More than a year after its release, "Cowboy Carter" is still sparking conversations and upending perceptions about genre, authenticity and who gets to claim country music as their own. The album's gumbo of sounds rattled radio programmers,

In a stadium of strangers dressed in fabulous fringe, denim, boots, cowboy hats and other adornments in keeping with the Cowboy Carter aesthetic, I rediscovered something that I had long misplaced: Ebullient joy.

B eyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” marked a historic moment in country music. Following its release in March 2024, Beyoncé became the first Black woman to lead Billboard’s Top C