State Champ Radio Cowboy Carter
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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.
When Beyoncé released her Cowboy Carter album on Friday (March 29), the second in a trilogy of albums following 2022’s Renaissance, one of the immediate standouts from the country music-influenced project was a lush, harmony-stacked version of The Beatles’ classic “Blackbird” (stylized as “Blackbiird” on the album).
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Beyoncé’s lilting, gentle singing on the spare arrangement is accompanied by gorgeous, soaring backing vocals from a collective of rising Black female country artists — Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts and Brittney Spencer — whose profiles are already rising less than 24 hours since the album came out.
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Kennedy, who also provides background harmonies on the Cowboy Carter track “Tyrant,” as do Spencer and Roberts. Of “Blackbiird,” she says, “It was so beautiful. It feels like we were having a little Destiny’s Child moment. To get to share that moment with them on such an important song, with Beyoncé, is cool.”
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Paul McCartney, with contributions from John Lennon, wrote the original song as a tribute to the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black students who in 1957 endured racial discrimination after enrolling at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. McCartney told GQ in 2018 that according to slang used in England in the 1960s, “A bird is a girl, so I was thinking of a Black girl going through this – you know, now is your time to arise, set yourself free, and take these broken wings.”
The women did not know that their song had made the final cut until Beyoncé released the track list on Wednesday and did not hear the recording until the album was released first thing Friday.
“I posted some pictures of me [on social media] seeing the track list for the first time,” says Adell — who, like the other women, added that her phone has been ringing off the hook all day. “I was waiting along with the rest of the world. You never know, right? Things change all the time. So to see my name on that track list was just as much of a gasp moment [for me] as it was for everybody else, I promise.”
The women, who recorded their four parts together without Beyoncé in the studio, are prohibited from sharing specifics about how they became involved with the record or the actual recording process. There is so much privacy around the project that Adell could not answer if she had already recorded the song by the time she posted this message to Instagram on Feb. 11: “As one of the only Black girls in the country music scene, I hope Bey decides to sprinkle me with a dash of her magic for a collab.”
Kennedy says she heard the final version of “Blackbiird” the same time as the rest of the world, when the album came out at midnight. “It was crazy emotional hearing it for the first time,” she says. “I was bawling. Hearing my voice for the first time on that song and seeing my name, I’m still trying to process it. I dreamed that this would happen, but I never imagined.”
While Beyoncé sings lead on the majority of the track, Kennedy’s lead vocal can be heard as the song draws to a close, on lines including “Take these wings and learn to fly.”
“I get choked up every time thinking about it,” Kennedy says. “I’ve been in Nashville almost eight years, and there have been a lot of highs but a lot of lows, and sometimes you do feel broken. Being on the Beyoncé album, I feel like I’m soaring.”
“When I heard it, I thought it was so beautiful,” adds Spencer. “We hear it when we’re recording, but to hear the finished mix and the master, it’s really overwhelming. I listened to it with the ears of a fan.”
Though the four women were aware of each other and some of them are close friends, the quartet had never sung together and did not know how stunning their vocals would sound together. “It’s amazing just to hear the blend of all of our voices together and just how impactful it is — the fact that Beyoncé is lifting all of our voices simultaneously and taking it to the next level,” Roberts says. “I’ve been listening to it kind of nonstop, but it was definitely crazy to hear all of us together. It just sounded so beautiful, angelic and powerful.”
Adell, who also sings on the album’s “Ameriican Requiem,” says her father’s favorite song is The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” so even though it came out long before she was born, she was very familiar with the song and its message. “It’s a powerful statement to have four Black country females on this track accompanying Beyoncé. … I’m grateful for Beyoncé to shed some light on other country artists like myself.”
To the women, Beyoncé — whose Cowboy Carter lead single “Texas Hold ‘Em” stands at No. 35 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and has spent six weeks atop Hot Country Songs — has long served as a paragon of possibilities and hope, even in a genre where they feel they are often swimming upstream, both as women and women of color.
“Beyoncé has always been my biggest inspiration and I’m just so thankful, because I feel like to hear all of us on her song, it just shows that she believes in us and that is so empowering,” Roberts says. “I’m still in awe of the fact that my favorite artist in the world that has shaped my music, my art and my vision is now uplifting me.”
“I’ve adored Beyoncé for so long. I can’t count how many times I’ve been in Nashville and would say to myself, ‘What would Beyoncé do?’ At times when things felt really hard or when I wanted to elevate my thinking or feel better, there’s so many times where she’s just been a beacon of light in my life personally,” Spencer says. “Just being on a record with her, I just never thought that would happen and so it’s really beautiful.”
Each of the women is already making inroads on their own.
Alabama native Kennedy, who hosts Apple Music’s The Tiera Show, has released songs including “Jesus, My Mama, and Therapy.” The former Valory/Big Machine artist also performed in a tribute to Shania Twain at the 2022 ACM Honors and appeared in Dolly Parton’s music video for “Peace Like a River.”
Tiera Kennedy at the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards from Ford Center at The Star on May 11, 2023 in Frisco, Texas.
Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images
Adell broke through with her debut single “Honky Tonk Heartbreak.” She followed with “FU-150,” “I Hate Texas” and “Buckle Bunny,” all included on her 2023 Columbia Records EP Buckle Bunny, a mesh of country, rock, hip-hop and R&B sounds. She has since parted with Columbia. Both her and Roberts’ songs saw an immediate increase in streaming after “Texas Hold ‘Em” was released.
Tanner Adell performs onstage for the 3rd Annual “BRELAND & Friends” benefit for the Oasis Center at Ryman Auditorium on March 26, 2024 in Nashville.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images for BRELAND & Friends
Elektra artist Spencer first garnered attention in 2021 after she covered “Crowded Table” from The Highwomen, who have invited her on tour with them. Spencer released her debut full-length album, My Stupid Life, earlier this year.
Brittney Spencer
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Roberts released her debut album Bad Girl Bible, Vol. 1 last year and has opened concerts for Reba McEntire. ESPN has used her tracks “Stomping Grounds” and “Countdown to Victory” on Monday Night Football.
Reyna Roberts
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Spencer hopes their participation — and Beyoncé’s support of new Black country artists (Willie Jones and Shaboozey are featured on other songs on the album) — sends a message to the country community and its lack of diversity.
“I don’t know what exactly her intention is, but I think we can all assume that it’s a good one,” Spencer says. “She’s definitely made a statement, and I think she’s paying attention and she cares about what’s happening and she cares about Black country music. It’s powerful to watch. She’s the biggest artist in the world and she’s seeing what’s happening. To me, that says a few things: It says that the state of what’s going on is actually way more dire than I think people give it credit for. When I talk about that, I talk about, just honestly, the bigotry of this town. I think the world is watching. I think she’s making a statement. If anybody can get people’s attention in Nashville, I think it might be Beyoncé, and she’s done it in her own way. And it’s brilliant.”
Kennedy praises Beyoncé’s inclusion of country legends as well. “I think it is so beautiful what she has done with this album — the collabs with Willie [Nelson], Dolly [Parton] and Linda Martell and for her to give a spotlight to up-and-coming artists like me, I have no words,” she says. “I’m so thankful to her for giving us this spotlight, and I intend to keep shining that spotlight on other artists. There are so many amazing artists in country music who have been working so hard. There are so many different sounds in country music — hip-hop country, R&B country like I sing, Latin country — and she’s brought this entire audience to country music.”
For Roberts, her participation is a sweet victory of another sort. “I actually sang [‘Blackbird’] in middle school, and I remember auditioning for a solo and I did not get it,” she says, with a laugh. “It’s full-circle, because I definitely got it now.”
If you thought surprise drops and visual albums were the peak of Beyoncé‘s powers, think again. With 2022’s Renaissance and her buzzy new Cowboy Carter album, Queen Bey is meticulously rolling out a sprawling trilogy of releases that is sure to leave an indelible mark on popular music. Long before “Texas Hold ‘Em” made history […]
Beyoncé doesn’t just drop albums, she drops incredibly dense, multilayered bodies of work that pull from decades of musical history across genres and regions to fashion something wholly new and idiosyncratic from the legacies of those who came before her. With the release of her eighth solo studio album, Cowboy Carter, on Friday (March 29), […]
Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” with its pleading-to-the-other-woman cries of “please don’t take my man,” has endured over the past half-century. Hundreds of artists have offered up their own renditions of the song— the most recent being musical powerhouse Beyoncé, who included a more steely-eyed, daring reimagination of the song, with revamped lyrics, on her new album Act II: Cowboy Carter.
Parton previously recounted how she came up with the song’s titular name, telling NPR, “One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl — she was probably 8 years old at the time,” Parton said. “And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, for an autograph. I said, ‘Well, you’re the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So what is your name?’ And she said, ‘Jolene.’ And I said, ‘Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene.’ I said, ‘That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I’m going to write a song about that.’”
While the title came from a fan, the song’s lyrics came from Parton’s own heartbreak, spurred by a redheaded bank teller who had shown interest in Parton’s husband.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton said. “And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money.’ So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”
“Jolene,” which the prolific singer-songwriter Parton wrote solo, debuted on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 1973 and peaked atop the chart in February 1974. The song became one of Parton’s most iconic songs and “Jolene” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014. Last month, the album Jolene, which contains Parton’s iconic song, reached its 50th anniversary.
From faithful country-tinged renderings, full-on rock anthems and complete re-envisionings of the song, we look at 10 of the top covers of Parton’s “Jolene.”
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Park your Lexus, throw your keys up and dig into Billboard’s preliminary ranking and review of Beyoncé’s eighth solo studio album.
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There’s a new sheriff in town, and her name is Cowboy Carter. On Friday (Mach 29), Beyoncé finally unleashed her eighth solo studio album in its entirety. The Grammy winner first introduced her Cowboy Carter era with a pair of country singles — “16 Carriages” and Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Texas Hold ‘Em” — released […]
The Cowboy Carter era is almost upon us, and just a day before Beyoncé’s long-awaited country album is released on Friday (March 29), we’ve gotten a glimpse on the star-studded appearances on the project.
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The 27-track album will feature collaborations with Miley Cyrus, Post Malone and Shaboozey, according to Entertainment Weekly. Additionally, Dolly Parton, Linda Martell and Willie Nelson will appear in interludes on the album’s conceptual KNTRY radio station. Cowboy Carter also includes contributions from Black country artists such as Rhiannon Giddens, Tanner Adell, and Willie Jones.
Earlier this week, Bey shared a graphic filled with what appears to be song titles from the March 29-slated record, modeled after a Western-style poster. “Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit,” reads a banner at the top.
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Alongside the names of previously released singles “16 Carriages” and the Billboard Hot 100-topping “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the post also features the following titles: “Ameriican Requiem,” “Blackbiird,” “Protector,” “My Rose,” “Bodyguard,” “Daughter,” “Spaghettii,” “Alliigator Tears,” “Smoke Hour II,” “Just for Fun,” “II Most Wanted,” “Levii’s Jeans,” “Flamenco,” “Ya Ya,” “Oh Louisiana,” “Desert Eagle,” “Riiverdance,” “Tyrant,” “II Hands II Heaven,” “Sweet Honey Buckin’” and “Amen.”
Cowboy Carter marks the second act of Beyoncé’s 2022 album, Renaissance. In a March 19 Instagram post, Beyoncé both stressed that Cowboy Carter is “a continuation of Renaissance” and acknowledged the Billboard chart history she made with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she shared. “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 ain’t Texas, but New York City is gearing up for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter release.
A number of major NYC art museums were seen with a display projected onto the front that reads, “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” as shared in photos posted by ARTnews. Among the museums with the projected ad include the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum, New Museum and Museum of Arts and Design. Bey also posted a photo of the Guggenheim’s coordinates to her Instagram Story on Wednesday night (March 20).
However, in a statement to ARTNews, the Guggenheim “was not informed about and did not authorize this activation. However, we invite the public—including Beyoncé and her devoted fans—to visit the museum May 16–20 when we present projections by artist Jenny Holzer on the facade of our iconic building to celebrate the opening of her major exhibition.”
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Billboard has reached out to Beyoncé’s team, as well as the other NYC museums that featured the display for more information.
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Earlier this week, Bey shared the official album cover for Cowboy Carter, which is set to arrive on March 29. A clear continuation of her 2022 album Renaissance‘s aesthetic, the album cover for Cowboy Carter finds Queen Bey striking a pose while perched atop a white horse. She dons red, white and blue chaps, a simple white cowboy hat and platinum blonde hair as she raises the American flag.
“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 in her post, possibly alluding to her experience performing the country-indebted “Daddy Lessons” at the 2016 CMA Awards alongside The Chicks. “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.” Billboard reached out to the Country Music Association, who had no comment on Beyoncé’s March 19 Instagram post.
In her message, Beyoncé both stressed that Cowboy Carter is “a continuation of Renaissance” and acknowledged the Billboard chart history she made with “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she shared. “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.”
Hold your horses! Beyoncé has just unveiled an exclusive limited edition album cover for her forthcoming Cowboy Carter LP, just one day after debuting the album’s eye-popping standard artwork.
On Wednesday, the 32-time Grammy winner took to her official Instagram page to share the alternate Cowboy Carter artwork — which is exclusively available for purchase through her official online webstore.
For the new cover, Beyoncé strikes a statuesque pose on a small, gray platform as she stands completely nude with nothing but a pageant sash covering her body. Her hair is braided up with red, white, and beige beads, while the completely black background echoes the artwork for the rodeo queen-nodding standard cover and the artwork for 2022’s Renaissance album.
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Yesterday (March 19), Queen Bey revealed the standard cover for Cowboy Carter, which features the singer perched backwards on a white horse mid-gallop as she raises a cropped American flag and dons red, white and blue chaps and a pageant sash that reads the album’s title.
The fact that the pageant sash is a recurring motif on both Cowboy Carter album covers was not lost on eagle-eyed fans — especially because of the name printed on the sash for the limited edition cover. Instead of “Cowboy Carter,” that sash reads “Beyincé,” a variant spelling of Tina Knowles‘ maiden name. While some social media commentators were left feeling perplexed at the name, Knowles has spoken at length about the history of her family’s name, most recently during her appearance on Heather Thomson’s In My Heart podcast in 2020.
“A lot of people don’t know that Beyoncé is my last name. It’s my maiden name,” she told Thomson. “My name was Celestine Beyoncé, which at that time was not a cool thing to have that weird name.”
According to Knowles, a businesswoman and fashion designer in her own right, she is one of a handful of people in her family with that spelling of “Beyoncé” due to a clerical error on several of their birth certificates. Her brother and his children, including award-winning songwriter Angie Beyincé, spell their surname with an “I” instead of an “O.”
“I think me and my brother Skip were the only two that had B-E-Y-O-N-C-E,” she continue. “Because we asked my mother when I was grown, I was like, ‘Why is my brother’s name spelled B-E-Y-I-N-C-E? You know, it’s all these different spellings.’ And my mom’s reply to me was, like, ‘That’s what they put on your birth certificate.’” Knowles went on to reflect on asking her mother to demand a correction, but the reality of the times were that “Black people didn’t get birth certificates.”
The new Cowboy Carter album cover brings Beyoncé’s devotion to her family’s legacy — which she sings of in Billboard Hot 100 hit “16 Carriages” (No. 38) — full circle. Now, both her married name (Carter, by way of husband Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter) and her mother’s maiden name are represented in the artwork for her upcoming album.
This isn’t the first time Beyoncé has incorporated her family names in her ventures. In 2006, she and her mother started House of Deréon, a clothing line whose name was derived from her maternal grandmother’s maiden name. Seven years later, she mounted the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in support of her Billboard 200-topping 4 and self-titled LPs, and in 2016, she launched Ivy Park, an athleisure clothing line whose name is partially inspired by her daughter’s, Blue Ivy Carter.
In addition to sharing the new Cowboy Carter album cover, Beyoncé also shared some snaps from her and Jay-Z’s exclusive annual Gold Party in celebration of the Oscars. Among the photos were a regal shot of her mother, an adorable picture of the “Crazy In Love” power couple snuggling with one and another and several gorgeous flicks showcasing yet another Western-inspired outfit from Queen Bey.
Cowboy Carter —which features “16 Carriages” and the historic Hot Country Songs chart-topper “Texas Hold ‘Em” — hits digital streaming platforms on March 29.
Check out the limited edition Cowboy Carter album cover below:
