On 'Cowboy Carter,' Beyoncé's country is as broad as the public she serves

When Beyoncé made the surprise announcement back in February, during the Super Bowl, that her forthcoming album would be a country album, it was immediately met with praise and excitement, validating what had been long expected and kickstarting a conversation about representation in country music. Except — wait — Beyoncé didn't actually say it would be a country album. Never did. In fact, she explicitly stated, in the days leading up to its release, that this was not a country album, even going so far as to project the words "THIS AIN'T A COUNTRY ALBUM. THIS IS A 'BEYONCÉ' ALBUM" onto the facades of various museums in New York City in an unauthorized, guerrilla-style street promotion.

So how did we come to convince ourselves otherwise?

First: Beyoncé engineered it that way, from donning a cowboy hat at the 2024 Grammy Awards, to releasing the country-influenced "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" as one of her two first singles (the second single, "16 CARRIAGES," was considered a country song only