They say a change is as good as a rest, but that's probably not what Beyoncé was thinking when she decided to release a country album.
Cowboy Carter, in fact, seems like more of a reactive ‘let’s prove ‘em wrong’ statement of intent following the backlash that the superstar endured when she performed at the Country Music Awards back in 2016. Appearing with The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) to sing her country-tinged track Daddy Lessons, Beyoncé found out the hard way what happens when you venture outside your predetermined designated genre.
It did make an important point, and also sparks a (much) wider debate, though; why is there an expectation that a country singer has to be white? Why shouldn’t a black artist be afforded the same courtesy as any other artist willing to make a stylistic switcheroo? And considering white artists like Eminem and Post Malone have been embraced by the rap and hip-hop communities - once designated as a predominantly ‘black’ genre - is the issue at hand more to do with the fact that a black woman was challenging the country music gatekeepers, and not a black man?
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Listen: Nathan Carter on Beyonce's Cowboy Carter
In any case, Cowboy Carter is an interesting listen - not because it’s treading ‘Album Of The Year’ territory, but because it’s the sign of an artist continuing to take creative risks. There was no way of knowing how a cover of Jolene or a collaboration with Willie Nelson would land with her fans, but challenging a loyal fanbase - certainly one as unflinchingly faithfull as The Beyhive - is no bad thing. And if it sends a small percentage of those fans down a country music rabbit hole, where at best they might discover the joys of artists like Gillian Welch or Emmylou Harris or Lucinda Williams, and at worse a deep dive into Dolly Parton’s back catalogue, how is that a bad thing? Everyone could do with a bit more Dolly in their lives.
Of course, Beyoncé is far from the first album to throw a musical curveball to their fans. Look at André 3000’s latest solo record: while OutKast fans continue to lament the lack of a reunion with Big Boi, instead he goes and makes a solo instrumental flute record, New Blue Sun - you gotta love it. Nobody was complaining (well, almost nobody) when Bob Dylan binned the folk tunes for the electric guitar, when Robert Plant went from rock icon to Americana purveyor in his collaborations with Alison Krauss, or when Lady Gaga traded in her pop chips for schmoozy cabaret with Tony Bennett.
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Others have been less successful; Snoop Dogg’s reinvention as Snoop Lion for his reggae album Reincarnated in 2013 was largely a clunky mish-mash that offered nothing new. And who can forget Chris Gaines, aka the balladeering rock alter-ego of country megastar Garth Brooks? The moody artwork, with his emo haircut and soul patch, set the confusing tone (although Lost in You remains an underrated tune, it must be said.)
All that to say, it’s good to mix things up. Perhaps Beyoncé’s next venture will be into disco, or hip-hop, or jazz. Maybe she’s found her true calling in country music. Isn’t the unknown is all part of the rollercoaster of being a fan? Either way, I’m looking forward to hearing Taylor Swift’s pirate metal, or mumblecore, or Tibetan throat-singing album dropping any day now. If anyone can take Tibetan throat-singing to #1, it’s the Swifties. And after all, a change is as good as a rest.
Cowboy Carter is out now
