Act ii: COWBOY CARTER Favorite 

Following her sensational first ablum dedicated to the Black queer community via house and dance music, act i: RENAISSANCE, Beyonce released act ii: COWBOY CARTER in late March . The album is speculated to have come from her 2017/2018 performance of "Daddy Issues" at the Country Music Awards with the Dixie Chicks where the artist felt "unwelcomed". As a Black woman with roots from Texas and Louisiana, clearly the country scene did not acknowledge her to be country at all and so the album was born. "Yet with her latest album, Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé breaks from her usual pattern—slightly—and homes in on a pretty specific theme: making the genre of country music, in particular, fit her, not the other way around. As a result, Cowboy Carter becomes as much of a listening experience as a query into who does and doesn’t get to participate in a genre. (Rapper Lil Nas X inspired a similar reckoning with his viral hit “Old Town Road” a few years ago.) Indeed, its spirit of inclusivity is one of the album’s greatest strengths: Plenty of names, both established and up-and-coming, Black and white, are invited to Queen Bey’s hoedown. Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, country singer Willie Jones, Nigerian American artist Shaboozey, and others feature. vAmong the record’s most poignant through lines is a searching interiority—particularly on tracks such as “Just for Fun,” “16 Carriages,” and “Oh Louisiana.” Here, Beyoncé leans into the art of storytelling that is so central to country music, reflecting on authenticity, roots, legacy, and purpose—and offering a sharp contrast to the unassailable pop-star veneer we typically see from the singer."