Beyoncé, Black Country & the Long Road to Cowboy Carter (With Dr. Francesca Royster & Taylor Crumpton)

Pop Pantheon

Tonight, Beyoncé will drop her eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter, her first explicit full-length foray into country music. As with every Bey project, there's a ton of meaning and history to unpack.

DePaul University professor and author of Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions, Dr. Francesca Royster, and writer and editor Taylor Crumpton, author of TIME piece Beyoncé Has Always Been Country, join the show to explain the long and often under-sung history of Black women in country: from the birth of many of the genre's core aesthetics and tenants during slavery, to 20th century recording artists who have attempted to break Nashville's white and male mass co-option, to recent breakthroughs from stars like Mickey Guyton.

Dr. Royster, Taylor & DJ Louie attempt to position Cowboy Carter in this long and arduous lineage, unpack the details and gestures of singles "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages", and parse how Beyoncé's country pivot is tapping into a much larger story than may appear at first blush.

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