Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER is absolutely a “Beyoncé album” with country undertones, but the act ii masterpiece couldn’t have been created alone.
In addition to features from Post Malone, some of country music’s finest Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Miley Cyrus, Bey also enlisted the help of select Black country stars to bring her vision to life.
Willie Jones rounded out “JUST FOR FUN” while Shaboozey appeared on both “SWEET HONEY BUCKIN’” and “SPAGHETTII.” Trailblazing singer Linda Martell opens up the latter record declaring, “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes, they are.” She’s later featured on her own record, “THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW,” which introduces the next track, “YA YA.”
The real kicker was Bey’s “BLACKBIIRD”— a cover of The Beatles’ 1968 hit featuring Black female country acts: Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts.
It was particularly moving because the anthem was inspired by a Black woman setting herself free during the Civil Rights Movement, according to Paul McCartney’s 2018 interview with GQ.
Last but certainly not least, Bey’s youngest daughter Rumi Carter made her debut as a featured artist on “PROTECTOR.” With that said, here’s a full breakdown of every Black country artist from COWBOY CARTER. Saddle up.
-
Brittney Spencer
Image Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images Brittney Spencer is a Baltimore native who is highly respected in the world of country music. After going viral with her cover of The Highwomen’s “Crowded Table,” the group invited her to perform with them on their tour after the pandemic ended. She went on to release her debut EP, Compassion. Her top single is 2021’s “Sober & Skinny.” As one of the few curvy Black women in country, she described the overall experience to Billboard as an “uphill climb.” Yet, she feels her journey has a much bigger purpose.
Brittney moved from Baltimore to Nashville for her career and has since toured with Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire, performed several times at Grand Ole Opry, and at the Country Music Association Awards.
Watch her mashup performance of Beyonce’s “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” with Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.”
-
Linda Martell
Image Credit: Sean Rayford/2021 CMT Awards/Getty Images for CMT Linda Martell is one of the Black pioneers within country music. She was the first black female solo artist to play the Grand Ole Opry, but her budding career was plagued by racism—causing her to only have one album in her catalog. In 1970, Color Me Country landed at No. 40 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Three singles also landed on the charts and Martell even appeared on Hee Haw, a hugely popular, syndicated, country variety show.
Per Rolling Stone, she was described as a “Southern version of [rock-n-roll trailblazer] Ronnie Spector,” and unsurprisingly faced a slew of backlash and dealt with hecklers calling her obscenities during performances. Martell had a swift rise and fall and eventually, she left country music and settled for a quiet life of anonymity in South Carolina as a school bus driver. She finally received her flowers in 2021 with the CMT Equal Play Award. Her granddaughter, Quia Thompson, is currently raising funds to complete a documentary about Martell’s life and legacy.
See one of Martell’s televised performances of “Bad Case of the Blues” below.
-
Reyna Roberts
Image Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images Reyna Roberts is an Alaska-born, Alabama-raised singer best known for her 2021 single, “Raised Right.” Influenced by Christina Aguilera, Destiny’s Child, Gretchen Wilson, and The Dixie Chicks, the red-haired “hell-raiser” is spicy and sweet. As quoted in the aforementioned record, “I’m a little bit of whiskey in my sweet tea/ I’m a little bit of city in my country/ A little ‘hell yeah’ in my ‘hallelujah.’” Roberts garnered attention from the mainstream after covering Carrie Underwood’s “Drinking Alone” and appeared in Prime Video’s documentary, For Love And Country, which spotlights current Black artists making waves in country music.
Roberts recently released a music video for her single, “Miranda,” from her album, Bad Girl Bible Vol. 1.
-
Shaboozey
Image Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images Shaboozey is a Nigerian-American singer/rapper, best known for bridging the gap between Hip-Hop and country music. The Virginia native was featured on ““SPAGHETTII” and “SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN’.”
However, his biggest solo record, “Beverly Hills” from his 2022 LP, Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die, has amassed over 39 million streams on Spotify alone. He recently performed his latest viral single, “Vegas,” on the popular platform, COLORS. Yet, his highest-streamed record is his Duckwrth collab, “Start A Riot,” from the 2018 Spiderman: Into The Spider-Verse soundtrack. Shaboozey’s next album, Where I’ve Been, isn’t Where I’m Going, arrives on May 31.
Watch the music video for his latest single, “Anabelle,” below.
-
Tanner Adell
Image Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for BRELAND & Friends Ever since Tanner called herself “Beyoncé with a lasso” on her hit single, “Buckle Bunny,” it was destined for her and Bey to link up. The Kentucky native first went viral on TikTok with her love song, “Love You A Little Bit,” which is still her biggest hit digitally with over 31 million streams on Spotify. However, it was her anthemic smash, “Buckle Bunny,” where she reclaimed a derogatory term and flipped it into something empowering that garnered more recent attention.
Tanner signed to Columbia Records last summer and further manifested her appearance on Bey’s COWBOY CARTER when tweeting, “As one of the only black girls in country music scene, i hope Bey decides to sprinkle me with a dash of her magic for a collab.” That night, Bey released “16 CARRIAGES” and “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM.”
Adell was also featured as one of CMT’s Next Women of Country and is gearing up to release her next single, “Whiskey Blues” on Apr. 12 while teasing remixes to “Buckle Bunny” and “Trailer Park Barbie.”
Get into Tanner’s barnyard session of “Buckle Bunny” music video below.
-
Tiera Kennedy
Image Credit: Catherine Powell/Getty Images for CMT Tiera Kennedy is an Alabama native that’s described her music as “storytelling-based country laced with the influence of the R&B she was raised on.” Not only is she a proud songwriter, but she also is addicted to connecting with her audience. Inspired by Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, Kennedy intentionally pursued a music education with a special interest in country.
Armed with talent and knowledge, she scored a publishing deal and a radio show on Apple Music Country. Her proper merger of R&B and country came in the form of her adoring record, “Found It In You.” The demo has over 21 million streams on Spotify alone. She’s since opened for Kelsey Ballerini and Danielle Bradbery as well as worked with Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, and now Bey. She is set to release her debut album, Rooted, soon, with her next single, “I Ain’t A Cowgirl,” dropping on April 26.
Listen to “Found It In You” below.
-
Willie Jones
Image Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Amazon Music Willie Jones is a Louisiana native who also seamlessly blends Hip-Hop and country as heard on his top records, “Bachelorettes On Broadway,” “Back Porch,” and “Down By The Riverside.” He began his music career in 2012 after appearing on NBC’s The Voice. It was a short-lived tenure, but it was his 2018 record, “Runs In Our Blood” that really put him on the map. Following George Floyd’s death in 2020, he released “American Dream” to explicitly detail what it means to be Black in America. He was also featured in Prime Video’s documentary, For Love And Country. According to his collaborator, songwriter Jimmy Robbins, what sets him apart is how his songs are mature in nature with “vernacular that’s accessible to kids right now.”
Check out Jones’ latest visualizer for his song, “Easy,” below.
