Thanks again for surfacing this. She's not wrong in calling out Beyoncé.
It is true she enlisted some incredible talent on the album and then drowned them out with pop sheen, "like a capitalist gesture to insert itself into that world.”
To which I say of course it was! She said herself it's “a ‘Beyoncé’ album, not a country album.” Her goal is to enhance the Beyoncé brand and make buckets of money.
Could she have been more magnanimous and showcased true black country? Sure, but that was never her intent. And two things can be true: She could have done a better job in that respect, AND even by doing this less than perfect album with capitalist intentions, it still calls attention to the fact that black women can be country.
Yasmin says “Beyoncé’s flagrant leaning on country aesthetics … suggests an artist conforming to the standards in order to cash in on the growing popularity of country music.” Again, what did you expect…it was a Beyoncé album. What Yasmin was hoping for was Beyoncé to do a Rhiannon Giddens album or a Rissi Palmer album, which is too much to ask for from the biggest black pop star in the world.
She goes on to criticize the lyrics for being “Hollywood’s version of the working person’s reality.” True, but at least Beyoncé is pulling from her own actual experience and not being inauthentic by making up sob stories she hasn’t lived. The album definitely would have benefited from “de-centering its superstar and letting the experts shine through” but that was never going to happen.
Even putting out the album she did, it made a statement. It’s getting radio airplay on country stations and shinging a light on the very real struggle of black musicians in the country genre.
I highly recommend listening to Rissi Palmer’s interview about the album on the Washington Post podcast: https://pca.st/09tb01zd
Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating here, I love Yasmin and her music. I just think she wanted Beyoncé to make a Rissi Palmer album and that was never going to happen. It’s not what the Beyoncé brand does.
AND it was still a positive that Beyoncé said to the country music industry: “Screw you, I can do this too”
@aburtch@maxellxlii90 I very much agree with everything you’re saying here. I think Yasmin’s critiques are well-founded … to a point. But it’s exactly as you say: what exactly was anyone expecting from Beyoncé? She’s … Beyoncé! It was always going to be pop- and mainstream-leaning.
I personally like much of the album. Having said that, one of Yasmin’s critiques that I 100% agree with was the inclusion of Post Malone + Miley Cyrus. Those 2 collabs feel out of place on the LP
@Nolasox@aburtch@maxellxlii90 I'm going much harder. Yasmin is mids and jealous and full of shit, and her take on A Doc Watson song was pretentious horse crap. Fuck her and go Bey. And anyone who thinks just turning profit is the reason Beyoncé made this album specifically doesn't know a damn thing about her, her fanbase or the industry. If she just wanted money this isn't the album she'd make. And snobbing on the production is just elitist, probably classist nonsense too
@mrcompletely@Nolasox@aburtch I think there is probably some amount of jealousy, but I’m not sure you have to tear down Yasmin’s talent. I think she rightly gets credit as an innovator on the acoustic guitar.
@maxellxlii90@Nolasox@aburtch I've listened to enough to have already written her off as uninteresting to me personally before this so it's no loss. But I'm not very interested in solo guitar for the most part overall anymore. But if she can't take a spicy shot or two she shouldn't start bullshit with her betters.
That said she's far from the worst musical artist who is enjoyed by people I like and respect
@mrcompletely@Nolasox@aburtch Is she responding to backlash from this? Is there published backlash to Yasmin’s piece? Have really only seen it discussed here. Didn’t know she wasn’t handling response well.
@maxellxlii90@mrcompletely@Nolasox The Washington Post podcast I linked to said they reached out to Beyoncé for comment and didn’t receive a response. Other than that I haven’t seen anything, but I also have cut back on my news intake these days.
There was the much expected “who does she think she is” from a lot of the more vocal bro-country artists.
@mrcompletely@aburtch@Nolasox I meant Yasmin’s response. You had indicated that she “can’t take a few spicy shots”, but I’m not aware of any indication she can’t take the heat for her criticism of Bey.
Beyoncé is a pop artist who went out of her wheelhouse to produce a pop album with country influence. It’s a great listen. And it does shine a light on country’s black influences. It will make listeners think and explore.
Yasmin wants it to make a stronger and more authentic statement. But the goal wasn’t the statement. It was making an accessible pop album. Boo hoo.
@chopaganda@aburtch@Nolasox Very good points, and also where I landed. It’s tempting to take Yasmin’s “side”, as I prefer her musical output to Beyonce, but it’s a great pop record from a pop star and pop stars will always smell like capitalism.
Very solid album, and conversations like this only cement it as an important piece of pop-art.
@maxellxlii90@aburtch@Nolasox I love blaming Capitalism for nearly everything. But I feel like it’s a little silly to invoke here. Yes, there is money to be made from pop music. It’s been that way since pop existed.
Writing music that is appreciated by the masses is an art form. And it’s arguably the most difficult thing to achieve in all of pop/rock.
Beyoncé made a black, country pop album in 2024 that both pays respect to history and sounds fresh and original. Bravo.
EDIT: Beyoncé is a profound culture warrior working high level magic for the healing and reconciliation of American cultures on Black and female terms, under the guise of making pop music. Reducing her motives to money is grotesque and hilariously, obviously untrue
Taylor is the most powerful musical artist today but Beyoncé is easily the most important
@mrcompletely@chopaganda@aburtch@Nolasox The line “park your Lexus” specifically is just one example of glorifying wealth and status that creates a disconnect from what I turn to music for.
@maxellxlii90@chopaganda@aburtch@Nolasox she definitely does live in and glorify the luxury lifestyle and that is part of what she does that I don't love, and there are plenty of other little particulars where I don't align with her, but that's okay. Overall she is a massively powerful positive force on many levels. She's likely the single most powerful pro LGBTQ voice in Black history just for one thing
@Rosey@maxellxlii90@chopaganda@aburtch@Nolasox I mean, she's got a lot of lyrics that I don't personally vibe with, but are we really doing that with lyrics? Because I still have a bone to pick with rich white people singing about how everything's right just to start and that really is just barely scratching the surface
@maxellxlii90@Rosey@chopaganda@aburtch@Nolasox well some are and some aren't. Some of her songs are just party anthems. Some are messages. Some are anthems with some deeper subtext. But "Naughty Girl" is not about anything but being a naughty girl as far as I can tell
@mrcompletely@maxellxlii90@aburtch@Nolasox I had a discussion on Beyoncé vs Taylor with a woman on the ski lift over the weekend. I think she said something along the lines of “Taylor makes music for 16yo girls while Beyoncé is making music for 60yo women.”
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