On Feb. 11, in the middle of the Super Bowl, Beyoncé shocked the world when she released two new singles teased during a Verizon commercial, which introduced the possible genre of her Act II album — country.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” delved deep into her Texas-born roots, generating a debate on whether Beyoncé was entering a country era. But the gag is she’s always been country, and Ms. Tina wasted no time letting the world know this fact.
On Friday, Tina shared an IG video posted initially by long-time Beyoncé advisor, publicist, and friend Yvette Noel-Schure. The video was a montage of Beyoncé’s magazine covers, photo shoots, and outfits that show she always rocked the country aesthetic.
Included in the montage was a Time article by Taylor Crumpton that explained, “The greatest lie country music ever told was convincing the world that it is white. That hillbilly music turned white at the turn of the 20th century. And that Black musicians who created this music, alongside low-income white people, were suddenly classified under ‘race music.’ The lie became a truth.”
Despite what a manufactured Florida textbook or a misguided politician might trumpet, African-American history is American history. At some point, they have to stop tossing us into an “urban” category like our roots formed separately from the rest of the United States.
“We have always celebrated Cowboy Culture growing up in Texas,” Tina wrote. “We also always understood that it was not just about it belonging to White culture only. In Texas, there is a huge black cowboy culture. Why do you think that my kids have integrated it into their fashion and art since the beginning?”
In the IG post, Tina added, “When people ask why is Beyonce wearing cowboy hats? It’s really funny; I actually laugh because it’s been there since she was a kid; we went to rodeos every year, and my whole family dressed in Western fashion.”
Throughout the decades of Beyoncé’s career, cowboy hats, denim jeans, horses, and her southern roots have always been at the forefront of her music, even if it might get overshadowed by “urban” categorization and not recognized as “popular music” like other Grammy-winning country-influenced stars.
I advise you to go back and listen a little closer to Destiny Child’s and Beyoncé’s discography and challenge yourself to not think of country music as one type of sound and color, and maybe you’ll see she’s not new to this; she’s true to this.
And don’t worry; if you still struggle to put some respect on the 32-time Grammy winner’s name, Ms. Tina Knowles will get you all the way together.