Beyoncé opened up about what led to the creation of Act II: Cowboy Carter.
The 2022 Grammy-winning album has long been rumored to be a part of a trilogy, with the upcoming album being the second installment. The artist announced Act II in a Super Bowl commercial and dropped two songs: “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.”
On Tuesday, the artist shared the cover art for the album on Instagram, along with a long lengthy caption celebrating the 10-day countdown to the Cowboy Carter release date.
The queen also thanked fans for the support they’ve shown for the two songs that were released on Super Bowl Sunday.
“I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart,” she wrote. “That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.”
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The artist explained that the album has been in the making for over five years and was born from an experience in which she “did not feel welcomed” after facing criticisms when she first tried to enter the country genre.
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“It was very clear that I wasn’t,” the Grammy-winning artist continued. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”
She added, “This genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
Beyoncé teased that she has a few surprises on the album and has collaborated with “brilliant” artists who she respects. “This ain’t a Country album,” she concluded. “This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”
The news first transpired when a Super Bowl for the new music came up for Verizon. The star attempted to break the internet but could not seem to do so with the phone company.
The ad shows her posing in front of a lemonade stand (a callback to her 2016 album of the same name), dropping a jazz album, introducing an AI called Beyoncé-I and running for BOTUS, among many other stunts while being unable to break Verizon. It ends with her saying, “OK, they ready. Drop the new music.”
