Washington Post columnist Brian Broome in a tribute today to music's cross-cultural and cross-racial appeal, and Beyoncé's runaway hit country -- and more -- album "Cowboy Carter," released yesterday. Growing up a fan of "white music" in the 1980s, Broome writes that country music had black roots as well, and that Beyoncé is more than at home in that genre:
"Back then, listening to White music was considered a betrayal of your Blackness. I still have Black friends who would read me for filth if they knew about my love of Silversun Pickups and The Shins. They would playfully, but seriously, suggest that my Blackness had been compromised. If they’re reading this, I guess they know now.
'Cowboy Carter,' Beyoncé’s latest album, hit the airwaves on Friday, and it has me wondering how and and why my community got to that point. Even I rolled my eyes a bit when I heard Beyoncé was releasing a country-themed album. But when I heard the first single, 'Texas Hold ‘Em,' I quit my eye-rolling. I liked it instantly; because it’s catchy and danceable but also because, as it was Beyoncé, I was allowed to like it.
And, when I saw the album cover, I had to chuckle. There she is, sidesaddle on a white horse, wearing a white Stetson and brandishing an American flag: Every stereotypical American symbol save a bald eagle and a rifle is there on prominent and tongue-in-cheek display.
Then there’s the music: I listened to the entire album on Friday and it is, as the kids say, 'fire.'”
She's joined by Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus and pioneering black country artist Linda Martell, among others. It's being described as her best work, which is something in itself.
(photo: cover of Beyoncé's new album. Parkwood/Columbia/Sony via AP)
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