I am seriously considering taking the day off a week tomorrow because I will be BUSY. If you have to ask… 

 

One week from tomorrow Beyoncé’s act ii, COWBOY CARTER, will be upon us. And it will require all day listening and concurrent studying to uncover the layers and layers of meaning and history – EDUCATION! – Beyoncé has embedded into her latest work. Which means I’d be taking a day off from work to go to class! Do I have your support on this? Like, won’t you be in class too?!

With Beyoncé though, she’s the kind of prof who expects you to be doing the reading even before the first session. We are coming into act ii with all kinds of pre-class assignments. And, also, a little bit of beef. 

 

Last summer, during the RENAISSANCE World Tour, Erykah Badu suggested that Beyoncé was ripping her style. In response, seemingly, B repeated Badu’s name multiple times during a performance of “Break My Soul” the Queen’s remix, graciously paying respect to Erykah which is the point of the remix. 

But Erykah has taken exception once again this week after Beyoncé revealed this new image from COWBOY CARTER: 

Erykah then posted this on stories: 

 Erykah Badu's Instagram story
 

People are interpreting the “hmmmmm” to mean that she’s again accusing Beyoncé of copying her braids. And I’m sure you know by now how the BeyHive reacted to that. So Erykah went on Twitter to appeal to Jay-Z …wtf? 

And then Yvette Noel-Schure stepped in. She is Beyoncé’s longtime publicist, and we don’t hear from her often. You’ll recall, over the last few months, people have been connecting Yvette and Tree Paine, Taylor Swift’s formidable publicist, and highlighting their incredible work running the comms strategies for these two titans. If Yvette and Tree had the time, I wonder what they could do with the British royal family – because those clowns need the help!

Anyway, a big part of Yvette’s job over the years has been restraint. Like Beyoncé, she keeps her reactions to a minimum and understands that it’s more effective, most of the time, to keep the message in the art, and not dilute it with unnecessary commentary. On the rare occasion that she does respond though, well, it’s a one-and-done, the door is closed, firmly. 

 

Now let’s get back to business and the business of learning. COWBOY CARTER is now being promoted at the Guggenheim. 

And the Guggenheim itself is posting her song lyrics and artwork of horses, three horses in particular. 

So… is that Reneigh, Chardonneigh, and their eventual sibling to round out the trilogy?!?! It means that even the museums are participating in act ii. Or, rather, she’s allowing the museums to participate. 

 

Given how intentional she is about her visuals, where they’re placed, what is shown, she may very well be making a statement about art and history and reclaiming of both by those who were denied space in these places. 

On that note, consider the sash she wears in the latest artwork that was released a couple of days ago and the name that appears: BEYINCÉ and its origin story. 

She’s also posing like the Statue of Liberty, the site that so many Black people first saw when they arrived to America and where they were either denied an identity or where an identity was forced on them. 

Beyoncé is reflecting on all of this with her imagery and it’s so dense that we’re going to need weeks, if not months, to unpack it. And some of us need help! Which is why I’ve been spending so much time on TikTok watching the theories and learning at the same time. 

 

Here’s a video on rodeo queens. 

@yourthickbigsis

Part 1 - Breaking down Cowboy Carter #greenscreen #cowboycarter #actii #newmusic #fyp

♬ original sound - yourthickbigsis

And a video on the history of Black circus and why Beyoncé may be combining rodeo with circus on COWBOY CARTER: 

@beysus.christ

The Beyoncé Circus theory is getting stronger y’all!!! #actii #cowboycarter #thesoulcircuit #ephraimwilliams #circus

♬ original sound - Liittle Debbie

Like I said, it’s SO MUCH! How are we supposed to process all of it next Friday in just one day?!