Beyoncé's Country

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2024

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Renaissance Act II truthers, your time has come: There’s new music from Beyoncé, and boy, is it country. Her two new singles dropped two weeks ago, and in the time since, they’ve both climbed up the chart and taken the internet by storm. There’s the barnstorming stomp and holler ditty “TEXAS HOLD 'EM,” which just notched the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and the dark horse “16 CARRIAGES,” a autobiographical work song detailing Beyoncé’s roots in Houston, Texas. Charlie and Nate unpack both of these two songs, highlighting their structures, inspirations, and collaborators, from Raphael Saddiq to Rhiannon Giddens. Then, producer Reanna Cruz speaks to music journalist Taylor Crumpton, whose article for Time, “Beyoncé Has Always Been Country” lays out the cultural implications of this sonic pivot for one of the biggest artists of all time. Songs Discussed Beyoncé - Texas Hold 'Em, 16 Carriages, Break My Soul, Formation, Daddy Lessons Dink Roberts - Georgia Buck Carolina Chocolate Drops - Hit 'Em Up Style Elvis Presley - Mystery Train Unidentified African American Chain Gang - Waterboy, Run James Carter and the Prisoners - Po Lazarus Robert Randolph and the Family Band - Find a Way Vince Gill ft Justus West- High Lonesome Sound More Read Taylor Crumpton's article Beyoncé Has Always Been Country Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:55.0	Pop.
0:58.0	I'm musicologist Nate Sloane.
1:00.0	And I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
1:02.0	Beyonce has released two singles from her upcoming Project Renaissance Act 2, a sequel to
1:08.0	2022's Renaissance.
1:10.3	And these new songs sound very different. They are country music, like foot stomping, banjo plucking,
1:17.4	fiddle bowing, country music.
1:19.5	Heck yeah.
1:20.4	Two weeks since she released these singles
1:22.2	and she's already breaking records becoming the first black woman to top the country charts
1:27.0	There's been a ton of attention to this new Sonic turn Charlie I want to put these songs under our microscope to understand why they're so successful intrinsically, okay?
1:40.0	And then finally I want to bring in music journalists Taylor Crumpton to learn why
1:44.8	Beyoncé has always been country.
1:47.6	So we've got two songs which one which we start with?
1:49.5	We got to take it to the hoe down. So Park your letters, your keys out,
	...

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