Starting at the top of the year, Beyoncé released two new singles off her highly anticipated “Act 2” album, which will be released on March 29.
The two songs, “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” lean toward a country sound that harkens back to the singer’s Texas roots.
The latter has become a chart-topper, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the singer’s 13th number-one hit and making her the first black woman to top the chart with a country song, according to various outlets, including Rolling Stone.
While to some, this may be a surprise for the singer taking this artistic shift, she comes into the genre already on the year’s incoming trend of cowboy and western aesthetics.
With Beyoncé’s music being a reclamation of black existence within the country genre, her fashion choices also exemplify the black lens that has always existed within perspectives of the Wild West. Now they’re finally being seen.
The song’s release has led to up-and-coming black country artists, such as Tanner Adell, receiving a spike in streaming numbers, as mentioned in Billboard subsequently after Beyoncé’s release. Moreover, artists like Reyna Roberts and Florida A&M University alum K. Michelle now have more eyes on them as they release and promote their current and new country releases.
However, outside of black culture’s reclamation of the Western world, the world at large from runway shows by Louis Vuitton, Luar, Mugler, Private Policy, and more showcasing heavy usage of leather, cowboy hats, denim, and more.
These brands highlight fabrics, pieces, and elements of the Western experience but now on a larger scale. Even Beyoncé was wearing the aforementioned new Louis Vuitton collection at the recent 2024 Grammy Awards, providing a slight tease as to what was to come with new music.
Only three months into the year with a new Beyoncé album on the horizon, while last year was the house of chrome, this year could pan out to be the house of the West.
