Following her hit album and tour, Renaissance, Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter March 29. Cowboy Carter, is also known as Act II: Cowboy Carter as it is her second installment in her three-part project made during the pandemic. 

Cowboy Carter was somewhat promoted as a country album, but after listening to the entire album, 27 songs that last a total of one hour and 28 minutes, I thought that some songs fit that genre while others didn’t. Overall, I really enjoyed listening to all of the songs, country and not. 

Lots of things stood out to me throughout the album from features to lyrics, but one of my favorite things was Beyoncé’s vocals on all of the songs. In her opening track, “AMERIICAN REQUIEM”, she has softer, harmonized vocals at the beginning of the song drawing you into the album. At the climax, she changes the tone of the song to be more intense and strong before going back to the exquisite high vocals that we heard at the beginning. 

After every few songs on the album, Beyoncé would add an interlude of sorts that is themed like a radio break with an announcer introducing the next song. She even got Dolly Parton to introduce Beyoncé’s version of “JOLENE” in the 22-second song named after Parton,  “DOLLY P”.

While I enjoyed all of the songs in their own way, there were obviously some songs that stuck out to me. Some of my favorite songs include “DAUGHTER,” “TYRANT”, which also features Parton, and “RIIVERDANCE”. Her covers of the classics “BLACKBIIRD” and “JOLENE” were also incredible and it was exciting to hear her voice on these songs I have know for years. However, I think my all-time favorite song on Cowboy Carter had to be “YA YA”. I enjoyed all the aspects of this song and I have been listening to it over and over again. 

Overall, I am super impressed with the album, especially after listening to it about 3 times all the way through. I would give this album 4.5/5 stars.