There’s a nasty not-so-secret that no one wants to talk about, so it’s best to start here: Black women are some of the most hated people in the world. Especially in the United States, anti-Blackness is everywhere. Even if you can’t see it, it’s everywhere. From the ivory halls of Washington to executives at Fortune 500 companies, black people are viewed as inferior. Because that’s how it works and how it works generation after generation, even Beyoncé, the most dominant person in music right now, can’t escape the fangs of misogyny.
Tell me if you’ve heard this before: A black woman is told she doesn’t belong, that she’s not welcome in a space, so she makes her own path.This is the story Beyoncé told in an Instagram post in March, the same day she announced her new country album Cowboy Carter. “When I first entered the genre, the criticism I faced forced me to transcend the limitations placed on me,” she writes. Unlike other music genres, country music is notorious for who it chooses to exclude, and the history of the genre is steeped in allegiance to the old ways of American prejudice, and no amount of mannerism or status can change that.
The irony, of course, is that now we have Cowboy Carterthe second part of a three-act project to restore Beyonce’s history and music begins in 2022 regeneration, her dance floor to house music. Her mission is to take back her own time. Beyoncé is the rare artist who can make such a shrewd move because she now represents something bigger than music. She’s an industry unto herself: swaggering, bold in her influence, with a built-in fan base that looks forward to every album release, Instagram post and product launch. Whether you agree with the motivations behind her work or not – there are legitimate criticisms for an artist who works on such a large scale as she does; mass influence in all areas of life requires a degree of questioning – there is no denying The fact is: No other contemporary black musician recognizes the country’s closed pastures—its past, present and possible future—more than Beyoncé. If nothing else, she’ll have people talking.
“I really have to thank the CMA for pissing her off,” X user @gardenoutro wrote On Friday morning, just after midnight, an hour after the album was officially released, Beyoncé’s 2016 performance with the Chicks drew attention but was later shunned by members of the Country Music Association.Where lemonade Memoirs of being laughed at regeneration Flirting with fantasy – dreams under disco lights, freedom and love have no opposition –Cowboy Carter Unfolds like an autobiographical novel: blending biography and fiction in songs like “Daughter” and “Spaghettii.” It transcends country music. “When 27 songs are all great, it’s easy to listen to them,” songwriter Rob Milton write on X.
That’s another thing about the Beyonce Effect: There’s no room for dissent in her world. Online, especially on social media, one of her new albums has achieved billboard status. This is worthy of celebration, but rarely worthy of challenge or pointed inquiry.
“A lot of people still want to be part of something bigger than themselves. Fandom gives them a way to do that. It’s not exactly a utopian space, though.” Mark Mark, a professor of fandom studies at the University of Chester Mark Duffett said. “Society’s concerns and issues are reflected in the fan community; they cannot escape being part of the wider social world.”
Despite the power of Beyoncé’s music, the release of her new album exposes the fiction of the shared internet. Not one but many. In its most intense form, fan logic thrives in isolation. On Beyoncé’s internet, as is the case with similar fan cultures, logic finds comfort in the sideways geometry of the echo chamber. Its reasoning deforms into blind fanaticism, wagging its finger in the face of disagreement. Fan logic goes against balanced judgment. It leads Barbs (Nicki Minaj fans), Beliebers (Justin Bieber fans), Hive members (Beyoncé fans), etc. into a cycle of fierce confrontation and sometimes crazy irrationality.