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Beyoncé made history with her highly-anticipated act ii follow-up, COWBOY CARTER. The Texas-born powerhouse broke records and initiated conversation about what defines country music when the country-themed project arrived last month.
Now, a soon-to-premiere documentary special will delve into “this reckoning in the genre, straight from the country music capital of the world.” Call Me Country: Beyoncé & Nashville’s Renaissance, produced by CNN FlashDocs and streaming on Max, will make its debut on Friday (April 26). The documentary will include in-depth discussion and interviews with Rhiannon Giddens — who played banjo on “Texas Hold ‘Em,” one of the first tracks to release when Beyoncé announced her album earlier this year — Brothers Osborne, Rissi Palmer, Aaron Vance and Denitia, plus analysis from experts of the genre Touré, Larisha Paul, Chris Molanphy, Kyle Coroneos, Keith Hill, and Co-Directors of the Black Opry Holly G. and Tanner D, per CNN and a Warner Bros. Discovery press release on Tuesday (April 23). Watch the trailer here.
COWBOY CARTER released on March 29. The album “arrived during a revolution within country music as the latest arena of the culture wars in America,” reads the press release. “Some in the industry are welcoming more diverse artists, while others stick to a much narrower view of a genre that predominately centers around straight, white men. Call Me Country examines the impact of how high-profile artists like Lil Nas X and Beyoncé are challenging the country music status quo, and how Black artists in Nashville have been laying the foundation for this transformation for some time.”
Beyoncé announced her country-themed album after Usher’s Halftime performance during Super Bowl LVIII. She released “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” at that time, and made history as the first Black woman to release a single that reached No. 1 on country charts. Beyoncé previously explained that COWBOY CARTER “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. 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.”
The 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards Innovator Award recipient collaborated with genre-spanning artists, including legendary country singers and rising stars on the 27-track project. Beyoncé featured Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell — the first Black female country artist to play the historic Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee — Miley Cyrus, Willie Jones, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Rumi Carter, and “Blackbiird” quartet Tanner Ardell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts.
“This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” Beyoncé said ahead of her album’s debut. “This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!”