In Reconnecting with Her Musical Roots, Beyoncé is Reconnecting Us All

Whitney Alese
ZORA
Published in
5 min readFeb 12, 2024

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Beyoncé announced two new songs following this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, the melancholic and reflective “16 Carriages” and the upbeat “Texas Hold ‘Em”. She also teased her next project, Act II of Renaissance, a country album.

“Texas Hold Em” and “16 Carriages”

Beyoncé has been teasing a country project for some time. From the early images of Renaissance Act I where she dons a mirror cowboy hat to the last image of Renaissance Act I where she appears to be exiting the dance hall of Act I and steps into the daylight while putting her cowboy hat on, country references have been present.

For anyone surprised by these connections, a simple journey into her own story would tell them why both House music and Country music were so relevant to Beyoncé. She isn’t randomly choosing genres of music to try as some bored artist who needs something new.

She is intentionally revisiting the music of her own story, from the dance rhythms of House music she learned to love through her Uncle Johnny in Act I to now the Country music she grew up with in Texas for Act II.

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Whitney Alese
ZORA

Whitney Alese is an award winning writer & creator featured in WIRED Magazine, I-D Magazine, NBC, & Chalkboard Magazine.