State Champ Radio beyonce
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The promotional efforts for Beyoncé’s forthcoming country album are well underway. However several museums have denied any involvement with her Cowboy Carter projection.
On Wednesday, March 20 advertisements for her newest project were projected onto the walls of multiple iconic institutions throughout New York City. “This is not a country album. “This is a Beyoncé album. Act ii Cowboy Carter 3.29” read on the facade of the Guggenheim. Additionally photos of the album imagery were also displayed on the exterior of The New Museum and The Whitney. While at first glance it seemed like there was some sort of deal struck between her record label and these institutes that is not the case.
According to The Gothamist the stunt came to the Guggenheim as a surprise. “The Guggenheim was not informed about and did not authorize this activation,” a spokesperson said in a statement via email to the news publication on Thursday, March 21. But they also added that the “Halo” singer and her fans are welcomed to attend their upcoming Jenny Holzer installation. On Thursday, March 21 they referenced a lyric from “Texas Hold ’em” in a social media post about a painting by Franz Marc that featured horses.
In an Instagram post the Houston native detailed how this effort came about. “This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t” she wrote. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”
Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s first ever country album is slated for a March 29 release.
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The esteemed publicist for Beyoncé fired back at Erykah Badu recently over claims the superstar copied a style of hers for the Cowboy Carter release.
There might be a slight bit of beef down in the heart of Texas as Erykah Badu feels that the latest artwork release by Beyoncé for her upcoming album, Act II: Cowboy Carter, took from her own style. It began as Beyoncé shared artwork for the limited edition version of her release. The photograph shows the singer in the nude, standing tall while draped in a banner emblazoned with “Act II Beyoncé” (an homage to her mother Tina Knowles’ maiden name) with a lit cigar while wearing a hairstyle of long braids.
The image didn’t sit well with Erykah Badu, who posted the image on her Instagram Stories with a simple caption of “Hmmm.” The “Window Seat” artist added a little bit more shade with another post on the social media platform, which featured a photo of her rocking a braided hairstyle with white translucent beads which she pinned to the top of her grid. The 53-year-old artist flaunted the hairstyle last month during her birthday concert in Dallas.
The message wasn’t lost on the legion of Beyoncé fans known as the BeyHive, and they promptly let her know in the comments of the post. “No disrespect Beyoncé not trying to copy you, and on top of that, it’s a damn hairstyle that has been around in the Black community for a while!!” one user wrote. Yvette Noel-Schure – who’s worked extensively with Beyoncé for 20 years – laid down the definitive word with her own social media post, a montage reel of the superstar’s looks from her rise with Destiny’s Child to now, including her Lemonade album cover where she also famously wore braids. “She slays. She slays. Now. Then. Always.” Noel-Schure captioned the post.
The reaction did prompt a somewhat comical response from Erykah Badu, this time in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “To Jay Z . Say somethin’, Jay. You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me ??” she wrote. There hasn’t been any response yet by Jay-Z or Beyoncé. Act II: Cowboy Carter will be released March 29.
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Azealia Banks was once considered one of the best women rappers of her generation but has achieved more notoriety lately for her fiery rants against the culture. Once more, the Harlem artist aimed barbs at Beyoncé and Jay-Z, sparking outrage and criticism from the Beyhive and beyond.
Beyoncé put the world on notice after sharing details behind her upcoming studio album, Act II: Cowboy Carter, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2022’s Act I: Renaissance. The Houston superstar explained in detail the impetus behind the album and expressed gratitude for having her song “Texas Hold ‘Em” going No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first Black woman to do so via a country music song.
Azealia Banks took to social media and had plenty to say about the rollout of the upcoming album, taking shots at Beyoncé’s husband in the process.
“Wow we didn’t even try to put even a little effort into a more artistic title?” Banks wrote via her Instagram Stories feed on March 19. “Sis I live for whiteyonce Donatella Bianca Bardot DOWN, But I’m kind of ashamed at how u switch from baobab trees and black parade to this literal pick me stuff.”
Banks added, “Like u do lame stuff like bring out some black listed white women (Dixie chicks) at the country music awards and they would never ever do the same for you. Ur always sharing ur platform with white women who are so jealous of you but have such a long history of sabotaging other black womens careers.”
Caught in the fray was Hov with Banks saying, “Ugh I’m so saddened by Jay-Z and his overstrategizing everything beyonce to the point where it’s clearly his influence and not the real Bianca Bardot. Someone tell Jayz his strategies are corny and beyonce has better ideas.”
Okay, then.
On X, formerly Twitter, reactions from all sides to the comments from Azealia Banks poured in. Some suggested that Banks focus on putting out new music while others agreed with some of her points, albeit some did so with reluctance.
We’ve got those reactions listed below.
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Source: Andreas Rentz / Getty / Erykah Badu / Beyoncé
The Beyhive has had enough of Erykah Badu coming for their queen Beyoncé.
Erykah Badu is feeling the sting of Beyoncé’s fans after she accused the Houston singer of swagger jacking again.
The “Bag Lady” singer took to her Instagram Stories to insinuate that her fellow Texas native bit her hairstyle on the alternate cover of her upcoming album, Act ii: Cowboy Carter.
Badu’s claims came on Wednesday, March 20, after Beyoncé shared the alternate cover to her new album. On it, the “Take My Soul” crafter is naked, covered by a sass saying “act ii BEYINCÉ,” while rocking braided hair with beaded bangs and holding a lit cigar.
In her post, Badu reposted the photo with the caption, “Hmmm.”
The hive, as expected, did not care for Badu accusing Beyoncé of biting her style. Badu hilariously hopped on X, formerly Twitter, asking for help from Beyoncé’s husband JAY-Z, of all people, writing in the post, “To JAY-Z. Say somethin Jay. You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me??”
Erykah Badu Has A History of Calling Beyoncé Out
This is not the first time Badu has claimed she has served as an uncredited style inspiration for Beyoncé. She also called out Beyoncé for biting her style regarding the hats worn during her performance.
During her Renaissance World Tour, Beyoncé wore metallic wide-brimmed hats during her performances, something Badu was also known for.
In that post, Badu also wrote “Hmmm” underneath a picture of Beyoncé and then shared a photo of herself wearing a hat during a similar performance, writing, “I guess I’m everyone’s stylist. favorite chrome mirror hat.”
Beyoncé seemingly saw the disrespect, and during a tour stop in Massachusetts, she had some time for Badu, replacing the lyrics on the “Break My Soul” (The Queens Remix)” saying “Badu, Badu, Badu, Badu,” instead of Badu, Lizzo, Kelly Rowl.”
Well, the Beyhive has seen and heard enough and is currently dragging Badu.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. Fair question
3. Interesting observation
4. An excellent breakdown of the madness
6. Seems to be true
The cover art for Beyoncé‘s upcoming album Cowboy Carter has stirred up some interesting discussions, most recently and notably from Harlem rapper Azealia Banks. The opinionated MC took to Instagram Stories on Tuesday to give us all a little lesson in cultural criticism.
First, Banks takes aim at the album’s title, writing, “Wow we didn’t even try to put even a little effort into a more artistic title?” Now, to be fair, we don’t know what Beyonce‘s thinking is as it pertains to the title. Some fans believe it’s a play on words. Obviously, Carter is her last name through marriage to rapper/businessman Sean Carter, aka Jay-Z, but it’s also the last name of the family widely seen as the first family of country music. It could be anything or nothing at all. The only person who knows is Cowboy Carter herself.
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Banks then takes issue with the cover’s overall aesthetic, asking, “how u switch from baobab trees and black parade to this literal pick me stuff,” referring to the Grammy Award-winning single from The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack Beyoncé executive produced back in 2019. It seems all the Americana imagery is too on the nose for Banks and misses the mark, as she accuses Beyonce of being in “white woman cosplay” and “reinforcing the false rhetoric that country music is a post civil war white art form. And subsequently reinforcing the idea that there is no racism, segregation, slavery, violence, theft, massacres, plagues, manifest destiny craziness that form the bedrock of epithets like ‘proud to be an American,’ or ‘god bless the usa.’”
As if that weren’t enough, Banks also brought up the 2016 CMA Awards performance Beyoncé did with The Chicks (then called The Dixie Chicks), writing, “u do lame stuff like bring out some black listed white women (Dixie Chicks) at the country music awards and they would never ever do the same for you.”
It’s all…a lot. You can check out all of what she wrote below. But it’s interesting to see Banks read so much into the album title and cover when Beyoncé herself took to Instagram on Tuesday to explain to fans why she decided to make Cowboy Carter.
Beyoncé didn’t mention the 2016 CMA Awards specifically, but she did write that the album “was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed.” And while Banks believes Beyoncé is unaware of the genre’s history, Bey explained that after the experience of not feeling welcomed she did “a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive.” Similar to 2022’s Renaissance, on which she worked to reclaim Dance music, many feel she will be doing the same with country on this project. But hey, like she said in her IG post, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”
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Beyoncé has captured the attention of the masses once more with the earlier announcement of her upcoming eighth studio album, Act II: Cowboy Carter. Taking to Instagram, the Houston superstar shared the backstory of the creation of the project and what inspired the new creative direction.
On Tuesday (March 19), Beyoncé froze the world in its tracks and issued a massive statement concerning Act II: Cowboy Carter, the followup to 2022’s Act I: Renaissance. The entertainer says that the album was five years in the making and was inspired by a negative moment she experienced.
From Instagram:
Today marks the 10-day countdown until the release of act ii. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the supporters of TEXAS HOLD ‘EM and 16 CARRIAGES. I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.
This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.
Queen Bey goes on to add, “I focused on this album as a continuation of RENAISSANCE…I hope this music is an experience, creating another journey where you can close your eyes, start from the beginning and never stop.”
As it stands, the ending sentence is perhaps what got the Beyhive most excited.
“This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album. This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all,” she wrote.
Act II: Cowboy Carter drops on March 29.
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Beyoncé debuted the title and artwork for her upcoming country music album, bringing joy to her legion of fans on social media.On Tuesday (March 12), Beyoncé revealed the name of her highly anticipated album project, Cowboy Carter on her website. The site’s homepage features a photo of a horse saddle with burnished silver, with a red, white, and blue sash draped over it with Cowboy Carter emblazoned on the sash. The country music album is the “Act II” of her Renaissance album from 2022.
The superstar is already seeing the demand for the album grow by the day, fueled by the release of two singles from the album – “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em”. “Texas Hold Em” is currently leading on the Hot 100 charts and made Beyoncé the first Black woman to have a single debut at number one on the country music charts. Even adding more fuel to the frenzy was a recent statement by country music legend Dolly Parton about her iconic hit “Jolene”. “Well, I think she has! I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene’ and I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about that,” Parton said to Knox News, adding: “I love her! She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer.” She also defended her against critics, saying: I think we belong wherever we can do good, and her song is number one across every chart in the whole world, I think. So, I mean, who can argue with that?”
The website’s merchandise section also featured a series of limited edition CDs with alternative cover photos that showed half of Beyoncé’s face, and four vinyl variant releases in black, red, white, and blue. A box set edition boasts a bonus track and t-shirts with the album title design on its chest. The news got her legion of fans known as the BeyHive in a frenzy, especially on social media platforms such as X, formerly known as Twitter. Cowboy Carter will be officially released on March 29.
We’ve gathered together some of the more striking responses to the album title below.
1. Strong Black Lead
2. TV_Jessica
3. Brock Lee Florets
4. Bounce To The Next
6. Brandon B
7. Beythoven
8. Chef Brigette
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Remember last month, when Beyoncé released a pair country music songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” and white country music fans across America had a collective Caucasian conniption over it? After she dropped the two songs, people immediately started debating whether or not the Rennasainse singer was really cut from the country cloth, country music stations initially refused to play her new songs, and none of that prevented her from becoming the first Black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Well, one person who has had Bey’s back through all of it is country legend Dolly Parton, and that hasn’t changed now that folks are wondering if Beyoncé will cover Parton’s iconic hit “Jolene” on her upcoming album Act II, which drops on March 29.
In fact, last week, Parton all but confirmed that a Beyoncé cover of her 1973 smash hit does, in fact, exist, although she didn’t reveal whether or not it would appear on the new album.
“Well, I think she has! I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene’ and I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about that,” Parton told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
“I love her!” Parton said of the “Church Girl” artist. “She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer.”
From Knox News:
But Parton said she has always wanted Beyoncé to cover that song, and that the two artists have been in contact over the years. “We’ve kind of sent messages back and forth through the years. And she and her mother were like fans, and I was always touched that they were fans, and I always thought she was great.”
Parton praised Beyoncé when “Texas Hold ‘Em” became a No. 1 country song. “I’m a big fan of Beyoncé and very excited that she’s done a country album,” Parton wrote in a statement on Instagram. “So, congratulations on your Billboard Hot Country number one single.”
Of course, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Parton is excited about the possibility of Beyoncé covering “Jolene” since the 78-year-old also reacted positively when Lil Nas X covered the same song.
It’s just wonderful to see that when haters seem to be the loudest in the room, Parton refuses to let her voice be added to that particular echo chamber, and, instead, she serves as a beacon of support and positivity for those artists.
Anyway, fans are still just going to have to wait and see if Beyoncé’s “Jolene” cover makes it onto her new album. Either way, the Hive is ready. See y’all on March 23.
While a country smash from Beyoncé came as a surprise, for Grammy Award-winning producer Hit-Boy, the success of “Texas Hold ’Em” is a testament to the singularity of Beyoncé’s ear and vision. “She would be the only person that would think to bring Hit-Boy in on some country music,” he says. Although Beyoncé released the […]
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If we’ve learned anything about Jay-Z over the years it’s that he isn’t one to play about his family whether it be immediate or business related. So when Stephen A. Smith threw a tad bit of shade at Rihanna’s Super Bowl Performance, Hova had a little something to say.
Recently, during a sit-down interview on the Connect The Dots podcast, the sports journalist icon revealed that when he implied that Rihanna’s 2023 Super Bowl Halftime performance couldn’t measure up to that of Beyoncé’s in 2016, not only did some celebrities take issue with his comments, but Jay himself chimed in when the two spoke on the phone.
Saying “people who will remain nameless” and “Hollywood stars,” Smith said people were so mad at him that they never spoke to him again. And it had him wondering what was so taboo about his opinion. Ultimately, things came to a head when Stephen A. spoke to the GOAT himself, Jay-Z.
Recalling a conversation the two had some time later, Smith said, “Months later, Hov and I were on the phone. Hov was like – simple and plain, ‘My dawg, you family, that’s family. That’s too close to say that.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know.’ He said, ‘I know.’ Done! In other words, it’s a business, it’s a part of it, you don’t know how she’ll receive it, etc. etc. etc. That’s all he had to say. I appreciated that.”
We don’t know much, but what we do know is that you do not want Jay-Z in your ear telling you how you F’d up. Either personally or in a business sense. Good thing he didn’t say the opposite and imply that Rihanna was superior to Beyoncé. Things could’ve gotten hella ugly. Just sayin’.
Check out Stephen A. Smith tell his side of the story below, and let us know your thoughts on the situation in the comments section.
