Beyonce and Post Malone being nominated for country awards at the Grammys in February isn’t something I predicted. Sure, both are artists with skill in their respective home genres, but Cowboy Carter and F-1 Trillion are undoubtedly projects that are out of the ordinary.
Before these albums were released, I wouldn’t have considered myself a Bey or Post fan. I had never listened to more than five songs from either, much less a full album. However (perhaps more controversially) I do consider myself a country fan, thanks to my dad. And he listened to both projects, so I figured if he liked them enough, I could too.
Cowboy Carter dropped on March 29, 2024, and well into April, I found myself listening to it on repeat. And after Post dropped F-1 Trillion on Aug. 16, 2024, (with the extended F-1 Trillion: Long Bed immediately after) I was equally hooked.
There’s something I find so compelling about an artist who not only attempts a genre shift, but does so in an innovative way that – especially for a genre like country music – gives deference to what came before. And I felt like these albums did just that. Were the songs true country? Not really. But frankly, the country songs on the radio today aren’t real country anyway.
The country genre has grown away from its roots to the point where these genre-shifters succeed in ways current country stars haven’t. As someone who grew up on country music, this genre is near and dear to my heart. That’s a statement that might get me flamed by some people who only associate country music with the recent move toward lyrics about beer, guns and hot women.
Down to the boots
Country music has deep roots in Appalachia and the South, but the genre spread widely via broadcast radio in Chicago and Nashville. As rural Southerners moved to cities during the early 1900s, country, too, was exposed to new influences in blues and gospel music. The lyrical foundation of country music resonated across the urban and rural divide due to more generalized lyrics.
Heading into the 1930s and ‘40s, true country music began to spin into a variety of other genres including “western” music, swing style and honky-tonk. At the same time, other musicians attempted to return to the traditional values of country music, which became the bluegrass variant.
Commercialization took country to Nashville, establishing the center of the genre with recording studios and the Grand Ole Opry. That iconic Nashville style contributed to the commercial enterprise and its leading performers.
Then, in the 1970s, the genre variation within country diverged even more. Nashville “expatriates” grew outlaw music – a genre defined by its attempt to diverge from the constraints of the “Nashville Sound” by mixing elements of folk, rock and country music – while country and mainstream pop music continued to become more similar.
The kind of pop country that dominates mainstream radio now has been forced to reckon with the resurgence of Americana music and the continuing trend of artists dipping their toes into the genre.
Under the cowboy hat
Because of the offshoots and resurgences of various genre differentiations, country has always taken inspiration from the places it’s traveled through – musically and geographically. But today’s country looks remarkably homogeneous. White. Male.
Still, it’s essential that we don’t forget the other influences on country music.
The banjo – a crucial element in early Appalachian country – is descended from West African lutes, brought by enslaved people and appropriated through minstrel shows across America. It was largely abandoned by Black musicians as white banjo players integrated the instrument into country music.
Similarly, many early country artists played songs that were inherited from Black sources. Even as the South remained highly segregated into the 1920s and ‘30s, musicians collaborated across genre and racial lines. Country music featured these collaborations more than other genres “because the music was not a white agrarian tradition, but a fluid phenomenon passed back and forth between the races.”
But as commercialization continued, country music became segregated as a marketing tactic. Even though they were kept behind the scenes, Black country artists remained influential. In Ken Burns’ 2019 documentary Country Music, Burns and other historians said they hope new Black artists in country will help bring the genre back to its roots.
Those roots also lie in women’s influence on country music. Women were often marginalized in early days of the genre, but pioneers like Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn were able to make names for themselves. As country music got bigger, the number of women in the industry grew, too, with singers like Dolly Parton becoming staples of the genre.
Still, modern country isn’t without its gender challenges. Sexism remains a big factor in country music, something that haters often tout as the reason behind their derision. Songs about hot women in jean shorts and pickup trucks have run wild over radio stations, and the boundaries against women in country are still evident. Country radio program directors have historically been advised against playing too many songs by women in any given programming block. This listening cycle impacts ratings and rankings, as well as eliminating the influence women have had on country music as a whole.
All that being said, the boundaries within country music have certainly impacted the ability of artists outside the genre to make a foray in. Not to mention the discussion around if these artists are truly country, or even if country artists are making country albums.
Putting on the spurs
Are Beyoncé and Post Malone country artists? No, but let’s take a look at their respective projects through that lens.
Cowboy Carter
There’s an argument to be made about the toxic community of modern country music. Diehard country fans – and artists – were very outspoken against Beyoncé’s attempt to make a country album without being part of that community. But the fact remains that the community didn’t seem ready to accept Beyoncé at all, which leaves her and Cowboy Carter in limbo – too country and not quite country enough.
So, then, she made this album in part as a response to attempting to be part of that community and feeling shut out. And let’s be very clear: Beyoncé doesn’t consider Cowboy Carter a country album. But is ‘It’s a Beyoncé album’ just a clever way of preemptively protecting herself from the inevitable criticism of country fans? I’m not Beyoncé’s therapist. I can’t cast judgment on that decision. But what I can say is that Cowboy Carter, whatever it is, has roots in the longstanding history of country music.
But is it country, or something else, or something more?
It’s certainly entertaining. It’s a spectacle of, well, Beyoncé levels. She’s staring those critics straight in the face in songs like “THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW,” where Martell, known as the first commercially successful Black female artist in country music, talks like an Old Western movie narrator about what genre really is.
It’s defiant – “SPAGHETTII” takes genres and blends them into something entirely new, with features from Martell and Shaboozey.
It’s unabashed – in “SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN,” Beyoncé directly asks why she hasn’t won AOTY (and now she has) – and it’s chaotic.
Some of my favorites are the opening “AMERIICAN REQUIEM,” with its hard-hitting lyrics like “They used to say I spoke too country/Then the rejection came, said I wasn’t country ‘nough/Said I wouldn’t saddle up, but/If that ain’t country, tell me, what is?” and “DAUGHTER,” a devastating ballad that hits close to home for an eldest daughter with striking similarities to her father.
The album doesn’t totally lose sight of old country, with features from Willie Nelson and a remake of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” But overall, the production and stylistic decisions certainly stay more true to Beyoncé. So maybe it is just a Beyoncé album after all.
F-1 Trillion
While Post had his own barriers to being accepted into the country genre, the reaction to his album was arguably less intense than what Beyoncé faced. This could be due to any number of factors: All but three of the songs on the original album feature a prominent country singer. His sound, despite staying true to his own distinct style, is more homogenous to the expectations of a country song. And, perhaps most notably, he is a white man.
Post received his fair share of hate from hip-hop fans who called him a “culture vulture” after “White Iverson.” The country fanbase accepted him far more than the hip-hop fans did at first. When he started working more in the pop-and-country sphere, he said everyone was kind, a characteristic he attributed to the culture of country – rather than a testament to the culture he brought with him.
Still, it feels almost performative to have this number of big names slapped over the songs, like Post is trying to make up for stepping into the genre by having a stamp of approval from the reigning kings and queens of country past and present. But it works.
Post has his own Dolly feature with almost-breakup song “Have The Heart.” He’s got the beer-drinking ditty on “Pour Me A Drink” with Blake Shelton. “M-E-X-I-C-O” is a fun break in the middle of songs that are full of heart and heartbreak, as Post and Billy Strings attempt to outrun a number of crimes.
In many ways, he doesn’t diverge from the archetypes of modern country music. He’s got the stars singing alongside him, and he’s hit the Big Three (beer, babes and brawls). But the second disc of the album is only solo songs, affirming that Post can stand on his own in this genre.
The vocal techniques he uses throughout the album are just delightful, with songs like “Dead At The Honky Tonk,” where he growls his way down “hooooonky tonk.” Post and Lainey Wilson team up on “Nosedive,” arguably the best song on the entire album, and vocally nosedive through lyrics about learning to see the beauty in, well, the nosedive. These two are some of my favorites on the album, not only because they’re fun to listen and sing along to with a fake twang, but also because they take inspiration from old country and make something new with it.
Isn’t that all we can ask for from artists like these two who are stepping into the sphere of a different genre? To appreciate the old and make something new. Art, like anything else, is rarely truly original. But to understand the history of an artform and be able to create something new shouldn’t be grounds for attack, especially when the art is, actually, pretty good.
Country music isn’t any less divided – or divisive. Did Beyoncé deserve Album of the Year? Was Post Malone better received in the genre for gender reasons, race reasons or just musical reasons? And where does all this leave Bey and Posty? And, really, can I answer any of these questions? No. But hopefully these two projects leave listeners scattered: listening to genres they wouldn’t usually, thinking critically about genre and creativity and music. And me? I’ll be over here listening to Cowboy Carter and F-1 Trillion again.
