Published On: April 25, 2024 Contributor: Denayja Reese
My lifelong love of country music started with my Black southern family. My grandfather, who grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the 1950s taught me that my tastes, like my life, were limitless. We watched westerns and ate spaghetti. We would ride around in his Infiniti on the weekends, driving through southern California streets playing Chuck Berry, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams. My auntie, a Black woman with roots in Arkansas, played Shania Twain and Jo Dee Messina albums when she came home from work.
For me, being Black and loving country music has never been in opposition. Although I’ve had to defend that position many times. Historically, Black people have been excluded from the genre despite being integral to its origins and continuously influential on its evolution.
As a Black woman who knows country music, loves country music, and is aware of how hard everyone outside the straight, white male identity has to fight to make country music, COWBOY CARTERhas spoken directly to my soul.
What makes COWBOY CARTER so special is that it’s so sonically diverse. On my TikTok video discussing the brilliance of the album, one commenter, @tennykin, put it perfectly. COWBOY CARTER is “a masterclass in the history of country music and a simultaneous evolution of the genre.”
For those of you who have walked in through theCOWBOY CARTER door, now that you’re here, allow me to really welcome you to the party with a curated list of music and artists who represent the country music genres Beyonce puts her signature spin on.
These are artists that represent country music’s past, present and future. None of these songs sound like Beyonce because no one and nothing can. However, I hope you learn that country music is made up of many different sounds, stories and people. It’s not just for the bros!
These are just some of my favorites, and hopefully they will become some of yours too.
With her latest album, Beyonce is taking listeners from the dance floor to the country and back again. If you don’t think COWBOY CARTER is a country album, then I invite you to discover what country is.
Immerse yourself in the world of country music with writer Denayja Reese’s curated playlist. Enhance your reading experience by toggling between the article and sampling all the referenced songs.COWBOY CARTER Album Visuals featuring BeyonceBrittney SpencerLegendary Charley Pride
“AMERIICAN REQUIEM” and “AMEN” represent some of the anthemic, political elements of country music
“AMERIICAN REQUIEM” and “AMEN” represent some of the anthemic, political elements of country music as the lyrics repeatedly reference the fraught history of marginalized people in the US.
If you like it, listen to “Thoughts and Prayers” by Brittney Spencer featuring Brock Human, and go deeper with “Mississippi Cotton Picking Delta Town” by Charley Pride.
The layered harmonies on “BLACKBIIRD” featuring Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts, are a staple in country music, as is women collaborating with each other.
If you like this song, I hope you enjoy “Don’t Call Me” by The Highwomen, and go deeper with “Making Plans” by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt.
Image Below: Singers (from left) Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts onstage April 7 during the CMT Music Awards in Austin, Texas.
From the personal narrative in the storytelling to the use of steel guitar and horns to make the choruses sound as if they could sweep you up like a tumbleweed, “16 CARRIAGES” is a quintessential country song with a touch of bluegrass and a modern twist.
To me, it feels like a marriage between “Fancy” by Reba McEntire and “I’ve Been Everywhere” by Johnny Cash.
“PROTECTOR” is a sweet, standard country western ballad from mother to child that I like to refer to as “comfort country”.
If you like this song, listen to “Lullaby” by The Chicks and go deeper with “In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride.
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” delivers honky tonk music with extra fiddle, boot stomps, hand claps, and big shouts.
If you like this song, listen to “Sin Wagon” by The Chicks and go deeper with “Why’d You Come In Here Lookin Like That?” by Dolly Parton.
Sometimes country is pop with a little funk, and “BODYGUARD” is an excellent example of it.
If you like this, listen to “That Don’t Impress Me Much” by Shania Twain and go deeper “I Got Time” by Brittney Spencer.
Now, “DAUGHTER” is the first of a few songs on COWBOY CARTER that remind me of outlaw country (songs about breaking laws and hitting the open road), made popular by country legend Willie Nelson — who appears as a narrator on different tracks of COWBOY CARTER — and his frequent music partner Waylon Jennings, but with a distinctly female gaze.
If you like this song, listen to “Don’t Waste A Prayer” by Reyna Roberts and go deeper with “Danger Ahead” by Tanya Tucker.
The marriage of rap and country is still a newer exploration of the genre, but “SPAGHETTII” featuring Linda Martell and Shaboozey is a great indicator of what is possible.
If you like this song, listen to “Buckle Bunny” by Tanner Adell and go deeper with “GAS!” by Shaboozey.
If you were to close my eyes and say “ALLIIGATOR TEARS” was a Fleetwood Mac song, I’d have little hesitation to believe you. Artists who don’t primarily make country music have always dabbled in the genre. The public questioning of COWBOY CARTER has less to do with the body of work, itself, and more to do with Beyoncé being the one to make it. And you can’t see it, but my eyes are rolling halfway to Alabama.
If you, like me, can’t stop listening to “ALLIIGATOR TEARS”, listen to “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac and go deeper with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee.
“JUST FOR FUN” featuring Willie Jones is what I like to call “the ballad of the lost soul” country. These are songs about searching and yearning that expand upon country music’s ‘three chords and the truth’ ethos.
If you like this song, listen to “Your Man” by Willie Jones and go deeper with “Up Yonder” by The War And Treaty.
The War And Treaty, a husband and wife duo consisting of singer-songwriters Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter
“II MOST WANTED” featuring Miley Cyrus is a perfect duet in any style or genre. It is also a masterclass in classic country vocal arrangements and production.
If you like this song, listen to “Stop, Drop and Roll One” by Pistol Annies and go deeper with “Does He Love You” by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis.
“LEVII’S JEANS” featuring Post Malone celebrates the way country music rarely, if ever, takes itself too seriously. Artists are encouraged to be on the nose and sing sweet nothings to their lovers.
If you like this, listen to “Smoking Jacket” by Miranda Lambert and go deeper with “It Ain’t Me Babe” by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
I wanted more from “FLAMENCO” because Tejano music (a.ka. “Mexican country”) is very close to my LA girl heart, but nonetheless, I appreciate the nod.
If you like this song, listen to “Tú Sólo Tú” by Selena and go deeper with “LE VA DOLER” by Groupo Frontera.
Legendary Chuck Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) – singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll
It is so clear that “YA YA” and “OH LOUISIANA” are clear tributes to Black artists who were unwelcome in the country and rock music communities in the same way that Beyonce has experienced.
If you like this song, listen to “Rip It Up” by Chuck Berry and go deeper with “Bayou Song” by Tina Turner.
Much of the album is deeply experimental, pulling from so many references and inspirations that it would be a disservice to tie each of them to specific songs to refer you to. “MY ROSE”, “DESERT EAGLE”, “RIIVERDANCE”, “II HANDS II HEAVEN”, “TYRANT” featuring Dolly Parton, and “SWEET * HONEY * BUCKIN” featuring Shaboozey all feel indicative of this album pushing both the country music genre and music as a whole forward.
I wish that I could say that the country music culture will soon or eventually appreciate what Beyonce has undoubtedly done to bring so many new fans to the genre. Hopefully now, the circle of people that get it includes you.
Legendary Tina Turner (November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) – singer, songwriter, and actress known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”
