Beyoncé revealed this week that her country album will be called Act II: Cowboy Carter.
But what’s the meaning behind the name? TikTok user @beysus.christ speculated that the title has connections to the Carter Family—and not Bey’s.
The Carter Family the user is referencing is a vocal group that came to prominence in the late 1920s, an act that has been deemed “the first family of country music.”
According to USA Today, in 1927, A.P. Carter, his wife Sara, and his sister-in-law Maybelle journeyed from Maces Spring, Virginia to Bristol, Tennessee to audition in front of record producer Ralph Peer at the Victor Talking Machine Company. That moment later went down in history as the “big bang” of commercial country.
The TikTok user also shared another nugget of information. The Black guitarist Lesley “Esley” Riddle traveled with AP on song-collecting excursions, where the pair learned music from Black and Mexican families to later infuse in the Carters’ songs. The user explained that Beyoncé might take this as a moment to restore Black musicians’ ties to country music’s roots.
Reporting the TikTok on his Instagram, Ebro Darden wrote, "Cowboy Carter it is….. love this breakdown! Also keep in mind the term 'Cow Boy' was what they called Black men, they called white men 'Cow Hands'. Calling Black men 'boys' was common place to emasculate us."
Elsewhere, it’s been speculated that Cowboy Carter is connected to Amon G. Carter, who, according to the outlet, founded the daily newspaper the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1906. He also helped create the image of the Texas cowboy.
Ms. Knowles-Carter hasn’t divulged the exact origins of her album title yet, so only time will tell.
Act II: Cowboy Carter is slated to arrive March 29.
