If you thought surprise drops and visual albums were the peak of Beyoncé‘s powers, think again. With 2022’s Renaissance and her buzzy new Cowboy Carter album, Queen Bey is meticulously rolling out a sprawling trilogy of releases that is sure to leave an indelible mark on popular music.
Long before “Texas Hold ‘Em” made history across several Billboard charts, Beyoncé commenced her trilogy with the release of the Grammy-winning “Break My Soul.” That thumping house anthem served as the lead single for Renaissance, which Beyoncé detailed as the first in a “three-act project” she recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This three-act project was recorded over three years during the pandemic,” she wrote in a message on her official website. “A time to be still, but also a time I found to be the most creative. Creating [Renaissance] allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving.”
A kaleidoscopic mélange of country, R&B, opera, ’70s rock, hip-hop, Americana, house, blues, gospel and more, Cowboy Carter has a few entry points that seamlessly segue into the Renaissance world. In fact the end of Cowboy Carter closer “Amen” transitions seamlessly into Renaissance opener “I’m That Girl”; the shimmering synth at the end of “Amen” feels like a spaceship transporting us to a world of alien superstars.
The connections don’t stop there. There are several lyrical Easter eggs baked into both albums, further solidifying the relationship between the two albums. In a press release shared shortly after the album’s release, Beyoncé revealed that she “was initially going to put Cowboy Carter out first, but with the pandemic, there was too much heaviness in the world. We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance. But I had to trust God’s timing.” Needless to say, Beyoncé’s grand vision is coming together right in front of our eyes.
Here are a few connections between Cowboy Carter and Renaissance.
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“Amen” & “I’m That Girl”
In Cowboy Carter closer “Amen” — which interpolates “Ameriican Requiem” — Beyoncé delivers a haunting hymnal in memory of America. “Say a prayer for what has been/ We’ll be the ones to purify our Fathers’ sins,” she sings. “American Requiem/ Them old ideas are buried here/ Amen.”
Here, Beyoncé conjures up a funeral for an America that has seen its demise on the back of its dual original sins, setting a foundation for her to croon, “Cleanse me of my sins/ My un-American life,” in Renaissance opener “I’m That Girl.” After all, what comes after death? A rebirth — a renaissance, if you will.
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“Ameriican Requiem” & “My House”
To commemorate the release of Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé — her box office-topping documentary concert film of her record-breaking Renaissance World Tour — Queen Bey dropped a marching band-anchored house bop aptly titled “My House.” “I grew up in this (House)/ I blew up in this (House)/ I’m too up in this (House)/ Don’t give a f–k about my (House)? / Then get the f–k up out of my (House),” she proclaims in the song’s second half.
Given that “My House” is something of a postscript to the Renaissance album, the track finds Beyoncé celebrating and defending the musical and metaphorical house she spent the Billboard 200-topping LP crafting. Thus, it’s no surprise she specifically sings of a “house” she did not have access to on Cowboy Carter opener “Ameriican Requiem.” “Goodbye to what has been,” she croons. “Pretty house that we never settled in.” When faced with denial, Beyoncé got her tools and crafted her own house.
Bonus: On “II Hands II Heaven,” Bey sings, “Singin’ sweet songs to Las Vegas, singin’, ‘I will carry on’ / Carry on, carry on; carry on, carry on / Singin’, ‘I will carry on,’” slowing down her delivery on the final “carry on.” That’s a direct callback to the “B-tch, I carry” section of “My House.”
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“Spaghettii” & “Pure / Honey”
With the “cunty, country, petty, petty, petty” lyric in “Spaghettii,” Beyoncé alludes to the Kevin Aviance “Cunty”-sampling “Pure / Honey,” in which she chants, “Get your money, money, cunty, hunty/ Don’t be funny with my money, honey.”
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“Levii’s Jeans” & “Church Girl”
In the flirtatious, Post Malone-assisted “Levii’s Jeans,” the singer-rapper croons, “Need you all night long, you’re my Renaissance.” An obvious nod to the Renaissance album and its celebration of the sweaty, lustful rapture of the dance floor, Posty’s lines also recall the reckless abandon Beyoncé sings with on “Church Girl” when she proclaims, “You know you got church in the mornin’/ But you doin’ God’s work, you goin’ in.”
Looks like Posty and Bey have answered Luther Vandross’ question, heaven can indeed wait if it means one last night of feeding into what brings you joy.
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“Flamenco” & “I’m That Girl”
In Cowboy Carter standout “Flamenco,” Beyoncé sings, “Inhale and exhale my breath until the deed is done.” Those lines get some added context with “I’m That Girl,” where bringing in the beat — the backbone of her house — is her deed. “I pull relief in / Bring that beat in, now I can breathe again!” she exclaims.
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“Ya Ya” & “Cozy”
Here’s another curious connection between Cowboy Carter and Renaissance: both albums feature songs with lines that play on the colors of the flags most often associated with the culture each LP explores — the American and the Progress Pride flags, respectively.
“Ya Ya”: “Good ole USA, s–t/ Whole lotta red in that white and blue, huh/ History can’t be erased, oh-oh/ Are you lookin’ for a new America?”
“Cozy”: “Black like love too deep/ Dance to the soles of my feet/ Green eyes envy me/ Paint the world pussy pink/ Blue like the soul I crowned/ Purple drank and couture gowns/ Gold fangs a shade God made/ Blue, black, white, and brown/ Paint the town red like cinnamon/ Yellow diamonds, limoncello glycerine/ Rainbow gelato in the streets/ Renaissance, yachtin’ in Capri!”
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“II Hands II Heaven,” “Virgo’s Groove” & “Move”
In Cowboy Carter’s “II Hands II Heaven,” Beyoncé sings, “Feel like you partied in Venus and we woke up in Mars.” During the Renaissance World Tour, Beyoncé performed the sensual “Virgo’s Groove” in a shell reminiscent of “The Birth of Venus.” At the tour — as it does on the album — “Move,” a militant track worthy of Mars, the Roman god of war, follows “Virgo’s Groove,” completing the image she pains in “II Hands II Heaven.”
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“Tyrant,” “Cuff It (Wetter Remix),” & “Alien Superstar”
Of course, two of the sultriest tracks of the trilogy share a few lines in common. For those who need a refresher, “Cuff It (Wetter Remix)” is the slower, more sensual version of Renaissance’s “Cuff It,” the Grammy-winning Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit (No. 6).
“Tyrant”: “Ride it like hydraulics, I am such a tyrant/ Every time I ride it, every time I ride it”
“Cuff It (Wetter)”: “Assume that it’s high tide, baby, just get in the water with it/ Boy, it’s waist-high, ain’t no need in holdin’ back/ Stay with it, baby, keep on cuffin’”
There’s also some lyrical overlap between “Tyrant” and fan favorite “Alien Superstar.” In the former, Bey sings “Lady with a whip, want what she wanna want, okay,” while she declares, “Category: bad bitch, I’m thе bar/ Alien superstar/ Whip, whip,” on the latter.
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“Sweet ★ Honey ★ Buckiin,” “Alien Superstar” & “Pure / Honey”
As a three-part track, “Sweet ★ Honey ★ Buckiin” is predictably stuffed with allusions to several Renaissance tracks. In the second verse of “Sweet,” the song’s first part, Beyoncé sings, “Ridin’ through just to put my eyes on you/ You are the superstar” Of course, these lyrics recall the beloved “Alien Superstar,” in which she declares, “Lingerie reflecting off the mirror on the bar/ Category: sexy bitch, I’m the bar/ Alien Superstar.”
Later, in the “Honey” section of “Sweet ★ Honey ★ Buckiin,” Beyoncé plays of the stickiness of honey, cooing, “You’re stuck to me/ All night/ Put a flower inside/ Stuck in me all night.” On “Honey,” the second half of Renaissance’s “Pure / Honey,” she croons, “I’ll get you stuck, stuck in my love/ Stuck in my honey/ Honey, honey, hon!”
Ms. Honey B sure knows how to work a double entendre!
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“Riiverdance” & “Thique”
Is it any coincidence that “Riiverdance,” one of the Cowboy Carter tracks that particularly leans into the sonics of Renaissance, bears similar lyrics to an actual Renaissance cut?
Where the “bounce on that shit” refrain anchors “Riiverdance,” Beyoncé extends it to “Thique,” in which she sings, “And hurry up, quick, ‘fore the moment ends/ I like what I hear, might be sleeping in/ Screaming, ‘Beyoncé,’ chocolate ounces/ Sit on that, bounce it, bounce it.”
