With 'Cowboy Carter,' Beyoncé shows why she sets the standard for album releases, expert says
This isn't Queen Bey's first time at the rodeo.
Saddle up! Beyoncé’s country music album Cowboy Carter is here.
Since she teased the album during a Super Bowl ad in February and released the chart-topping singles “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ’Em,” fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of the star’s eighth studio album.
The buzz has been palpable. Musicologist Nate Sloan says that shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Beyoncé has mastered the art of commercial marketing when it comes to releasing music.
“By connecting each album to larger personal and cultural phenomena, she helps her work resonate and reach listeners,” he tells Yahoo Entertainment. “Beyoncé is a master at crafting narratives about her journey as an artist and a person and then connecting each successive album release to that narrative.”
Engaging fans is vital in today’s age of streaming, when listeners have a buffet of choices and are creating their own playlists across artists and genres.
“The album drop remains a key promotional tool for artists to cut through the noise and anchor their creative and commercial narratives,” Sloan explains. “Even if we don’t always listen to albums track by track, we pay attention when an artist, especially a superstar, drops a new one.”
Not her first rodeo
Beyoncé’s fifth, self-titled album was released on Dec. 13, 2013, without warnings, teasers or preplanned media coverage.
The 14-track visual album was critically acclaimed and became the fastest-selling album in iTunes history, reaching No. 1 in over 100 countries. It also made Beyoncé the first woman in history to have her first five albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
When celebrating the album’s 10th anniversary, the singer shared on Instagram that she still gets nervous before releasing new music.
“I still get scared before every album release,” she says in voice-over in the video. “I’m constantly searching for the deeper purpose for my art. Thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies.”
Since that 2013 album, Sloan says each of Beyoncé's releases has challenged traditional marketing methods and fan engagement.
She released her sixth studio album, Lemonade, on April 23, 2016, alongside a 65-minute film that was soundtracked by the album’s songs. The film debuted on HBO the same day as the album drop, letting the artist “connect the album to her [experience] with betrayal and healing,” Sloan explains.
The album earned spot No. 32 on Rolling Stone's updated 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Beyoncé won a Peabody Award in the entertainment category for the album’s cultural impact. It became the world’s best-selling album that year, with 2.5 million in global sales.
Six years later, on July 29, 2022, the singer dropped Renaissance, the first album in a trilogy. In the weeks leading up to its release, she generated excitement with several viral moments on social media.
For her first-ever TikTok video, she posted a compilation of people dancing and vibing to the album’s lead single, “Break My Soul.” She later made her music catalog available for fans to use in their own TikTok videos, drawing more media attention and allowing her music to dominate people’s social media feeds ahead of the album’s release.
“She drew inspiration from her family and her queer fans to form a modern house masterpiece,” Sloan says of Renaissance, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Now, with Cowboy Carter, the second album in the trilogy, Beyoncé is back in the spotlight.
Earlier this month, the singer shared that the country album 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. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive.”
Her release of music from the album during a Super Bowl ad in February created widespread interest. “Somehow she upstaged Usher’s Super Bowl halftime performance,” Sloan says.
Not everyone was supportive of her singles. At least one country music station initially refused to play the songs, later explaining that the decision was due to the station's market size. Fans launched a petition urging country radio stations to play her music, which sparked debates about artists and their inclusion within all genres of music.
One of the singer’s many talents, Sloan says, is being able to effortlessly tap into the zeitgeist and ignite conversations about power and equality. That’s no different this time around.
“With Cowboy Carter, she positions herself as reviving the long-standing tradition of Black country in the face of a country music industry that has suppressed that influence for decades,” he says. “By connecting each album to larger personal and cultural phenomena, she helps her work resonate and reach listeners.”
