Music experts debate: Is Beyoncé’s new country music good or a cash grab?

Beyoncé’s new album comes out March 29. Photo courtesy of LiveNation/Beyoncé

Beyoncé continues to keep making history.

“Texas Hold ‘Em,” the newest single from her upcoming album, Act II (set for release on Friday, March 29), hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the UK Singles chart, and the Hot Country Songs chart. This makes her the first Black female artist ever to hold all those positions at the same time.

“Texas Hold ‘Em” made its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, along with another Beyoncé single, “16 Carriages.” With both songs being more in the country vein (It’s reported that the rest of Act II will be country-themed), it’s gotten people talking about the Houston-born, global pop star’s latest musical detour.

Beyoncé has previously dabbled in country music. Her Lemonade album included the bumping country track “Daddy Issues.” (She later remixed the song with country stars The Chicks.) She also performed a version of her hit “Irreplaceable” with country pop duo Sugarland, who were covering it at their live shows, at the 2007 American Music Awards.

Country backlash
While “Texas Hold ‘Em” has received love from fans and critics (Dolly Parton even gave her stamp of approval by congratulating Beyoncé for her success), Beyoncé going full cowgirl has gotten backlash from hardcore country enthusiasts. And it’s not just country fans showing their displeasure on social media. Conservative commentator Candace Owens said the artist was “Beyoncé-fying country music.” A country radio station in Oklahoma caught a lot of flak after rejecting a fan’s request to hear “Texas Hold ‘Em.”

The backlash isn’t surprising to more progressive country fans like Austin resident David Wrangler, who spins country tunes as DJ Disko Cowboy and owns the Vinyl Ranch music/apparel brand.

“If you get on social media and you look at comments,” Wrangler said, “I think it’s kind of a reflection of everything else you see, where it’s like a vocal minority is the loudest and the people that wanna dump on anything that doesn’t fit into their categorical shell that they put on something that they love or identify with. If it doesn’t fit that mold, then they immediately want to reject it.”

While there have been successful Black artists in the country-and-western genre (Charley Pride, Darius Rucker, rapper Cowboy Troy, Mickey Guyton), any country music (or country music performers) that doesn’t fit the usual mold of being conservative, patriotic, or just plain lily-white usually has a hard time being accepted by mainstream country audience listeners. (Remember when Lil Nas X almost had a number-one country hit with “Old Town Road”?)

Wrangler does wonder if these purists will release the same vitriol when Post Malone’s upcoming country album drops. “I’m curious to see if people are gonna challenge a Post Malone number-one country hit the same way they challenge a Beyoncé country hit,” he said.

Tapping a new revenue stream?
Country folks aren’t the only ones having a negative reaction. Raleigh-based, Black-entertainment publicist Gabriel Rich sees Beyoncé’s country pivot as nothing more than a cash grab.

“Many [Black] artists have done country music: Little Richard, Fats Domino, Stevie Wonder, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Commodores, etc,” Rich said. “But the difference is they were just expanding their music boundaries. All were tapping into their roots. Bey, on the other hand, is simply trying to tap into a new revenue stream. After years of making so-so R&B, that genre has all but dried up for her financially. Her music doesn’t sell. She doesn’t dominate contemporary R&B radio, either. So, she’s just going where the money is.”

Needless to say, Rich isn’t a big fan of “Texas Hold ‘Em.” “All the artists I mentioned that made country music never insulted the genre with a wack song,” he said. “Notice the song Beyoncé did. There’s a reason for skepticism by the country music world, and for anyone that’s been paying attention to Bey over the years.”

Rich has a point about Beyoncé’s declining sales. Her 2022 album Renaissance recorded some of the lowest sales of her career at 1 million units sold, according to an article on Boardroom.tv. In contrast, her 2016 album Lemonade has sales of 3 million. Both Dangerously In Love and I Am Sasha Fierce have 6 million in certified sales, but they were released in 2003 and 2008, respectively. On the other hand, her 2023 Renaissance tour sold more than 2.7 million tickets and grossed almost $580 million, including over 123,000 tickets in Houston, according to Pollstar.

Other Black-music lovers don’t view Beyoncé’s new music quite as cynically. Marcus “Mista GoodBar” Lynn, who hosts the R&B radio show The Remedy on KPFT 90.1 FM, appreciates Beyoncé’s willingness to go beyond Black and pop music.

“I fully support not being boxed in by societal norms and labels,” Lynn said. “Having the freedom to extend her creativity, she encourages others to do the same, and also helps to create an environment where that is encouraged and even nurtured.”

Not the first time

It seems that whenever Beyoncé dips her toes in another musical genre, some of that genre’s audience get a little salty. People in the EDM community got a bit critical when her last album, the dance/disco-heavy Renaissance, won Grammys for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance/Electronic Recording.

Other moves Beyoncé has made indicate she has an ongoing interest in the intersection of country music and the Black experience. As evidenced by the debut of her Ivy Park Rodeo streetwear collection in 2021, Beyoncé has been on a mission to salute all Black cowboys and cowgirls past and present, especially those from her neck of the woods.

“I grew up going to the Houston rodeo every year,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2021. “One of my inspirations came from the overlooked history of the American Black cowboy. Many of them were originally called cowhands, who experienced great discrimination and were often forced to work with the worst, most temperamental horses. They took their talents and formed the Soul Circuit. Through time, these Black rodeos showcased incredible performers and helped us reclaim our place in Western history and culture.”

Hopefully, Beyoncé fully embracing her country side will bring more awareness to not just the Black country artists of the past but also the Black country artists of today. (“Texas Hold ‘Em” does include banjo and viola work from Rhiannon Giddens, from the country/bluegrass/blues collective the Carolina Chocolate Drops.)

According to Wrangler, these artists are not that difficult to find. He said, “I think that if anyone does a very quick Google search on the history of country music, its ties to bluegrass, its ties to enslaved peoples’ music – all of those things you can find in a two-minute scrub of YouTube.”