Beyoncé doesn't just put out albums, she drops incredibly dense, layered works that draw from decades of musical history across genres and regions to create something entirely new and idiosyncratic from the legacies of those who came before her.
With the release of her eighth solo album, Cowboy Carter, on Friday (March 29), Queen Bey added yet another culturally compelling record to her illustrious catalog. Across the album's 27 tracks, the “Texas Hold'Em” singer square dances through an expansive soundscape that incorporates samples, jams and production patterns that harken back to decade country, rock, trap, house, Brazilian funk, opera, blues '70s, gospel, R&B and pop.
“I took a deeper dive into the history of country music and studied our rich music archive,” Beyoncé wrote in a March 19 Instagram post detailing the making of the album. “It's great to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives to educating our musical history.”
In order to create her own western epic from the roots of country music, Beyoncé chose to bypass the concept of genre — “a funny little idea,” according to country legend Linda Martell — and completely redefine classics like Nancy Sinatra. , Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys in the process. Cowboy Carter it follows directly in the footsteps of its predecessor, the 2022 Renaissancethe way Beyoncé looks to the past to create new futures from the different styles she experiments with.
Here's a list of all Beyoncé samples and jams Cowboy Carter.
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“SMOKE HOUR ★ WILLIE NELSON” (with Willie Nelson)
For the first of the album's radio interludes, Beyoncé enlists country legend and fellow Texan Willie Nelson to play radio host. However, before Willie steps up to the mic, there's a station surf track that references tracks from many pillars of rock 'n' roll.
These songs are as follows:
- Delta blues performer Son House's “Grinnin' In Your Face”
- Godmother of Rosetta Tharpe's Rock 'N' Roll Sister “Down by the River”
- Chuck Berry's 1955 rock classic “Maybellene”
- Legendary American singer Roy Hamilton's “Don't Let It Go”
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“Daughter”
On the haunting fictional murder 'Daughter', Beyoncé interjects a segment from the famous aria “Caro Mio Ben.”
Entirely in Italian, Queen Bey croons: “Caro mio ben/ Credimi almen/ Senza di te/ Languisce il cor/ Il tuo fedel/ Sospira ognor/ Cessa, crudel/ Tanto rigor.”
(English Translation: “My dear beloved/ Believe me at least/ Without you/ The heart languishes/ Your faithful/ Always sighs/ Stop, cruel/ Much strictness.”)
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“Spaghettii” (with Linda Martell & Shaboozey)
Beyoncé, Martell, and Shaboozey crafted this insane country-rap hybrid over a beat sampled by Brazilian funk artist O Mandrake. “Aquecimento Das Danadas” (with DJ Xaropinho).
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“II Most Wanted” (with Miley Cyrus)
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“Ya Ya”
For this Cowboy Carter stands out, Beyoncé ropes in several classics: First, the song opens with a sample of Nancy Sinatra's 1966 Billboard Hot 100 No.1 hit “These boots are made for walking.” The sample serves as the background music for Bey's playful call-and-response intro.
Later in the track, Bey interjects another '66 Hot 100-topper, The Beach Boys' “good vibes,” on the chorus, “She's getting good vibes/He's looking for sweet sensations.”
Towards the end of “Ya Ya”, Beyoncé says “And lover boy, you're so fine,” in a similar vein to Sylvia Robinson's “oh lover boy” on R&B No. 1 1957 hit by Mickey & Sylvia. “Love is strange.”
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“Oh Louisiana”
This entire interlude consists of a sped-up sample of Chuck Berry's “Oh Lousiana,” the opening track from the 1972 album Fees San Francisco.
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“SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIN”
At the start of 'SWEET ★ HONEY ★ BUCKIIN', Beyoncé interjects the chorus from the Patsy Cline classic “I'm falling to pieces” which reached No. 12 on the Hot 100 in 1961.
Beys sings, “I'm falling apart/ Every time I see you there/ And I'm missing all our secrets/ So tell me how you've been.”
Patsy Cline's version: “I fall to pieces/ Every time I see you again/ I fall to pieces/ How can I just be your friend?”
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“Amen”
Surprise! To close out “Amen,” Beyoncé interjects her own opening track Cowboy Carter, “American Requiem”.
On “Amen,” Bay sings, “Say a prayer for what's been done/ We'll be the ones to wash away the sins of our Fathers/ American Requiem/ Their old ideas are buried here/ Amen.”
In “Ameriican Requiem,” he sings, “A beautiful house we never settled in / A funeral for fair-weather friends / I'm the one to cleanse me of my Father's sins / American Requiem / Their big ideas are buried here / Amen.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/lists/beyonce-samples-cowboy-carter-album-interpolations/
