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28 March 2024, 11:46
Beyoncé announces Act II with visual teaser
Beyoncé has teased that Cowboy Carter features multiple collaborations and we now know who they're with.
This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album...but which artists has Beyoncé collaborated with on Cowboy Carter?
Yesterday (Mar 20), Beyoncé took to Instagram open up about the inspiration behind her new studio album Cowboy Carter. Following a negative experience at the Country Music Awards, Beyoncé said that she "did a deeper dive into the history of Country music" and decided to "bend and blend genres together to create this body of work."
Beyoncé also teased that there are multiple collaborations on the project. She wrote: "I have a few surprises on the album, and have collaborated with some brilliant artists who I deeply respect. I hope that you can hear my heart and soul, and all the love and passion that I poured into every detail and every sound."
Who is on Cowboy Carter though? Here's what we know and all the fan theories about the Cowboy Carter tracklist so far.
READ MORE: Beyoncé Cowboy Carter: Release date, tracklist, news and theories about the Act II album
The Cowboy Carter tracklist and features are as follows:
Yes. On March 27th, Beyoncé unveiled the Cowboy Carter tracklist and "Dolly P" and 'Jolene' both feature on it.
One of the biggest theories ahead of Cowboy Carter was that Beyoncé has recorded a rendition of Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' for the project. Back in 2022, Dolly was a guest on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and she said that she would love Beyoncé to cover 'Jolene' and she's since told Tennessee outlet Knox News that it may actually be happening.
Dolly teased: "I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene’ and I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album."
Whether or not it's a straight cover is yet to be seen. Bring on March 29th!
Yes. One of the tracks on the Cowboy Carter tracklist is titled 'Smoke Hour' and country legend Willie Nelson appears to be listed as a feature on it. Like Beyoncé, Willie Nelson is a Texas native and she even repped Willie Nelson on the cover of Texas Monthly back in April 2004.
beyoncé wearing a willie nelson shirt on the cover of texas monthly - april 2004 music issue pic.twitter.com/7dOoQVWZwG
— BEY-Z🐝 (@beyzhive) February 12, 2024
One artist fans are desperate for Beyoncé to work with on Cowboy Carter is her sister Solange. Solange's When I Get Home project in 2019 was actually inspired by Black cowboy culture so it's not too farfetched to think they may have collaborated on a song for Cowboy Carter.
With a lot of country music revolving around themes of family and hometowns, who better to work with than Beyoncé's own sister?
Knowing that Cowboy Carter is a country album inspired by Texas, I wouldn't be surprised if Beyoncé had some special features inside of the project like Megan Thee Stallion, Solange, or DC5. If not in the album, at least in the visuals. I also think Delresto will be in the film.
— Anthos (@anthosgroove) March 14, 2024
On the theme of hometowns, one of Houston's biggest stars outside of Beyoncé is Megan Thee Stallion. In the past, Megan and Beyoncé have collaborated on the Number 1 remix of 'Savage' and Megan appeared as a guest on the Renaissance World Tour. With that in mind, there's a good chance they could reunite on Cowboy Carter.
Since 'Texas Hold 'Em' came out, Megan has also shown a lot of support for the single on Instagram. Has she been hinting at something?
Megan Thee Stallion mostrando suporte a “TEXAS HOLD EM” da Beyoncé no Instagram. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rrNOJk4z3E
— soty parody era (@poolsdrunk) February 20, 2024
Discussing Cowboy Carter on Instagram, Beyoncé alluded to her iconic performance of 'Daddy Lessons' with The Chicks at the CMAs. She said: "This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t."
Given that the album was inspired by that moment, fans thinks Beyoncé may have recorded a new song with The Chicks on Cowboy Carter. Like Beyoncé, The Chicks were blacklisted by the country music scene after they criticised George Bush during a show in 2003.
the chicks being on cowboy carter would be some sweet revenge omg
— Bradley 🦋 (@bradleyberdecia) March 19, 2024
One of the main themes of Renaissance was reclaiming dance as a genre and reminding people that Black people were the pioneers behind it. Based on what Beyoncé has said about Cowboy Carter, it seems likely that the album will put Black artists front and centre and fans are hoping that the project includes a Tracy Chapman collab.
Tracy is notoriously private so we'll have to wait until the tracklist and credits are revealed to find out if this is a reality.
.@Beyonce teased collaborations on her new album ‘COWBOY CARTER’:
— Tracy Chapman (@tchapmanonline) March 19, 2024
“I have a few surprises on the album, and have collaborated with some brilliant artists who I deeply respect.”
Imagine if there was Tracy on it, would you like it? 😮
Another artist whose name has popped up on social media is Bruno Mars. Despite performing at the Super Bowl together in 2016, Beyoncé and Bruno have never released a song together. On March 16th, Bruno posted a photo to Instagram of him wearing a cowboy hat and a 'B' belt that Beyoncé previously wore in her Ivy Park Rodeo campaign.
Bruno's sister also posted an Instagram story listening to 'Texas Hold 'Em' that same day.
BRUNO MARS ON COWBOY CARTER? pic.twitter.com/oZQRjrlgcl
— BEYTHOVEN | non-affiliated fan account (@beyonceparkwood) March 16, 2024
Ever since, 'Telephone' came out fans have been begging for Beyoncé and Lady Gaga to record the teased follow-up to the video. In the week leading up to Cowboy Carter, Lady Gaga shared a photo to her Instagram stories with a 'Telephone' poster in it and people have made connections between the long-awaited Renaissance visuals and 'Telephone'
One of Beyoncé's assistant stylists, Mason Poole also posted a still from the 'Telephone' video to his stories.
gaga posting the telephone cover art and now one of beyoncé’s stylists posting a picture of the telephone music video… TELEPHONE PART 2 IS COMING pic.twitter.com/w6TzXy2R5B
— wiLL (@willfulchaos) March 26, 2024
One other theory going around is that Taylor Swift will appear on Cowboy Carter based on the two superstars showing up to support each other at their respective film premieres in 2023.
However, with Cowboy Carter focusing on reclaiming country music and theories that Beyoncé will highlight Black artists, we're unsure whether or not Taylor would feature.
🚨 Taylor Swift is rumored to be featured on Beyoncé's highly anticipated album " COWBOY CARTER" Out next week
— willnights (@willnights1) March 19, 2024
— the world is not ready pic.twitter.com/BRGxO67TRQ
Like any Beyoncé project, it's probably best to expect the unexpected. Renaissance was a dance album and the features on it were Beam, Grace Jones and Tems. Another theory surrounding Cowboy Carter is that Beyoncé will explore the influence of Mexican music on country music too so there may be some Latinx features as well.
Beyoncé announced the tracklist and features for Renaissance nine days before it came out so we could find out the collabs for the album any day now.
Who do you want to appear on Cowboy Carter?
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