State Champ Radio Cowboy Carter
As Cowboy Carter enjoys a second consecutive week atop the Billboard 200, the world continues to dissect Queen Bey’s latest opus. On Thursday (April 18), via a press release, Max announced a new documentary titled Call Me Country: Beyoncé & Nashville’s Renaissance slated to hit the streamer on Friday, April 26.
Produced by CNN FlashDocs, the upcoming documentary will provide a look at the impact of high-profile acts like Beyoncé and Lil Nas X on the contemporary country music scene and how their contributions connect to the history of Black artists in Nashville.
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Earlier this year, Queen Bey made history with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the lead single for Cowboy Carter, announced and released during the 2024 Super Bowl (Feb. 11). On the chart dated Feb. 24, “Texas Hold ‘Em” reached No. 1 on Hot Country Songs, marking the first time a Black woman had ever topped the ranking. The following week (chart dated March 2), “Texas Hold ‘Em” became the first country song by a Black woman to top the Billboard Hot 100. Following the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em” and its B-side, “16 Carriages,” streaming activity for other Black women in country exploded across the board.
Call Me Country will feature interviews with Grammy-winning country duo Brothers Osborne, “Texas Hold ‘Em” banjo player Rhiannon Giddens, Rissi Palmer, Aaron Vance and Denitia, as well as analysis from a slew of cultural critics and country music experts, including Touré and co-directors of the Black Opry Holly G. and Tanner D.
Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s eighth solo studio album, arrived March 29 with 27 tracks that pay homage to the Black roots of country music and envision a distinctively Beyoncé-esque future for the genre. The sprawling album included collaborations with several ascendant Black country stars including Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tiera Kennedy, Shaboozey and Willie Jones. In addition, country music legends Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton voiced interludes on the album, which Beyoncé described as a “continuation” of her Grammy-winning Renaissance record.
Fans may still be waiting on the visuals, but, in the meantime, they can enjoy the Call Me Country documentary.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter holds atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 20), after debuting at No. 1 a week ago, as the set earned 125,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 11 (down 69%), according to Luminate.
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With a second week in the lead, Cowboy Carter has the most weeks at No. 1 for any Beyoncé album since her self-titled set spent three weeks at No. 1 (its first three weeks on the chart), in December 2013 and January 2014.
Of Beyoncé’s eight No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, three have spent two or more weeks at No. 1: Cowboy Carter (two, 2024), her self-titled effort (three, in 2013-14) and 4 (two, 2011). (Since her self-titled effort, she’s topped the list three more times, with Lemonade [one week at No. 1, 2016], Renaissance [one week, 2022] and now Cowboy Carter.)
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Elsewhere on the Billboard 200, and for the first time in 2024, three albums debut in the top 10 at the same time, as the latest releases from J. Cole, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Benson Boone start at Nos. 2, 3 and 6, respectively. The last time the top 10 housed three debuts was on the Nov. 25, 2023-dated list, when Stray Kids, Chris Stapleton and Chris Brown saw their newest albums bow in the region.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 20, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 16. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of Cowboy Carter’s second-week unit sum of 125,500, SEA units comprise 103,000 (down 54%, equaling 132.69 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), traditional album sales comprise 20,500 (down 88%) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (down 70%).
While Cowboy Carter’s CD and vinyl editions were available to purchase only via Beyoncé’s official webstore in the set’s first two weeks of release, those physical configurations became widely available to all retailers beginning on April 12. (The album has also been purchasable as a digital download, widely, since its release on March 29.)
At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, J. Cole’s surprise-release album Might Delete Later arrives with 115,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 105,000 (equaling 137.95 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs), album sales comprise 9,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000. The album was only available to stream or to purchase as a digital download.
Might Delete Later was issued on April 5 without warning, and boasts collaborations with Gucci Mane, Cam’ron, Bas, Central Cee, Ari Lennox and Young Dro, among others.
Might Delete Later drew attention for its Kendrick Lamar diss track “7 Minute Drill,” which appears to find Cole responding to Lamar’s apparent disses directed at Cole and Drake on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” A few days after the release of “7 Minute Drill,” Cole publicly apologized for releasing the track, saying it “don’t sit right with my spirit.” Ultimately, “7 Minute Drill” was removed from the tracklist of the streaming edition of Might Delete Later on April 12, one day after the end of the latest chart’s tracking week. (As of April 14, the song was still available on the digital download edition of the set.) “7 Minute Drill” was the most-streamed song on Might Delete Later during the album’s opening week.
Might Delete Later is J. Cole’s seventh album to reach the top two rungs on the Billboard 200, after he notched six earlier No. 1s in 2011-21. He has logged one other entry on the list, with the Forest Hills Drive: Live, which hit No. 71 in 2016.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER notches its fifth top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200, as Minisode 3: TOMORROW debuts at No. 3 with 107,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 103,500 (making it the top-selling album of the week), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.54 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The album’s sales were supported by its availability across 17 collectible CD editions (including exclusive editions sold by Barnes & Noble, Target and the act’s webstore), all containing randomized paper merchandise (but with the same audio tracklist).
With the Nos. 1-3 titles on the Billboard 200 each earning at least 100,000 equivalent album units, it’s the first time we’ve had as many albums clear 100,000 in a week since the Dec. 2, 2023-dated list. That week, Drake’s For All the Dogs jumped 4-1 with 145,000, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) held at No. 2 with 137,000 and Dolly Parton’s Rockstar debuted at No. 3 with 128,000.
Future and Metro Boomin’s chart-topping We Don’t Trust You falls 2-4 in its third week on the list, earning 99,000 equivalent album units (down 24%). The set’s sequel album, We Still Don’t Trust You, was released on April 12 and will impact next week’s chart dated April 27.
Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time is pushed down 3-5, despite a 4% gain, with 72,000 equivalent album units earned.
Benson Boone’s debut full-length studio album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, skates in at No. 6 with 58,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the first chart entry for the singer-songwriter. Of the set’s starting sum, SEA units comprise 52,000 (equaling 70.21 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 4,000 (largely from its digital download, as the set’s only physical availability was through a limited release on CD) and TEA units comprise 2,000. The album was led by the hit single “Beautiful Things” (the most-streamed song on the set), which has spent the last nine weeks inside the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (through the list dated April 13), peaking at No. 2.
Ariana Grande’s chart-topping Eternal Sunshine falls 4-7 on the Billboard 200 with 48,000 equivalent album units earned (down 17%), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season slips 7-8 (though up 2%) with 45,000 units, Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Guts dips 6-9 with 43,000 (down 13%) and SZA’s chart-topping SOS drops 9-10, though with a 1% gain, to 40,000 units.
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
If it felt like Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter was the only album anyone was talking about last week, there was a reason for that: It was on pace to post the biggest single week for an album so far in 2024 by a wide margin.
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The album, Bey’s long-awaited pivot to a country-rooted sound and the second part of her expected Renaissance trilogy, bows atop the Billboard 200 with 407,000 units in its first frame, galloping past the 251,000 units moved by Future & Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You in its debut, previously the top single-week mark for any album in 2024. It’s also well clear of the 332,000 units posted by Renaissance Act I in its first week, making it Beyoncé’s best entrance since Lemonade notched over 650,000 units upon its 2016 debut.
How was Beyoncé able to outdo her Renaissance comeback? And what could we possibly expect to come with her eventual Act III? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
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1. We once again have a new high-water mark for a 2024 first week with the 407,000 units moved by Cowboy Carter in its first frame — a solid 75k higher than the 332,000 moved by Renaissance in its debut week. What do you think is the biggest reason beyond the superior first-week number for Beyoncé’s latest?
Kyle Denis: The biggest reason is the same as the one I gave when we broke down the massive streaming debut she garnered with Cowboy Carter lead single “Texas Hold ‘Em” a few weeks ago — Beyoncé is finally playing ball with new solo music after completing her transition to the streaming era. Renaissance’s numbers, while nothing to scoff at, were indicative of its circumstances — Beyoncé’s first solo studio album to receive a simultaneous wide release across all major streaming platforms. Now that Renaissance has run its course and done the job of introducing Queen Bey’s new music to younger streaming audiences, Cowboy Carter is riding off into the sunset off the back of that foundation. Couple that with both the natural curiosity of an artist like Beyoncé delving into country music and the current commercial power of that genre, and you’re left with Cowboy Carter’s robust first-week units total.
Jason Lipshutz: Track length, curiosity and quality. The fact that Cowboy Carter is 11 songs longer than Renaissance undoubtedly helped its streaming totals, as did the incalculable number of casual listeners who had heard about Beyoncé releasing her version of a country music album and pressing play with their interests piqued. But also, Cowboy Carter does not play out like a gimmick — the album has earned raves from both the BeyHive and neutral observers, and stands as one of the boldest mainstream projects of the year. We’ll see how it endures in her overall discography, but immediately, Cowboy Carter was a lightning rod too interesting to deny.
Taylor Mims: There was a lot more build up and marketing for Cowboy Carter than there was for Renaissance. We had the Verizon announcement, as well as two lead singles that really set the tone. There is no greater marketing than a single as good as “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The song was a great encapsulation of country music, made for brilliant line dancing videos and has been on repeat for months. While people might have been hesitant to listen to dance music or trust Beyoncé in a non-pop/R&B space, she proved that she can take on just about anything with Renaissance and even more fans were onboard for round two with Cowboy Carter. Being part of the Renaissance world last year was a big deal, and a lot of people did not want to miss out on the next big thing she did.
Melinda Newman: While a Beyoncé release always dominates headlines and charts, this one got an incredible start based on the Super Bowl commercial and the drop of “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” That started non-stop chatter for six weeks about the album and the reaction it would get from the country community, so by the time the album dropped, “Texas Hold ‘Em” had already topped a number of Billboard charts and the cultural discourse had reached a fever pitch.
Andrew Unterberger: The hype here was arguably even greater than for Renaissance, and it built on both the wildly positive reception for that album and the ensuing, headline-capturing Renaissance Wrold Tour. Plus, never hurts in the streaming era to have 27 tracks instead of just 16.
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2. Unlike with the recent blockbuster bows from albums by Ariana Grande and Future & Metro Boomin, which both spawned No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 debuts as well, the highest-charting song from Cowboy Carter in its first week is still prior Hot 100-topper “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which returns to No. 2 on the chart. Is there another track on the album that you think could be ticketed for a similar level of chart success, or is it all just parts of a bigger whole outside of “Texas”?
Kyle Denis: It’s a great problem to have, but there are many potential smashes on Cowboy Carter. Obviously “Jolene” and the Miley Cyrus-assisted “II Most Wanted” garnered the most traction during release week, but I’ve seen a lot of love for “Bodyguard,” “Ya Ya,” Riiverdance,” “II Hands II Heaven,” “Tyrant” and “Levii’s Jeans” (with Post Malone). If I had to choose one or two songs to directly follow in the footsteps of “Texas,” I’d put my money on “Bodyguard” and “II Most Wanted,” with “Ya Ya” right behind them.
Jason Lipshutz: I think “Bodyguard” eventually gets there, after the initial plays of Cowboy Carter prioritized her rendition of “Jolene” as well as the Miley Cyrus duet “II Most Wanted” (both of which debuted in the top 10 of the Hot 100). “Bodyguard” may have started below them both at No. 26, but the song offers the most thrilling distillation of Beyoncé’s country-pop approach on the album, as well as a hook and tempo that could work at multiple radio formats. Of course fans wanted to see what Bey did with “Jolene” and alongside Miley, but when the dust settles, I’d expect “Bodyguard” to keep climbing.
Taylor Mims: “Riiverdance” and “Bodyguard” seem like a clear frontrunners given the attention they have already received on TikTok and beyond. But there is still plenty of room for “II Hands II Heaven” and “Levii’s Jeans” to get love on streaming and radio. “Ya Ya” also has a wonderful sample of “These Boots Are Made for Walking” by Nancy Sinatra, and feels both familiar and new in a way that I think will carry it further than the first week numbers suggest.
Melinda Newman: There are a few. Though it’s not in line stylistically with what’s hitting on the Hot 100, “Blackbiird” is simply beautiful, and deserves the biggest audience possible. Beyoncé takes the 1968 Beatles’ classic, which Paul McCartney said he wrote about the civil rights movement, and reinvents it into a glorious testimony, with the help of rising Black women country artists Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts and Brittney Spencer. The arrangement, which includes part of the Beatles’ original version and stunning backing vocals from the four newcomers, is too good not to find the broadest possible audience.
Andrew Unterberger: “Bodyguard” seems like the most obvious Cowboy Bey Bop, one that multiple radio formats could glom onto for the entire summer if so inclined. And even though it wasn’t actually Taylor Swift providing those sighing backing vocals as many fans theorized…. maybe it’s not too late for her to actually do so for the song’s remix? Needless to say, that would certainly seal the deal.
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3. There are a whole host of guests on Cowboy Carter who have already gotten a considerable bump from their appearance on the album. Either from a legacy standpoint or a rising popularity standpoint, which outside collaborator do you think will benefit the most from their involvement with Cowboy Carter?
Kyle Denis: I would say Shaboozey and Tanner Adell. Shaboozey – who appears on “Spaghettii” and “Sweet ★ Honey ★ Buckiin” — is launching a new album next month (titled, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, out May 31), which gives him a nice window to convert the initial Cowboy Carter boost into a larger fanbase that tunes in to his own releases.
Adell has the built-in narrative of people clowning her for hoping for Beyoncé collab just for her to appear on both “Ameriican Requiem” and “Blackbiird.” That, coupled with her low-key viral “Buckle Bunny” and marketability as a “Beyoncé with a lasso,” should result in a substantial career boost for her. Fellow “Blackbiird” collaborator Brittney Spencer should also benefit nicely from this moment, given that it coincides with the current momentum of her My Stupid Life album, which dropped on Jan. 19. Moreover, Tierra Kennedy is releasing a single titled “I Ain’t a Cowgirl” on April 26, so she also has a chance to parlay this new exposure into a hit of her own.
Of course, from a legacy standpoint, country pioneer Linda Martell stands to earn the biggest boost. People know and love Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, but Cowboy Carter introduces Martell to millions of new listeners and people generally unaware of her contributions to country music history.
Jason Lipshutz: Someone send Willie Jones the Shaq “I wasn’t familiar with your game” meme on my behalf, because, holy cow, I could wait to hear more from him after listening to his Cowboy Carter duet “Just for Fun” for the first time. I could see the song serving as a springboard to legitimate mainstream interest for Jones, a former X Factor contestant who’s carved out a country following but has yet to score a crossover hit. “Just for Fun” could be that hit if it becomes a single from Cowboy Carter, but if not, Jones is deservedly experiencing an upswing now.
Taylor Mims: It has to be Linda Martell. Folks are already listening to Miley Cyrus and Post Malone, so I doubt their numbers will be as significant as Martell’s. A lot of people either weren’t familiar with her legacy before Cowboy Carter or they are going to be excited to return to her work. And she deserves renewed attention. Dolly Parton will also certainly continue to see a bump in streaming for at least “Jolene.” Beyoncé’s version is great, but it definitely makes you want to go back and listen to the original.
Melinda Newman: Beyoncé has not only created a work that honors the roots of country music and serves as an educational and entertaining work, she knowingly used her currency to shine the light on country legends and newcomers. While Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson don’t need the extra attention from Beyoncé, the legacy artist most likely to get the biggest boost from her presence on the album is Linda Martell, the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry. Though Martell’s country career was brief — she registered only three top 40 Country Airplay hits — it was very significant, and her spoken-word inclusion on two tracks on Cowboy Carter has already helped introduce her to millions of Beyoncé and country fans and burnished her place in the history books. The timing couldn’t be better, as Martell’s granddaughter is working on a documentary about her 82-year-old grandmother.
Andrew Unterberger: It’s Martell. Maybe not everyone who hears Cowboy Carter will go digging for 1970’s Color Me Country — though many listeners already have — but at the very least, her name now rings out with casual country (and pop and R&B) fans in a way that it perhaps never quite has before thanks to the major bump in exposure she’s getting from being one of this set’s spiritual elders. That increase in recognition of her legacy should long outlive any short-term streaming bump.
4. Cowboy Carter is the third album in four weeks to set a new mark for the best single-week performance of 2024, with a fourth very possibly coming via Taylor Swift in another couple weeks. Is there any particular reason you think the past month or so has seen such a glut of successful big-ticket releases, or is it mostly just a fluke of timing?
Kyle Denis: I think it’s a mixture of a fluke of timing and people trying to get their records out before the imminent Taylor Swift hurricane. That’s not to say that every artist who released before Swift was trying to get their moment in the sun before Tortured Poets Department, but I’m sure that crossed the minds of their labels and teams, at the very least.
Jason Lipshutz: Nope, just a timing fluke. New albums from Beyoncé, Future & Metro Boomin and Ariana Grande are always going to be big deals regardless of when they’re released, and after a relatively sleepy release calendar in January and February, things started to heat up in March, with Taylor, Billie and more Future/Metro around the corner as well. It’s been a fun month for pop fans (although I do fear that the summer will be comparatively barren — somebody save an album for July, please!).
Taylor Mims: Since roughly the Grammy awards in early February, big stars have been priming fans for a big year. Taylor Swift announced her new album. Kacey Musgraves announced hers the same day. We already had Ariana Grande and new Dua Lipa on the horizon. The music industry decided 2024 was going to be a big year for music and fans are paying attention. Beyoncé and Swift had a huge impact on music sales and touring last year and, rather than relying on two mega stars like 2023, it looks like there will be several other big names filling in the spaces around them this year.
Melinda Newman: There was a time before streaming’s rise when the fourth quarter was the repository for all the year’s biggest releases in order to take advantage of the holiday giving season, but that went out the window years ago when listeners switched to streaming instead of wanting a new CD in their stocking. That has led to big releases dropping year round, so I think the quick succession of record-setters is just coincidence. If anything, I imagine the acts would like a little more breathing room between releases so they could get more time at No. 1 instead of a revolving door at the top.
Andrew Unterberger: Some years, everybody just kinda gets in the pool at once. I do think we’re also just in a particularly rich period for new music at the highest commercial levels, both in terms of the established A-list artists and in the rising artists/sounds starting to properly crystalize within the mainstream. Maybe it’s just that we’re deep enough into the 2020s now (and out of the COVID-19 pandemic) for artists to feel more comfortable diving in with new projects. Regardless of the reasons behind it, it’s a fun time to be a pop fan.
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5. Act I was largely based in dance, and Act II has mostly come from the country world. Assuming it’s also rooted in a genre/history exploration, would you most be interested in hearing Beyoncé do with her potential Act III of Renaissance?
Kyle Denis: Rock is the genre most people expect for Act III, and I wouldn’t be mad at that. Nonetheless, there was already a solid amount of rock on Cowboy Carter, so how about a funk album? Let’s see Bey in her Parliament era! Completely selfishly, I’d love for Act III to be an album of jazz standards or musical theatre covers. This is just my truth!
Jason Lipshutz: Rock, for sure. We’ve got the expansion of the “Daddy Lessons” universe, now it’s time for “Don’t Hurt Yourself” to get one, too.
Taylor Mims: The rumor is rock and I would love that. As a big fan of rock, especially old rock’n’roll that came from legends like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Big Mama Thornton, Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, etc. – I think Beyoncé could do wonders with old school rock’n’roll, as well as reinvigorate a genre that has lost a lot of steam with a younger audience. If she could tap Brittany Howard, Amythyst Kiah, Gary Clark Jr., Stevie Nicks, St. Vincent, The Linda Lindas or HAIM — or get Jada Pinkett back into her metal roots — it would be a hell of an album. We’ve already heard her flirting with the genre on Lemonade’s “Don’t Hurt Yourself.” She’s got this.
Melinda Newman: The prevailing rumor is that Act III will be rock based and if her past Grammy Awards performances with Prince and Tina Turner are any indication, it should be another home run. She’s already shown on record— whether it’s 2016’s “Don’t Hurt Yourself” or Cowboy Carter’s “Ya Ya”— that she’s very comfortable in the rock world, though as she stresses on the new album, Beyoncé is way bigger than any one genre.
Andrew Unterberger: We want the funk. Give up the funk, Beyoncé!
Beyoncé is no stranger to lifting up her fellow Black artists, and she did just that with her recently released album, Cowboy Carter.
The project features Tanner Addell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts on Bey’s “Blackbiird,” a rendition of The Beatles’ 1968 classic. Linda Martell and Shaboozey are feaured on “Spaghettii,” while Willie Jones sings on “Just for Fun.” Shaboozey also makes an appearance on “Sweet Honey Buckiin’.”
To celebrate the talented Black artists that contributed to Cowboy Carter, Spotify launched a billboard in Los Angeles this week, noting that each of the featured artists received an impressive bump in streams and visibility on the streaming platform since the album’s release.
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Spotify x COWBOY CARTER Billboard
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According to Spotify, Beyoncé’s catalogue got a 395% in streaming since Cowboy Carter‘s release, Spencer’s music saw an increase of 37,220%, Reynolds saw an increase of 16,000%, Adell saw an increase of 3,200%, Kennedy saw an increase of 40,000%, Jones saw an increase of 5,650%, Shaboozey saw an increase of 1,350% and Martell saw a nearly 127,430% increase in catalog streams on Spotify.
Each artist also got a boost in first-time listeners. Beyonce’s first-time listeners increased by 85%, Spencer’s increased by 170%, Reynolds’ increased by 125%, Adell saw an uptick of 125% in first-time listeners, Kennedy’s increased by 110%, Jones’ increased by 75%, Shaboozey’s increased by 70% and Martell saw a nearly 1,145% uptick in first-time listeners on Spotify.
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On the day of its release on March 29, Cowboy Carter officially became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2024.
See Spotify’s Cowboy Carter billboard in its entirety below.
Spotify x COWBOY CARTER Billboard
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It might be time to refer to the Beatles as the Bey-tles from here on out! On Thursday (April 4), Sir Paul McCartney took to his Instagram page to share a lengthy message lauding Beyoncé‘s cover of The Fab Four’s “Blackbird,” which appears on her brand new Cowboy Carter album.
“I am so happy with @beyonce’s version of my song ‘Blackbird,” he wrote in a caption of a carousel comprised of a photo of the two artists and the standard Cowboy Carter artwork. “I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place. I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out. You are going to love it!”
“Blackbird,” stylized as “Blackbiird” on Beyoncé’s new LP, reimagines the acoustic original with additional bass, orchestral flourishes and lush harmonies (and lead vocals on the final verse) from a quartet of ascendant Black women in country music, including Tanner Adell, Reyna Roberts, Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy.
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McCartney spoke about the civil rights bent he alluded in Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, a 1997 Barry Miles-penned biography of the Beatles. In the book, McCartney explains that “I had in mind a [Black] woman, rather than a bird. Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a [Black] woman, experiencing these problems in the States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith; there is hope.’”
McCartney — whose original master recording is used in Beyoncé’s version, according to Variety — also revealed that he had the chance to speak with the pop icon about her take on “Blackbird.”
“I spoke to her on FaceTime and she thanked me for writing it and letting her do it,” wrote McCartney, who attended Beyoncé’s record-breaking Renaissance World Tour last year. “I told her the pleasure was all mine and I thought she had done a killer version of the song. When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now. Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud.”
“Blackbiird,” the second track on Bey’s already-record-breaking Cowboy Carter, is one of two covers on the LP. Elsewhere on the sprawling 27-tack album, Beyoncé takes on Dolly Parton’s seminal “Jolene,” rewriting the song to be a more seamless fit for a “Creole banjee b–ch from Lousianne.”
In 2022, with Renaissance lead single “Break My Soul” entering the Billboard Hot 100‘s top 10 for the first time, Beyoncé became the first woman in Billboard history to ever tally at least 20 top 10 hits as soloist and 10 or more top 10s as a member of a group. The only other two artists to accomplish such a feat? None other than Michael Jackson and McCartney.
The Beatles’ original version of “Blackbird” appeared on their eponymous 1968 LP — commonly referred to as The White Album — which spent nine weeks atop the Billboard 200. Recently, Emmy-winning documentarian Ken Burns compared Cowboy Carter to The White Album, citing both records’ extensive exploration of different musical genres.
Check out Sir Paul’s sweet Instagram message about Beyoncé’s “Blackbiird” below.
From Vice President Kamala Harris to Michelle Obama, everyone has something to say about Cowboy Carter. Since its March 29 release, Beyoncé’s eighth solo studio album has dominated conversations around the world – with its masterful mélange of genres as disparate as Americana and Brazilian funk and its sly connections to its Billboard 200-topping predecessor, 2022’s Renaissance.
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Cowboy Carter arrives amid a mainstream country boom, with acts like Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson and Luke Combs scoring some of the genre’s biggest crossover hits in over a decade. While country legends like Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton appear on the album, Beyoncé also ropes in some of the genre’s ascendant contemporary stars, including Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tiera Kennedy, Willie Jones and Shaboozey. Her decision to predicate the album on the genre’s oft-disregarded Black roots and her own family legacy has provided an intriguing juxtaposition to an era of mainstream country music that’s as rap-influenced as some of Beyoncé’s own pre-Cowboy Carter hits.
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The current lay of the land for country music is one of the most fascinating in mainstream music – particularly for Ken Burns, who directed 2019’s Country Music, an eight-part documentary series chronicling the history and evolution of country in American culture. In the documentary, which spawned a Billboard chart-topping soundtrack titled Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns, there is an extensive exploration of the African roots of the banjo and how pivotal the instrument was, in addition to Black and Mexican musicians, in cultivating the genre. Country Music also features contributions from Grammy-winning musician and scholar Rhiannon Giddens, who plays the banjo on Cowboy Carter’s historic Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single “Texas Hold ‘Em.” In celebration of Cowboy Carter, Burns also curated a “Black Icons of Country Music” video playlist on his digital platform, UNUM.
In a lively conversation, with Billboard, Emmy-winning documentarian Ken Burns discusses Cowboy Carter, how the new record recalls the Beatles’ White Album, Beyoncé’s covers of “Blackbird” and “Jolene,” and the important role Queen Bey plays in the archival of Black music.
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When did you first hear that Beyoncé was “going country?” What came to mind for you?
I don’t remember when I heard it, but it’s now ubiquitous. You can’t unhear it. We have silos out of commerce and convenience. Commerce wants to have a separate R&B from a separate rock’n’roll from a separate gospel from a separate classical from a separate jazz from a separate country from a separate Americana, etc.
I suppose [these are] easy descriptions for those of us [who] write about it, but they don’t exist. People listen to everything, and that’s what’s great. All of the original major country stars had a Black mentor of some kind. Take The Carter Family: A.P. Carter would travel around with the song collector, a Black man named Leslie Riddle. Jimmie Rogers — who, with The Carter Family, is the Saturday night and Sunday morning of country music’s genesis — learned everything from the Black railroad gangs that he worked with in Mississippi as a kid. Hank Williams, who is called the “Hillbilly Shakespeare,” learned everything he knew about music, he said, from a man named Rufus “Tee Tot” Payne.
Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, had Arnold Schultz as his mentor, another black man. Johnny Cash could barely play two chords on the guitar before he met Gus Cannon on a stoop in Memphis in the early 50s, he had been a blues singer since the ’20s. It’s always been there. These silos are actually nonexistent.
You’re hitting on a thread that Beyoncé alluded to in her Instagram message detailing some of the inspiration behind Cowboy Carter. One significant event along the five-year journey to the new album was her 2016 CMAs performance with The Chicks. Were you aware of the controversy around that?
Very, but the thing is: Who cares? This is what we focus on. We focus on the crucifixion, and we forget about the teaching. You have the Dixie Chicks – which automatically means it’s going to be controversial – and you have a Black woman, is that going to bring out a cr-cker who’s going to say something stupid? Of course it is! We’re in a polarized America. But at what point do we stop writing about the fact that people divide up completely superficially along lines of race and gender and politics? The important thing is she played, it’s a really good song, she played it really well and her new album is filled with great wonders. And let us also remember that the number one country single of all time is by a Black gay rapper.
I’ve centered race and the story of race in a lot of my films, and it bothered a lot of people — in the same way your question is talking about people who were bothered by her presence [at the CMAs]. They’re just repeating knucklehead ideas that have been around as long as people have been around — that you can other somebody and justify this separation. The other side of it is understanding the universal appeal of the country music, which is three chords and the truth, these little stories that are respective of who we are as human beings.
Art is way ahead of us as journalists and as people and culture who can’t get our act together. Artists are always reminding us that these barriers are nonexistent. You do not need a passport as a Black person or any kind of person to come into country music and find a home.
In your 2019 documentary, you spoke extensively about the African history of the banjo and the pivotal role that Black and Mexican musicians played in crafting what we now understand to be country music. On her album, Beyoncé loops in Black country pioneer Linda Martell and newcomers like Tanner Adell. Why do you think it was important for her to bring these artists along with her on this specific journey?
She knows that [with] just her mere presence. she’s making a huge statement. She knows that she’s not the first person here, and she’s trying to remind us that all of us stand on the shoulders of giants. Those shoulders were both black and white shoulders. There’s an incredible irony to me, that somehow white country is so mainstream that it feels compelled to say to a Black woman, “You can’t come in this door.” She’s in. She’s in anywhere. It doesn’t matter. Lil Nas X is in. Rhiannon Giddens is in. Linda Martell is in, her album in 1970 was fantastic. I remember I worked in a record store in 1970 and we sold it!
Have you listened to Cowboy Carter yet?
Yeah, I love it. “Texas Hold ’Em” is so fabulous. It’s really great and very bossy. And she’s not even conforming to the tiniest role that women often assume in country. She’s recognizing its pioneers, that’s why she’s lauding Dolly [Parton], who is, far and away, one of the greatest composers of all time in any genre. [Dolly] was accused of leaving country music, and she said, “I’m not leaving country music, I’m taking it with me.” When Grace Slick and other female rock ‘n’ rollers in ‘60s were hypersexualized, Loretta Lynn was writing “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’” and “The Pill,” [songs] you could say are proto-feminist. She’d never say “I’m a feminist,” but it was proto-feminist long before anybody like Joan Baez was saying stuff like this.
We’ve just got to understand, particularly in “Texas Hold ‘Em,” [Beyoncé] just walks in the door. It’s like a saloon in a Western. She uses the word “b–ch,” she’s unafraid to [reject] the assumption that a woman will be a certain way. That has never been her way, and we’re lucky for it because she becomes a pioneer.
Rhiannon Giddens, who lent her knowledge to Country Music, plays the banjo on “Texas Hold ‘Em.” What do you think is the importance of her specific presence on the track?
First of all, she’s one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met. She has combined exquisite musicianship and an understanding that there are no borders with this incredible interest in history. In fact, I’m working on a history of the American Revolution, and there’s Rhiannon Giddens doing a percussive, vocal, unbelievable version of — you wouldn’t recognize it unless I’m telling you — “Amazing Grace.” I’m nowhere near as smart as Beyoncé, and if I know to go to Rhiannon, then she already knew!
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Outside of “Texas,” were there any other moments on the album jumped out at you in terms of what they could have been referencing ?
I felt like it was kind of like a Sgt. Pepper’s [Lonely Hearts Club Band.] It was sort of experimental in parts. There’s small takes. there’s long takes. It’s just a laboratory. I guess Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, to my mind, rule the world, and I’m perfectly okay with it! [Laughs]. [Cowboy Carter feels] like you were just asked to grow up a little bit. Put on some big boy pants and come along where [she’s] at.
From The Beatles to Brazilian funk, Beyoncé is pulling from a ridiculous range of influences on this album. It’s almost like an epic in itself.
Isn’t she saying that there are no borders? All of this stuff is her gam! So, maybe you don’t say Sgt. Peppers, you say the White Album, in which you have the greatest heavy metal song. In a couple of places, you have the most beautiful love ballad. There’s some great country pieces in several places. Is there great experimental stuff? Yes. Is there a Beach Boys song? Yes. Is there a Bob Dylan song? Yes. Is there a folk song? Yes. And she’s just one person! It took four [people] to make that album, plus George Martin. You’ve got “Helter Skelter,” “Birthday,” one of the greatest songs of all time in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and it’s non Lennon-McCartney, you’ve got “Blackbird”! It’s still revelatory to me when I listen to it. So, Beyoncé said, “I’m going into country, but, by the way, I’m bringing every other musical form with me.”
Obviously, Beyoncé covers both “Blackbird” and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” on Cowboy Carter. How did those reimaginings land for you?
“Blackbird” has gravitated into McCartney saying, in recent years, that it’s about Black women in the struggle for civil rights. Whether that’s true or not — maybe that’s one of the meanings of it — doesn’t really matter. I trust Sir Paul, but Lady Beyoncé, or Queen, I should say, has given us this as a way of saying, “What are you all actually talking about whenever you say ‘no’?” That’s all we do in our dialectic, is say ‘no.’ And she’s a resounding yes.
“Jolene” is wonderful. It’s such a great, great vibe. We have this music given to us by the gods that’s coursing through us, and each generation has to rediscover and reexamine what we’re saying and how we’re saying it. She’s got guts. It’s not just this album, it’s just the last three or four — you just go, “Whoa, where did she come from? How lucky are we?” And when you stop and think about how defining Black music has been for all of American culture over the generations, the fact that there’s still [such ignorant white people] left in this country just makes you go, “I really feel sorry for them.” [Laughs.]
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In terms of categorizing the album, whether that’s via Billboard’s own charts or by separate awards institutions, do you consider this a country album? What do you anticipate those conversations looking like in the coming months and what do you think the impact would be should she get slotted into “pop” or “urban contemporary” instead of “country?”
She’s not gonna be barred from country. She can be picked off the white male, drum kit, electrified, programmed radio stuff, I suppose. I don’t know what it will become. I think she’s a force in music and I don’t think we have to make too much about it. Look at Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, [who both appear on Cowboy Carter]. They bridge gaps between people. They have kept factions within country and pop music together, talking to each other for generations. He, she, and now Beyoncé and others are reminders of our possibilities of being together — of not othering people.
Outside of “Texas Hold ‘Em,” what are your three favorite tracks from the album?
I can’t hide behind “Texas?” [Laughs.] “Texas” is one of them! Two of them would be cover covers and that would be “Blackbird” and “Jolene.” I don’t think there’s a better song on Earth than “Jolene” and Beyoncé knows that. And I think, “Smoke Hour,” it’s just a small little thing, a riff. It’s like when you’d hear these alternative takes of stuff on Beatles anthologies and you realize they had to go through there to arrive at what they did.
How do you think we can best structure conversations around this album so that we’re not bottlenecking the larger conversation around Black country music and its contemporary artists?
If you focus on the crucifixion and not on the teaching, you’ve missed it. So, if we’re always saying, “Oh, 2016 Dixie Chicks controversy, Black Woman, people protest, whatever,” we’ve missed the opportunity to just say, “Well, this is a whole bunch of really great new songs?” I’m now required by the nature of our conversation to say, “by a woman who happens to be Black.” Which means bupkis, right? And of course, in America, it means everything. We’re never going to get away from it, but that’s what we want to do. And when you have artists like Beyoncé, she’s just saying, “Don’t buy the con. Don’t invest in this. Invest in something else.” She’s trying to stretch herself and she’s an artist who makes music and is inviting us along.
In terms of this album’s dedication to archiving the expanse of America music — and highlighting the Black foundation of virtually all of that music — what would you liken that to in popular media?
There’s a big project at the Smithsonian in the ‘30s that collected the sounds of America. They recorded slaves that were still alive, people who remembered slavery, old men and women, folk tunes and things like that. It was part of the New Deal’s attempt to rebuild the country. We took stock of ourselves, and I feel [Beyoncé’s] appeal to archive is remembering that as much as all of this stuff is brand new, it owes its existence to what came before.
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated April 13), it’s pretty much all Cowboy Carter, as Beyoncé’s eighth official studio LP sets its six-shooter’s sights on the top of the charts.
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Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter (Parkwood/Columbia): Even in a first quarter that’s seen full-length releases from some pretty massive artists — including Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign, Ariana Grande and Future & Metro Boomin — Beyoncé albums remain a next-level event in the pop sphere. Cowboy Carter rode onto the scene last Friday (March 29) with more buzz and anticipation than any other LP of 2024 thus far, and the results have not disappointed: The album currently boasts a 92 score on review-aggregating website Metacritic, making it the second-best-reviewed set from any artist this year, and has also started receiving some serious Grammy buzz as the set to finally earn her long-overdue first album of the year trophy.
Unsurprisingly, the release is expected to make an eye-popping debut — helped by a number of physical versions of Cowboy Carter that Beyoncé is currently selling exclusively via her webstore. (Vinyl and CD are scheduled to go wide to all retail on April 12, which should give it a nice sales bump in its third chart week.) The set’s vinyl release includes four different-colored variants, each with a different back cover image of Beyoncé. The CD version includes an extra song, “Flamenco,” and is available in four variants (each also with a different Beyoncé back cover), while two of the CDs are exclusively available inside the boxed sets she’s selling — three versions of which are currently for sale, each with a T-shirt and a copy of the album on CD inside a branded box. And of course, there is a digital version for sale and streaming, which includes five tracks not featured on the physical release (“Flamenco,” “Spaghettii,” “The Linda Martell Show,” “Ya Ya” and “Oh Louisiana”).
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All of this should add up to a lofty sales total for Beyoncé, who has become a reliable performer in terms of physical sales, moving 190,000 such copies of Cowboy Carter’s 2022 predecessor Renaissance in its U.S. debut frame, according to Luminate. The new album is also streaming very well — at 27 tracks, it’s the longest album of Bey’s career to date, which will certainly help boost those totals — and Spotify even confirmed that it was the service’s most-streamed album in a single day of 2024 so far upon its release last Friday. That said, outside of previously-released lead single (and former Billboard Hot 100 No. 1) “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the album has no breakout hit yet on streaming akin to Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends” or Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” — as of Tuesday (April 2), the only new song from the set in Spotify’s Daily US Top Songs chart was the Miley Cyrus duet “II Most Wanted,” at No. 10. (Both “II Most Wanted” and Bey’s redo of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” were top 10 on Apple Music, at Nos. 10 and 8, respectively.)
Nonetheless, the high-volume combination of sales and streams should still result in a massive first week for Cowboy Carter — likely setting a new high-water mark for 2024 by passing Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You, which entered with 251,000 units on this week’s chart. It may also be in line to pass the 332,000 units Renaissance moved in its debut frame two years ago, becoming Beyoncé’s best-debuting album since her universally-beloved Lemonade bowed with 653,000 units back in 2016.
IN THE MIX
J-Hope, Hope on the Street, Vol. 1 (BigHit Music/Geffen/ICLG): J-Hope‘s latest is the musical accompaniment to his new Amazon Prime docuseries of the same name, in which the BTS alum hits the streets to meet dancers around the world and reconnect with his dancing roots. The six-track set features guest appearances from his bandmate Jung Kook as well as club legend Nile Rodgers, and is available in eight collectible CD editions, including exclusives for Target, Walmart and the Weverse store, all boasting branded paper merchandise (like posters, photo cards and stickers).
mgk & Trippie Redd, Genre : Sadboy (10K Projects/EST 19XX/Interscope/ICLG): The artist formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly’s first full-length release since officially rebranding as mgk is a 10-track team-up with longtime collaborator Trippie Redd. The resulting set is closer to the former’s hip-hop roots than his last few pop-punk-oriented albums, one of which (2020’s Tickets to My Downfall) debuted atop the Billboard 200. Genre : Sadboy is not yet available for vinyl purchase, but can be bought on CD via mgk’s official website.
Aaron Lewis, The Hill (Valory/BMLG): Longtime Staind frontman Aaron Lewis has found success in the country world since making a career pivot over a decade ago, particularly with conservative-courting right-wing anthems like 2021’s surprise top 20 Hot 100 hit “Am I the Only One.” His latest country-leaning effort The Hill is a 10-track acoustic affair, and is available on both CD and clear vinyl.
The friendship between Beyoncé and Jack White is still going strong. Following the release of her Cowboy Carter album on Friday (March 29), Bey sent a bouquet of flowers to rocker Jack White. The White Stripes songwriter took to Instagram to share the sweet gift, which featured a note that reads, “Jack, I hope you […]
Michelle Obama is loving Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album. The former First Lady of the United States took to Instagram on Tuesday (April 2) to share a photo of the recently released album’s cover art, alongside a plea for fans to register to vote for the upcoming presidential election this year. “@Beyonce, you are a record-breaker […]
Jon Batiste recently reflected on not only what it meant to work on Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter, but also how her country album is dismantling genre barriers.
The five-time Grammy winner co-wrote and produced the album opener, “AMERIICAN REQUIEM,” and he broke down the process by sharing a photo to his Instagram on Saturday (March 30) showing him and legendary producer No I.D. (real name Ernest Dion Wilson) in the studio, as well as their text exchange with Batiste writing out the chorus, pre-chorus and part of the first verse.
“This is the moment yall, where we dismantle the genre machine. I was happy to produce and write for AMERIICAN REQUIEM, along with Beyoncé and Dion. When I catch inspiration, the words and chords pour out of me. What an honor to then see how brilliantly Beyoncé made them her own and THEN further enhanced the lyrical statement, synthesizing it into the larger body of work,” he wrote. “After the harrowing vocal prelude that happens to start Cowboy Carter, you get to hear these words that read like a proclaimation. ‘Do you hear me or do you fear me?’ or better yet in our Louisiana vernacular ‘Looka dere, Looka dere.’”
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He continued, saying that he and Dion embarked on a “creative journey” asking questions about “the state of music” today. “We’d been having these conversations for years but something about recent times has felt ripe with the power of actualization. When I picked up my guitar and notebook to write this song I put my trust in God to liberate my creative mind, as I always do when channeling inspiration.”
But Batiste shared another conversation he had with a another legendary producer, Quincy Jones, that Jones even wrote as part of the foreword to Batiste’s 2021 album We Are, which won album of the year at the 2022 Grammy Awards. “‘It’s up to you to de categorize American music!!’ which is what Duke Ellington told him,” Batiste continued. “I really believe that is our generation’s role, led by a few artists willing to take this leap.”
He also praised Cowboy Carter as a “brilliant album, a work of such unimaginable impact and artistic firepower by a once in a generation artist. So glad that we finally got to collaborate with each other at this time,” Batiste wrote. “Producing and writing for AMERIICAN REQUIEM was an example of extraordinary alignment—when many leading artists see a similar vision at the same time, that’s when you know a major shift is happening. A new era, long time coming. Let’s liberate ourselves from genre and break the barriers that marginalize who we are and the art that we create. Grateful and impressed by my brother @dixson and the other collaborators who helped make this album opening statement possible.”
See Batiste’s full Instagram post below.
