Iconic superstar Beyoncé hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her new song “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” just a week after it was released. Shortly after, she announced that she would be dropping an entire country album, “COWBOY CARTER,” which became available March 29.
According to World Press, Beyoncé — as a female artist — currently holds the most Top 40 hits of the decade. She is the only artist to have every one of her studio albums win a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Album in her category.
The new singles she recently released became very popular in a very short amount of time proving, yet again, she is one of the greats of the music industry. I can see why “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” was so talked about too. When I first heard this song, I loved it right off the bat. I thought it was a very fun and upbeat song to just get up and dance to and have a good time. Beyoncé never fails to produce entertaining and catchy songs, and that can even be seen through her large collection of Grammys.
Beyoncé is a huge public figure and well known for being a great vocalist and for her amazing artistry. However, the first news of a country album had some people in shock. Her switch from pop icon to country superstar has people perplexed. Some fans were initially concerned with her releasing a whole country album because she is not a country artist, and she has been receiving a lot of negative feedback.
It goes to show that Beyoncé has received a lot of positive feedback on her new album despite the hate towards it at first.
“It’s a warmup for what follows, which is some of Beyoncé’s best vocal work on record, produced flawlessly and at the forefront of each track,” said Brittany Spanos, a writer for Rolling Stone.
The reason I think she is receiving hate for creating a country album is that it is purely because she is not a country singer. She is mainly known for writing in the R&B genre, and that genre is what she has won all of her Grammys in. She is not known for country music and people were not loving the switch.
However, why would any singer need to appear exclusively a country artist to enjoy and produce country music? Beyoncé herself is from Texas. She was born and raised in Houston. At her core, she is a southern soul. So, why can she not produce country music?
Country legend Dolly Parton recently took to Instagram to support Beyoncé. Parton herself is also featured on “COWBOY CARTER,” and Beyoncé covered/remixed Parton’s hit song “Jolene,” spicing up the lyrics and giving the classic her own soulful flair.
“I’m a big fan of Beyoncé and very excited she’s done a country album,” Parton said on Instagram.
The icon of country music herself said that she is a fan of Beyoncé and that she is happy she is making a country album. If Parton, as a country music artist herself, welcomes Beyoncé, then so should country listeners. Beyoncé is simply embracing a new style of music in what I would call a rock-country category. She is just looking into a new sound and people are mad about it?
“Not even 24 hours after its release, Spotify revealed that the Grammy-winning artist’s country album became its most-streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far,” said Carly Thomas with The Hollywood Reporter. “The music giant also noted that it was the first time a country album had held that title this year.”
I did not hear anyone complain about Post Malone performing at the Country Music Awards, orCMAs. If anything, he got a lot of positive feedback and support. After his performance, many fans wanted him to embrace the sound and come out with a country album. Malone is more known for being in the hip-hop or rap genres, and yet very few people were mad that he made an appearance at the CMAs, singing Joe Diffie’s “John Deere Green” and “Pickup Man” with Morgan Wallen and HARDY.
“Reactions to his CMA Awards performance have been overwhelmingly positive on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter,” said Eva Terry, a writer for Deseret News. “One user wrote, ‘Dear Post Malone, Go make that country album. Call up Sturgill to produce it. Get Dwight Yoakam’s band. Whatever you gotta do, make it happen. Sincerely, Everybody. #CMAawards.’”
If anything, I think country music lovers should be happy that musicians can shuffle between genres. In my opinion, as a country music lover myself, I think it is awesome that other artists want to embrace country music, as long as it is done tastefully. I think country music should be something shared and that it can be a genre that everyone can love and be a part of. Like most things, it should not be held into a specific category of people. Music is something that is meant to be shared among various types of people, and it should not matter where you come from to enjoy music. In other words, you do not need to be from the country in order to enjoy country music, so why do you have to be a country-music star in order to create good country music?
“Although music can certainly be played and listened to alone, in the shower or on your iPod, it is also a powerful social magnet,” said Jill Suite, a writer for Greater Good magazine. “After all, a music concert is one of the few times when we will gather together with thousands of other people to engage in a shared activity.”
There is so much truth in that quote. People can enjoy music on their own, but music is something that can bring people together who are from various backgrounds or different walks of life. So, why are people upset that Beyoncé wants to reach a wider variety of people? All love to Beyoncé for wanting to embrace her roots and share her music with the world no matter what category it is placed in because music is supposed to bring people together, not tear them apart.
