Whether it was Lemonade or Black is King, Queen Bey has excelled in the music industry and launched one successful album after another. Beyoncé Carter Knowles is known for pushing the boundaries of artistic expression through her unique music videos and empowering lyrics. Her timeless music has resulted in 32 Grammy’s and 99 Grammy nominations, earning Beyoncé the title of the most nominated and awarded artist in the music industry. This year, she was awarded Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammy’s for Cowboy Carter, the second album in her music trilogy started with Renaissance in 2022, leading to yet another controversial win in Grammy history.

Cowboy Carter, released in 2024, immediately received public attention due to its unique sound and musical fusion, as well as its divergence from Beyoncé’s previous genres. But most of all, it revealed the Black origins of country music, triggering a widespread debate amongst listeners.

Similarly, to the backlash faced toward Lil’ Naz X after his song “Old Town Road”, many found their prejudiced views and subconscious biases in question upon seeing a Black artist enter into the country music industry, challenging the stereotype of it being a “white genre”. The hidden truths of many musical genres being rooted in Black culture can be seen throughout history, most infamously through Elvis Presley and his celebrated appropriation of African American songs. Presley is often deemed as a “hero” who paved the way for Black musicians, when in actuality, he failed to fairly credit and compensate the original artists. Suddenly, when a white man became the face of the once ridiculed, soulful sounds of traditionally Black rock and roll, its origins faded into mainstream pop culture, and soon, a forgotten history. With her new album, “Cowboy Carter”, Queen Bey sheds light to country’s roots in the African diaspora that are often erased, striking a change in the past narrative. 

As dragon sophomore Jordyn Wiseman ‘28 puts it:

“I may not like country music, but I definitely don’t mind Beyoncé venturing out into it anyway. Because if you want to get technical, Black people made country music, so her being criticized for her own culture is INSANE.”

Despite popular images of country originating from white men in rural regions of the South, the genre was in fact sparked during the transatlantic slave trade when enslaved Africans brought traditional West African instruments such as the banjo to the United States.  This guitar-like instrument was one of the few means of cultural expression left for people who’d had theirs brutally stripped away. Unfortunately, the banjo became used during blackface performances, an instance of chronic cultural appropriation, and ultimately became popularized among white musicians, leading to many Black Americans letting go of that part of their culture.

While many people attended Beyoncé’s tour and welcomed this reclamation of Black history and culture, including celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, the Kardashians, Prince Harry, Megan Markle, and Cardi B, not everyone was thrilled with this new change. Despite being the highest grossing country tour ever, making over $400 million in sales, and being listed on Billboard’s Top Country Album chart for several weeks, Beyoncé was not nominated for the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, which was considered a severe “snub” amongst the public stemming from her racial identity and background. However, the controversy concerning Cowboy Carter isn’t entirely racial: As previously mentioned, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album is part of a three-part album trilogy that explores the history of Black artists in different musical genres. This unique concept seemed to get lost amongst the public, who made several complaints about Beyoncé winning a Grammy, given that she’d switched genres so suddenly and lacked prior experiences with country music. Additionally, many weren’t willing to accept Cowboy Carter as a “real” country album due to its fusion of folk, gospel, pop, hip hop, and country sounds used to represent the Black American experience and universal qualities of music. In all fairness, however, the album’s just not everyone’s cup of tea- Admittedly, Queen Bey is an incredible artist that has had and will continue to have far better albums than Cowboy Carter, and unfortunately this has led to it being a disappointment amongst some fans.

So it seems the debate is still split: Numerous people love the album, and others…Well, not so much. Regardless, Cowboy Carter left an unforgettable mark in the country music industry for its award winning Grammy nomination, intense controversy, and amazingly star-studded tour. Not only that, but it revealed the hidden origins of country music, providing a vital tribute to all of the contributions Black Americans have made towards the genre. Most of all, it reminded the gatekeepers that music is made for everyone and paved the way for future Black artists who are trying to make a name for themselves in the country music scene. Like it or not, Cowboy Carter is a monumental country album and an unforgettable piece of Black history.