A recent debate has sprung regarding the decision to give Beyonce’s album, Cowboy Carter, the Album of The Year award. Some critics question why her album won over other individuals, while others argue that the award was rigged. However, Beyonce’s album did more than what current music fails to do today which is to tell a story. Beyonce’s albums consistently push artistic boundaries, make cultural statements and elevate marginalized stories which is why her latest album, Cowboy Carter deserved to win Album of the Year.
Beyonce’s History of Redefining music and Culture
2013: Beyonce
Beyonce has been nominated a total of four times for Album of the year. Her self-titled 2013 album was a groundbreaking moment that forever changed the music industry’s rigid formula.
Before this, albums were released on Tuesdays, preceded by months of promotional singles and press. Then, without warning, she dropped Beyonce, a fully visual album on a Friday, and others soon began to follow suit. The marketing industry shifted its structure and now, major albums are typically released on Fridays.
2016: Lemonade
Another one of her albums is arguably one of Beyonce’s most powerful projects to date. It was a personal and cultural statement that involved poetic storytelling. It detailed the experience of Black womanhood, betrayal, healing and resilience. It spoke to a marginalized community and became a cultural movement. To complete this, it was accompanied by a full-length film and went on to earn a Peabody Award.
2022: Renaissance
Shifting the industry again, Beyonce’s album Renaissance again spoke to marginalized people with spotlighting the Black LGBTQ+ ballroom culture that shaped house and dance music.
Additionally, this album featured an immersive experience. Created as one cohesive piece through seamless transitions between songs, each track flowed effortlessly into the next, and can be a reflection of the unity of the communities it honored.
Despite the impacts of each, these albums were denied the Album of the Year award.
Cowboy Carter: Why This Album?
Enter Beyonce’s latest storytelling album, Cowboy Carter. In this album, Beyonce not only tells us of the complicated past of Black people and country music but also the complicated relationship between black people and America. It details how a set of marginalized people have made a home, and art in a country they were brought to. Additionally, it highlights the fact that Black people have never truly settled in this home called America.
Since starting to work on it in 2016, this album is a deeply intentional project that seeks to highlight the overlooked contributions of Black artists in a genre that has largely been excluded from the mainstream.
All of this cultural significance is tied into a lyrical composition with beautiful synchrony utilizing lyrical depth, sonic textures and thematic cohesiveness. An album with all of these elements can only be described as art and reopens listening to music not only for recreational purposes, but as a way to admire artistic expression.
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