Berry Oh Louisiana
Versha: We love the history
Aiyana: Desert Eagle is c*nty
Kaitlyn: Beyoncé always makes me feel so sensual and sexually empowered
Aiyana: I am a whole lot of woman
Kaitlyn: Desert Eagle and Partition are sisters
Aiyana: Thank you for recognizing me, Bey
Claire: i love an artist who truly appreciates the album as a format and concept and makes the most of every second, and she has always done that
Versha: Yes that’s why each album is indisputably art. She puts so much thought into it
Jillian: it's full throttle from the START
Jillian: every moment is intentional
Kaitlyn: This one is for the backseat lovers IYKYK
Versha: We are listening to years’ worth of process and artistry, what a treat!!!!
Jillian: KAITLYN LMAO
Kaitlyn: sorry it’s my truth
Jillian: never apologize
Aiyana: THIS MY SONG
Aiyana: THE BANJO
Kaitlyn: RIIVERDANCE IS SO CRAZY
Kaitlyn: LIKE SHE IS A GENIUS.
Versha: Can blue ivy play banjo on the next tour
Aiyana: I'm Irish line dancing and twerking at the same time
Kaitlyn: I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE GWORLS TO GET A HOLD OF THIS
Kaitlyn: Made for the ballroom.
Versha: HAHAHAH Aiyana that’s perfect
Kaitlyn: NO. HANDS.
Aiyana: ROSCOE DASH
Jillian: i just know i'm going to compulsively say "bounce on this sh*t, dance" every day for the rest of my life
Aiyana: Ok but can a DJ get on the remix, riiverdance and no hands by waka flocka
Kaitlyn: It’ll be on TikTok by the end of the weekend
Versha: Could easily fit in on Renaissance
Versha: We love a bridge
Claire: and the nails as percussion!
Kaitlyn: yes Claire!!!!! a true daughter of Dolly!!!!
Aiyana: I still haven't picked a favorite, like there's so many I love
Jillian: another seamless transition
Kaitlyn: What Church Girl did for me is what this song is amplifying times 10
Aiyana: i really want to know how she will incorporate iii into song titles for act three lol
Kaitlyn: and for context, I got Church Girl lyrics tattooed
Versha: Ooh which ones
Kaitlyn: “I was born free”
Aiyana: And where
Kaitlyn: under a Black baby cherub that’s designed after my baby pic
Kaitlyn: Like, I cannot wait to be on the floor of a stadium with both hands in the air getting my entire life with my best friend by my side singing this at the top of my lungs
Claire: beautiful
Aiyana: Aw I can't wait to go, K!
Aiyana: LOL
Kaitlyn: this is a romantic love song, but it’s also a song of faith, it’s a song of platonic love, it’s a song of self love
Kaitlyn: Ten thousand steps towards the time of your life. ❤️
Jillian: speaking of being at the stadium, cannot WAIT to see the looks for this tour from both bey + the bey hive
Aiyana: And it's funny because people already went semi-western for Renaissance with an alien vibe
Aiyana: SO excited to see the Americana takes on the fashion
Versha: Right wing media gonna lose their shit
Aiyana: Breaking: The Beyhive is Gentrifying the American Flag
Versha: Reverse gentrifying? Somehow its racist
Aiyana: Absolutely. They'll make it make sense
Kaitlyn: Let me go pull the trigger on those chaps in my cart
Versha: Haha I was just thinking custom chaps…
Versha: Beyoncé making people feel the most patriotic they’ve felt in years….
Versha: An American hero
Aiyana: Tiera is also on this track harmonzing! My sweet Blackbirds
Versha: Omg didn’t realize ! Beautiful
Claire: tbt to my tiera profile from 2020!
Versha: How are we almost at the end, I need more
Aiyana: I love Tyrant actually, might be in my top three
Jillian: i can't even process choosing a top three right now
Aiyana: The hips are swinging again during this one
Jillian: the string backing in this
Jillian: adds yet another cinematic vibe
Jillian: i am fully immersed
Kaitlyn: yeah. it’s this one
Kaitlyn: JERSEYYYYYYYYYYYYY 🗣️
Aiyana: The jersey club remix to this gonna go crazy
Kaitlyn: Holding my belt buckle and thrusting rn
Aiyana: Well saddle up and call me a buckle bunny
Versha: This takes me back a little bit to Destiny’s Child era
Aiyana: Have y'all ever rode a mechanical bull
Aiyana: I wildly underestimated how difficult it is
Kaitlyn: Yuh. I made the rookie mistake of wearing the wrong pants
Versha: There is a country bar in midtown where you can do it… lol
Aiyana: I fell off after 4 seconds
Versha: It’s so hard!!!
Kaitlyn: Going to Nashville in October to redeem myself
Aiyana: Also the multi meaning because if you buck at me baby we going outside
Kaitlyn: KNUCK IF YOU BUCK
Versha: She hits so many different notes in this one
Aiyana: OMG GUYS WE AT THE END
Jillian: i'm not ready to say goodbye
Versha: The last third of the album is really heavily layered musically, there’s so much here
Aiyana: Ending this with Amen, absolutely full circle experience
Versha: Love that it ends with Amen, though
Versha: On this GOOD FRIDAY
Kaitlyn: Who she’s addressing in Ameriican Requiem is not who she is addressing in Amen
Kaitlyn: “I need to make you proud / Can you hear me now?”
Kaitlyn: we hear you Bey 🥹
Aiyana: Uncle Johnny ❤️
Kaitlyn: the South hears you
Versha: Lies of stone you better believe these Black and brown girls from the south feel that
Versha: Growing up around confederate statues
Kaitlyn: *standing ovation*
Jillian: the ameriican requiem circle back is so beautiful
Versha: AMEN
Jillian: just masterfully done
Aiyana: Sensational loop abilities
Kaitlyn: i have my album on a loop
Kaitlyn: and having Ameriican Requiem start with “nothing really ends”
Kaitlyn: RIGHT AFTER
Kaitlyn: HER MIND!!!!!!!
Jillian: this AIN'T THE END Y'ALL
Versha: She’s perfect ugh I wish we could get a visual album of this like Lemonade.
Claire: can we talk about some things from the press release
Claire: from the press release: Each song is its own version of a reimagined Western film. She took inspiration from films like "Five Fingers For Marseilles," "Urban Cowboy," "The Hateful Eight, "Space Cowboys," "The Harder They Fall" and "Killers of the Flower Moon," often having the films playing on a screen during the recording process. 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.
Versha: Well I’m going to have to rewatch all those films this weekend
Versha: The O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is soooo good, I love that reference
Aiyana: this album would be so cool behind a western fantasy/dystopian novel turned film
Jillian: if this doesn't win album of the year next year i will single-handedly dismantle the academy
Aiyana: Oh sister
Aiyana: be ready to get angry
Kaitlyn: Jay-Z produced The Harder They Fall, and I would kill to be in the room during their discussions
Kaitlyn: I would love to know her work informed his work on that film and vice versa
Jillian: i know it's naive of me to think this time will be the time
Claire: it's also interesting that Cowboy Carter was written first, before Renaissance
Jillian: has she spoken about that more in depth yet? i wonder why she chose Renaissance to go out first
Claire: "This album took over five years," she says. "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."
Kaitlyn: The world needed it and she is but a humble servant.
Versha: “Among the crowds were Black, Hispanic and Native American Cowboys, who made their valuable, authentic allowances to the culture. Their stories are synonymous with American history.”
Versha: That’s a very clear statement
Versha: In a time where people constantly try to muddle American history. In a time when people are banning the teaching of actual American history!
Aiyana: there is no America without it.
Claire: kaitlyn did you have more to say about legacy
Kaitlyn: ah yeah. I watched the Quincy Jones documentary earlier this month and was taken aback by how much of his life and his family’s life he sacrificed to give us some of the most important cultural artifacts of our time. he missed everything so that he could be present in his art, and his reach on music and film is something we might never see again. there will never be another Quincy Jones, the same way there will never be another Beyonce. and as a mother, that kind of sacrifice is compounded… to think that she has given up so much time, her innocence, her childhood, and so much PRESENCE in her own life and her family’s life to this very day to have a reach across music like the one she is still spreading makes my knees buckle. she believes that we are worth it
Kaitlyn: and she says that. it’s all for the legacy
Jillian: damn kaitlyn
Claire: wow
Aiyana: Look at how you ate that
Jillian: now THAT'S art
Kaitlyn: and as a Black artist who is always thinking about how to honor my own people and my own family, its terrifying to think about how much i will have to sacrifice too
Kaitlyn: but like, if Beyonce says its worth it, I believe her
Kaitlyn: and that is what matters most to me
Jillian: okay i'm literally crying what the hell
Kaitlyn: lol me too
Kaitlyn: so yeah i am just deeply grateful to be alive in the time of Beyoncé and this is a masterpiece
Versha: that part
Aiyana: It's like actually insane that I will get to say I experienced Beyoncé in my lifetime.
Versha: I love Renaissance so much but this feels more wholly complete I think? That’s how I feel after a first listen anyway. Maybe it’s those years and years of working on it coming through
Aiyana: I often think about how I was six or seven [Editor's note: Aiyana was 10.] when MJ passed and I couldn't fully understand the magnitude of his existence and why my grandma, mom and sister were crying when we were watching the news.
Aiyana: But now I get it
Aiyana: She's such a force and its an honor man to experience it
Aiyana: country <3
Aiyana: I just want to say thank you Beyoncé for reminding me its okay to continue to loudly boast my love for the south, even now that I am stuck in the north
Jillian: i am so interested to have conversations with folks today who don't "vibe with country music" and hear their reactions to this album
Jillian: it is completely undeniable that this is so beyond "just a country album," it's truly the highest of art
Jillian: and i'll have very little patience for anyone who says it's not their thing
Jillian: grow up!!!!!!!!!!
