Ahead of the release of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter in two days, the singer has finally shared the track list for her country-flavored follow-up to Renaissance.
In addition to the already-released singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages,” Cowboy Carter also has tracks name-checking country legends like Willie Nelson (“Smoke Break”), the pioneering Linda Martell (“The Linda Martell Show”) and Dolly Parton; the latter is represented with “Dolly P” and a cover of “Jolene” that Parton previously hinted at.
The track list also leans into the “Act II”-ness of the new album, with most song titles boasting intentional double i’s: Opener “Ameriican Requiem,” “Blackbiird,” “Spaghettii,” “Alliigator Tears,” “Riiverdance,” “Levii’s Jeans,” etc. There’s also “II Most Wanted,” “II Hands II Heaven,” and “Smoke Break II.”
While the Cowboy Carter track list alludes to appearances by Parton and Nelson, no other guests were revealed on the track list.
Following the release of the two singles, “Texas Hold ‘Em” climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Beyoncé’s ninth solo Number One song. Even more notable, “Texas Hold ‘Em” hit Number One on the Hot Country Songs chart, making Beyoncé the first Black woman artist to top that chart.
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As Rolling Stone previously reported, Beyoncé recorded “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” with an assortment of crack musicians. The celebrated multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens played banjo and viola on “Texas Hold ‘Em,” while pedal steel player Justin Schipper, steel guitarist Robert Randolph, and producer/multi-instrumentalist Raphael Saadiq joined her on “16 Carriages.”
“When we did the first session, I was like, ‘What are we doing?’” Randolph told Rolling Stone. “Raphael said, ‘Here’s what Beyoncé has in her head. And you were hand-picked because you’re the only guy who could do this.’ Beyoncé already had an idea of what she wanted to do. She wanted to do something with some playing, with some country fire. She said she liked the way I make my instrument sound like a singer.”
