Reimagining Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter: Why Her Album Deserves the 2025 Grammy for Album of the Year

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Beyoncé’s Long Overdue Triumph: Why Cowboy Carter Deserves to Lasso the Album of the Year Win

In a bold move, the music powerhouse, now 42, unveiled her eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter, last month. Serving as the second chapter in a trilogy that commenced with 2022’s Renaissance, this LP is a testament to Beyoncé’s creative evolution.

True to her style, Cowboy Carter defies categorization, blending an eclectic array of musical genres. Conceptualized as a radio broadcast by the fictional KNTRY Radio Texas, the album features country legends Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Linda Martell as the charismatic disc jockeys, adding depth and authenticity to the narrative.

The 27-track album features collaborations with big names including Miley Cyrus and Post Malone — plus Beyoncé’s 6½-year-old daughter Rumi — as well as those from lesser-known Black country artists such as Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey and Willie Jones. Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Nile Rodgers, Jon Batiste, Gary Clark Jr. and Rhiannon Giddens, meanwhile, perform instruments on various tracks.

Beyoncé has been nominated for album of the year four times over the past two decades — in 2010 for I Am … Sasha Fierce, in 2015 for Beyoncé, in 2017 for Lemonade and in 2023 for Renaissance. (The nominees for the 2025 Grammys will be announced sometime later this year, following the eligibility period, which runs from Sept. 16, 2023, through Aug. 30, 2024, per Billboard.)

Beyoncé’s latest project has received universal acclaim from both fans and critics, who praised the star’s expansion into the country genre.

On Metacritic, a website that collects reviews of media through reviews from sources such as magazines and websites, Cowboy Carter scored an impressive score of 92/100 based on 20 critic reviews.

Rolling Stone, for example, praised the LP as having “Beyoncé’s best vocal work on record,” adding that the album was “produced flawlessly.” Variety, meanwhile, called Cowboy Carter a “masterpiece of sophisticated vocal arranging,” also describing it as “a 27-course meal” that is “difficult to describe in whole, but endlessly easy to digest, serving by serving.”

The Bey Hive — as Beyoncé’s loyal legion of fans are collectively known — also have had high praise for the superstar and her latest musical project.

“The vocals on cowboy carter are INSANE. do not ever play with my sister!!!!” wrote one user on X (formerly Twitter).

“COWBOY CARTER IS SO GOOD I’M LITERALLY SCREAMING CRYING THROWING BEYONCÉ IS WINNING AOTY NEXT YEAR I’M CALLING IT,” said one other, as another fan added, “Cowboy Carter is really Beyoncé’s best album.”

“Cowboy Carter is such. an. insane. flex. If this doesn’t finally get Beyoncé AOTY…” one more fan wrote.

But the music icon remained cognizant that not everyone in the entertainment scene — or the broader world, for that matter — would readily embrace her departure from the boxes she’s been confined to throughout her career.

In a poignant Instagram post, Beyoncé expressed gratitude to her fans for their early support of Cowboy Carter, shedding light on its genesis. Revealing that the project had been five years in the making, she disclosed, ‘It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed.’ Many speculated this referenced her 2016 performance of ‘Daddy Lessons’ at the CMA Awards, a country tune from her album Lemonade, alongside The Chicks.

She continued, ‘And it was very clear that I wasn’t.’ Despite the setback, Beyoncé delved deeper into the annals of country music, immersing herself in its rich heritage. Reflecting on the power of music to unite diverse communities globally and amplify the voices of those who champion musical history, she remarked, ‘The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work

And with that, Beyoncé knew she had a story to tell, and Cowboy Carter was released on March 29.

It eventually broke several chart records and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, which marked Beyoncé’s eighth consecutive No. 1 album. (It was also the first album by a Black woman to top Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart.)

Spotify later announced on social media that Cowboy Carter became the platform’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far.

The LP also earned the title of most streams of a country album by a female artist on Amazon Music, and it also had the biggest debut on the streaming platform, the company revealed on social media.

Beyoncé initially surprised fans by announcing her new album during the 2024 Super Bowl in early February.

At the time, the singer appeared in a Verizon commercial, in which she joked about her internet-breaking abilities. She then posted the trailer for her new album on Instagram, sending fans into a frenzy.

After the viral announcement, Beyoncé dropped two singles from the album, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.”

“Texas Hold ‘Em” eventually hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, which allowed Beyoncé to make history as the first Black female artist to ever reach the top spot there.

Despite the success of the two singles, Beyoncé’s fans were left mostly in the dark about Cowboy Carter, which, at the time, was simply referred to as Act II. The singer had yet to unveil the LP’s

But, weeks before the album was set to drop, Beyoncé revealed the title by simply adding it and the release date to her Instagram bio and posting a shot of a saddle with a red, white and blue sash that read “Cowboy Carter” on her Instagram Stories.

Not long after, Beyoncé then revealed the album’s official artwork — a photo of herself wearing a red, white and blue outfit on a horse and holding up an American flag.

The album cover is reminiscent to that of the one she chose for Renaissance, which features her sitting on top of a luminous horse.

Earlier this year at the 2024 Grammy Awards, JAY-Z was honored with the 2nd annual Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, recognizing his profound musical legacy. In his acceptance speech, the 54-year-old rapper seized the moment to challenge the organization that honored him, particularly regarding their process behind the voted categories.

Asserting the subjectivity inherent in music and awards, JAY-Z emphasized the importance of getting it right, or at least close to right. He drew attention to his wife’s remarkable achievements, stating, “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn’t work.”

As the anticipation builds for the 2025 Grammys and the potential nomination of Beyoncé’s latest album for the coveted Album of the Year category, it’s evident that her universal acclaim, dedication to her craft, and fearlessness in exploring diverse musical territories make her more than deserving of this long overdue honor.

Regardless of the outcome, Beyoncé’s brilliance will persist, as echoed in one of the tracks on Cowboy Carter, where she sings: “A-O-T-Y, I ain’t win (That’s cool) / I ain’t stuntin’ ’bout them / Take that s— on the chin / Come back and f— up the pen.”