Cowboy Carter: A New Self-Portrait, by Beyoncé
Beyoncé dropped a new album today and it once again proves she knows something that most artists know and not enough of the world has awakened to — that the greater purpose of art is not making beautiful objects to collect, or merchandise to sell, but rather to make and model change.
You might think that Beyoncé already has it all figured out. How else can we explain the success she’s achieved or her drive to achieve even more? There’s nothing secret about the answer. It’s written throughout her new album, titled Cowboy Carter. Beyoncé, as an artist, is committed to figuring herself out as she goes. And, woo boy, does she go.
Cowboy Carter is described as “the eighth studio album by the American singer Beyoncé. Released on March 29, 2024, via Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records, the album is the second installment of Beyoncé’s trilogy project conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic, following Renaissance.” But like all works of art, this album is much more than it first appears to be.
Even though Cowboy Carter is conceptually presented as a broadcast by a fictional radio station in Texas, with country singers Dolly Parton, Linda Martell and Willie Nelson acting as radio DJs, like all works of art Cowboy Carter is just as much a self-portrait as it is a commentary on a world that continues to cry out for…
