It all started when I was watching the 2024 Super Bowl. I am usually only there for the halftime show and silly commercials but this time around I was invested because of Taylor Swift. I remember this specific commercial that Beyoncé was in, a Verizon commercial actually, and her at the end saying “Okay, they ready. Drop the new music.” Not long after I was listening to her two new songs, which are precursors for Renaissance: Act II, on repeat, especially, “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM.”
I love the distinctiveness of “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” compared to what I usually listen to (I don’t really listen to upbeat country music) and the rhythm of the song, which makes me want to learn to line dance. My favorite lyric in the song is, “Don’t be a b****, come take it to the floor now,” because it was so unexpected the first time I heard it and now I just really enjoy saying it. Both songs really usher in a new era of Beyoncé, which personally is very exciting.
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and the other new song, “16 CARRIAGES” are country songs, which has caused some controversy for many reasons, but mainly because people believe they aren’t actually “country.” It is my opinion that people saying they are not country songs are just looking for any excuse to exclude her from the genre. Both songs are listed as country by Apple Music and Billboard (where it reached the #1 song on their country music chart), and contain many elements of classic country music, such as certain instruments like the banjo, and words like “hoedown.”
Another thing people are criticizing her for, after releasing the new songs, is creating music for a genre “she doesn’t belong in,” whether because of her past pop stardom or her race. But this isn’t the first time Beyoncé has stepped into country music before. Her song “Daddy Lessons,” from her 2016 album “Lemonade,” is also country. She has even performed at the Country Music Awards with this song, accompanied by The Chicks. This performance received lots of backlash towards both artists, including racist and sexist comments, according to a New York Times article. It’s also important to note that country music is historically Black, as instruments that are consistently used in the genre, like the banjo, were brought from Africa during the slave trade. These instruments and musical traditions were then adopted by White Americans, leading to the current, stereotypical face of country music.
People have had and always will have problems with change, even if it’s something as simple as someone’s favorite genre gaining an artist that they aren’t typically used to hearing. I think that music is such a special part of the human experience and excluding someone from that just because you don’t think they are “country” enough isn’t cute. If you don’t like it, just don’t listen to it.
You can learn more about the history of country music and the role of African-Americans in it through this PBS article.
