Music Monday: Cowboy KNTRY

Admittedly, I don’t really like country music. Wait, I take that back, I don’t really like contemporary country music. I like some of the old-timey stuff. Your Patsy Cline and your Johnny Cash and your Willie and your Dolly. I think I feel the same way about the country genre as I do about jazz. Love the classics, hate the smooth variety. But I never doubted what kind of country Beyoncé would produce. She has made modern country music that speaks to its earliest origins, and with a beat that you can dance to – which is quite something. But then would you expect anything else from perhaps the most intentional musical artist working today? I love how “Cowboy Carter” reclaims a genre overrun by the Good ‘Ol Boy Cosplayers. Like so much in this country, the deepest roots of our culture – from music to food to yes even cowboys – owes an endless debt to Black Americans. And, like so much in this country, those debts have never been properly repaid.

The reason so many people (i.e. white conservative America) resents Beyoncé is because she has used her unparalleled starpower to remind America of those debts. And that’s just not something a lot of people want to hear. But because it’s Beyoncé, they can’t just ignore it. And that just makes them mad. To which I say, good. Be mad. It won’t change the fact that Beyoncé is one of the most talented, savvy and popular artists of this generation. And speaking of that intentionality, there’s no way – NO WAY – you can interpret “II Most Wanted,” the duet between Bey and Miley Cyrus, as anything other than a lesbian love song. "I'll be your backseat baby, drivin' you crazy." Like, that is not how best friends sing about each other. So, yeah, this is gonna play at some gay wedding receptions for sure in the future. For. Sure. Happy Monday, kittens.