Jon Pareles

It belongs to her. It comes after... a lot of ferment in the country music world about how Black artists were marginalized, sidelined, ignored, and worse. One thing about this album is she has a lot of Black country guests on this album. She has Rhiannon Giddens playing banjo at the beginning of Texas Hold'em.

It belongs to her. It comes after... a lot of ferment in the country music world about how Black artists were marginalized, sidelined, ignored, and worse. One thing about this album is she has a lot of Black country guests on this album. She has Rhiannon Giddens playing banjo at the beginning of Texas Hold'em.

She's making an alliance with a lot of musicians who have been trying to get into country for years, Black musicians who have been pretty much ignored and sidelined. She put them on the album. So this album puts it out on the table, and because it's Beyoncé, it can't be ignored. I mean, I think that's what makes it a Beyoncé album, is it can't be ignored. She's too big.

She's making an alliance with a lot of musicians who have been trying to get into country for years, Black musicians who have been pretty much ignored and sidelined. She put them on the album. So this album puts it out on the table, and because it's Beyoncé, it can't be ignored. I mean, I think that's what makes it a Beyoncé album, is it can't be ignored. She's too big.

Well, I think, you know, Shaboos is from the South, and this is a natural sound for him. This is not some stunt. It's not some experiment. It's music he's grown up on, country and hip-hop, and he's made a fusion of them in his head and in his production. It's like the Lil Nas X record. This music is happening in this generation. And I think there's going to be more of this music.

Well, I think, you know, Shaboos is from the South, and this is a natural sound for him. This is not some stunt. It's not some experiment. It's music he's grown up on, country and hip-hop, and he's made a fusion of them in his head and in his production. It's like the Lil Nas X record. This music is happening in this generation. And I think there's going to be more of this music.

There's an audience for this. There are people who are receptive to it. But also, Tipsy was a number one hit on country radio. Country radio has been kind of a barrier to this hybrid. But Tipsy broke through. So I think more of that's going to be happening. Unlike Beyonce, who had to go around country radio, Tipsy got played.

There's an audience for this. There are people who are receptive to it. But also, Tipsy was a number one hit on country radio. Country radio has been kind of a barrier to this hybrid. But Tipsy broke through. So I think more of that's going to be happening. Unlike Beyonce, who had to go around country radio, Tipsy got played.

And then you have Post Malone, who went straight down the middle, mainstream country.

And then you have Post Malone, who went straight down the middle, mainstream country.

I mean, it's not just this song. It's the whole album. He got every... name brand Nashville songwriter. He got Tim McGraw. He got Hank Williams Jr. He got Blake Shelton. He got Luke Combs. He got Brad Paisley. He got all of the big names. And Post Malone is a real genre chameleon. He fits in wherever he wants to fit in. For a while, he was... He was rapping.

I mean, it's not just this song. It's the whole album. He got every... name brand Nashville songwriter. He got Tim McGraw. He got Hank Williams Jr. He got Blake Shelton. He got Luke Combs. He got Brad Paisley. He got all of the big names. And Post Malone is a real genre chameleon. He fits in wherever he wants to fit in. For a while, he was... He was rapping.

Then he made a sort of singer-songwriter-y phase. And this country phase is him fitting in with typical mainstream arena-scale country. In a way, I felt like this album was almost a parody of current country. It felt like I'm going to study up and I'm going to write songs that fit so squarely into your genre that your radio people will not think twice about playing them.

Then he made a sort of singer-songwriter-y phase. And this country phase is him fitting in with typical mainstream arena-scale country. In a way, I felt like this album was almost a parody of current country. It felt like I'm going to study up and I'm going to write songs that fit so squarely into your genre that your radio people will not think twice about playing them.

Appreciate it. Thanks.

Appreciate it. Thanks.