Cowboy Carter

Azealia Banks Continues To Taunt Beyonce Amid “Cowboy Carter” Controversy

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Azealia Banks is someone who has always spoken her mind on a wide variety of topics in the hip-hop and music world. Overall, one of her biggest targets over the years has been Beyonce. Whenever Bey drops a new song or enters a new era, Banks has something to say about it. This was especially true a couple of years ago when Beyonce gave us Renaissance. The album had house music influences, and Banks felt like the superstar didn’t do it the right way. These criticisms were relentless, and Banks felt like Beyonce was copying her in a sense. Now, Banks has gotten even more critical of Bey thanks to the Cowboy Carter rollout.

In a scathing rant posted to her Instagram account recently, Banks went off on Beyonce and Jay-Z for her new album. Of course, Cowboy Carter is set to drop on March 29th, and fans are excited about this new era of Bey. But as Banks explained, it all just feels like a huge eye roll. “Ugh, I’m so saddened by Jay-Z and his over strategizing everything [Bey does] to the point where it’s clearly his influence and not the real Bianca Bardot… Someone tell Jay-Z his strategies are corny and Beyonce has better ideas… We would like to see her outside without him and his pound puppy dreadlocks breathing all over herrrrrrr,” Banks said.

Read More: Azealia Banks Wins Motion To Delay The Start Of Royalties Lawsuit

Azealia Banks Speaks

Yesterday, Banks continued to taunt Beyonce, this time with an image of Banks in cowboy gear from an old music video. In the caption of her post, she simply wrote “The OG.” It was yet another example of how Banks feels as though Beyonce has been watching her and copying her aesthetic. For now, Beyonce continues to ignore these criticisms, and it is doubtful that she will respond. Regardless, fans continue to look forward to Banks’ commentary.

Let us know what you think of the feud between Azealia Banks and Beyonce, in the comments section down below. Do you think Banks makes a good point? Do you think that Beyonce will ever respond? Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will always be sure to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.

Read More: Azealia Banks Apologizes To Lizzo, Goes After Busta Rhymes

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Beyonce To Be Honored With An Innovator Award From iHeartRadio

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Beyonce is already one of the most acclaimed artists in all of music. For decades now she’s been a part of some smash hits and even more critical darlings. Her previous album RENAISSANCE managed to be both raking in massive acclaim from critics and spawning multiple hits. Later this month she will release the sequel COWBOY CARTER which already has a mega-hit under its belt with “TEXAS HOLD EM’.” Just a few days after the release of the album the iHeartRadio Music Awards will take place in Los Angeles, where she’ll be given a special award.

The media company just announced that Bey will be the recipient of their 2024 Innovator Award. She follows hitmakers like Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, and U2 who have won the award in the past. They also revealed that Ludacris will be doing double duty as both host and performer during the award show. He joins Justin Timberlake, Green Day, TLC, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and Tate McRae in the roster of performers.

Read More: Beyonce’s Shocking Vegas Residency Budget Unveiled

Beyonce Getting A 2024 Innovator Award

Earlier this week, Beyonce unveiled the album cover for COWBOY CARTER. While it very much fit with the visual theme of RENAISSANCE some fans found it controversial that she so prominently displayed the American flag. Recognizing the controversy she quickly also released the special edition cover. That second piece of album art also proved to be controversial though. Erykah Badu took to her Instagram story to accuse Bey of copying her hair in the cover.

Both singles released from COWBOY CARTER were met with major acclaim. “16 CARRIAGES” and “TEXAS HOLD EM’” were dropped together last month following a surprise announcement during the Super Bowl. The latter has been a massive hit reaching the top spot on the Hot 100 and still lingering in the top 10 more than a month after its release. What do you think of Beyonce receiving the 2024 Innovator Award at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards? Do you think she’s a worth winner of the Innovator Award? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: Beyonce’s “Drunk In Love” Turns 10

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Do Beyoncé & Erykah Badu Have Beef?

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Beyonce Grammys 2024
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Beyoncé became the first Black woman to top Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and the single also peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Texas Hold ‘Em” dropped alongside “16 Carriages” during Super Bowl LVIII in February, laying the runway for Beyoncé to announce Cowboy Carter will be released on March 29. The album’s cover art was revealed on Tuesday, March 19. As with everything Beyoncé-related, people had thoughts, including Azealia Banks and Erykah Badu.

Do Beyoncé & Erykah Badu Have Beef?

First and foremost, beef can’t be one-sided, so it’s hard to qualify Badu’s recent social media activity as “beef.” But Badu certainly feels some type of way. First, the four-time Grammy winner responded to Beyoncé’s limited-edition Cowboy Carter artwork on her Instagram Story, writing, “Hmmm.” About as cryptic as it gets.

Erykah Badu Beyonce
@erykahbadu

However, people (probably the Beyhive) took it and ran with it over on X (formerly Twitter), leading to Badu posting, “To Jay Z . Say somethin Jay . You gone let this woman and these bees do this to me ??”

Last July, Badu threw similar shade during Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour — taking exception with her chrome hat and posting on her Instagram Story, “I guess I’m everybody stylist.”

In conclusion? Don’t draw any conclusions. Unless Beyoncé responds, which she probably won’t.

See Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter announcements below.

Cowboy Carter is out 3/29 via Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records. Find more information here.

Erykah Badu Suggests Beyonce Copied Her With New “Cowboy Carter” Album Cover

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Earlier this week, Beyonce officially unveiled the album cover for her new album. act ii of her RENAISSANCE series is called “COWBOY CARTER” and is due out at the end of the month. The album cover landed with some controversy among Bey’s fans. It prominently displays the American flag, something that plays into the album’s themes of country music and Americana. Bey must have recognized the controversy as she quickly unveiled the deluxe edition cover which fans seemed to like a lot more.

But even that album cover is proving controversial. Erykah Badu reposted the newly shared album cover to her Instagram story with a caption reading “HMMM.” She seems to be suggesting that Beyonce copied her, specifically with her hair which looks quite similar to a look Badu has donned in the past. In the comments though, fans disagree. “It could easily be a tribute to Rick James, Venus and a Serena” one commenter suggests. “Rick James did it first if yall wanna get technical” another agrees. Check out the post Badu made and judge for yourself below.

Read More: Erykah Badu’s Studio Albums, Ranked

Erykah Badu Accuses Beyonce Of Copying Her Hair

Beyonce dropped two singles last month to tease towards the album. While “16 CARRIAGES” was met with fan acclaim and performed quite well, that success paled in comparison to the lead single “TEXAS HOLD EM’.” The song hit the number one spot on the Hot 100 and is still inside the top 10 after more than a month. The song has already racked up more than 182 million streams on Spotify.

Earlier this month, Dolly Parton accidentally made a major revelation about the upcoming album. She revealed that there’s a cover of her classic song “Jolene” included somewhere on the record. Whether it’s a straight up cover or just an interpolation is not yet known. What do you think of Erykah Badu’s claim that Beyonce is copying her hair? Do you think Bey was inspired by Badu or by someone else entirely? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: Erykah Badu’s 7 Biggest Hits

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Of Course, Azealia Banks Has Thoughts About Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Cover: ‘Literal Pick-Me Stuff’

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azealia banks
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Sigh. Here we go again. After Beyoncé shared the cover of her upcoming album Cowboy Carter, fans were rightfully fascinated by its symbolism and the events that apparently inspired it. But, of course, there was one commenter who had further thoughts — and didn’t hold back on sharing them.

Azealia Banks, who previously called Beyoncé’s new singles “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em” a “big-time musical grift” (lol, girl, knock it off), went all the way in on the Cowboy Carter cover, deriding it for a lack of creativity. The covers features a beauty-queen Beyoncé sitting side-saddle on a white stallion, clad in a red, white, and blue Nudie suit with a sash bearing the album’s title holding an American flag. Here it is:

Beyonce Cowboy Carter album cover artwork
Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records

Banks declares herself “ashamed at how u switch from baobab trees and black parade to this literal pick-me stuff.” She doesn’t exactly explain what any of that means across no fewer than four Instagram Story slides. Side note: Just those four clock in at a full 900 words — if sis could pitch to an outlet, she could be getting paid to be a hater instead of just doing it for free (however unlikely it’d be that any editor would want to put up with her shenanigans).

There’s a lot to parse here, but it seemingly boils down to Banks’ view that Beyoncé, with all her culture-shifting power, could have yanked the visual aspects of country music closer to an aesthetic like that of her diaspora-dabbling Black Is King imagery. To be clear, Banks called that aesthetic hypocritical at the time, as well. She also picks on Beyoncé (inaccurately) for deigning to collaborate or share her platform with exclusively white artists — which… just, no. No. If you’re going to lie, do it convincingly. You can read the rant in full below.

I’ll take a shot at extracting some meaning from the bloviating above… Azealia Banks is still looking for someone to blame that she tanked her own career with all that mean-girl energy, and enjoys the attention she gets from flaming other artists who are more successful than her. Well, here you go, Azealia. Take it to the bank.

Why Does Beyoncé’s Alternate ‘Cowboy Carter’ Cover Say ‘Beyincé?’

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beyonce
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Beyoncé is less than ten days away from releasing her new country-inspired album titled Cowboy Carter. After revealing the cover art of it yesterday, she has now released an alternate version. Unlike the original where she rocks a sash reading the album’s name, the one in this new photo says “act ii / Beyincé” on it.

Although it might be a blink-and-you-miss-it detail, internet users have been wondering why she changed it to an “i” instead of the “o” in her name.

Here’s why it says that.

Why Does Beyoncé’s Alternate Cowboy Carter Cover Say ‘Beyincé?’

For those who might not have known, Beyoncé was named after her mother Tina Knowles-Lawson‘s real last name.

“A lot of people don’t know that Beyoncé is my last name. It’s my maiden name,” Tina previously told People Magazine. “My name was Celestine Beyoncé, which at that time was not a cool thing to have that weird name. I wanted my name to be Linda Smith because those were the cool names.”

However, Tina’s mother and siblings spelled their last name with an “i” to make it Beyincé because there was an error with the birth certificates. When Beyoncé’s grandmother (aka Tina’s mom) tried to correct Tina’s, she was told she should just be lucky because Black people didn’t previously receive certificates.

“It’s interesting — and it shows you the times — because we asked my mother when I was grown. I was like, ‘Why is my brother’s name spelled B-E-Y-I-N-C-E? You know, it’s all these different spellings,’” Tina added. “And my mom’s reply to me was like, ‘That’s what they put on your birth certificate.’ ”

Check out Beyoncé’s alternate Cowboy Carter cover referencing this below.

Is Travis Scott Featured On Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter?’

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beyonce
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We are just days away from Beyoncé‘s highly anticipated eighth album, Cowboy Carter. The album is said to have much country influence, and as we can see, she has been fully embracing her Texas roots this era. In the days leading up to the album, the Beyhive is abuzz, theorizing about the album’s collaborations and sound. Earlier this week, Bey teased some collaborations via Instagram, and even shared what seems to be a snippet from the album via her story. Following this clip, fans believe she may have collaborated with another fellow Texan.

Is Travis Scott Featured On Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter?

Though the sound she teased sounds more hip-hop-influenced, as opposed to country, it accompanied a pre-order link for Cowboy Carter. So it’s likely the song appears on the album.

Fans recognized what sounded like vocals and hums from Travis Scott, with whom, Bey previously collaborated on the Utopia track, “Delresto.” Though, it hasn’t been officially confirmed if Scott will have a full verse on the song, or simply contributing to the song’s background vocals and production.

After all, Bey is known not to stick to one genre. In her Instagram post revealing the cover, she did, in fact, say “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”

Cowboy Carter is out 3/29 via Parkwood. Find more information here.

Beyonce & Travis Scott Collab Makes The Rounds On Twitter Leading To Questions About Her Country Music Aspirations

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Beyonce is one of the biggest stars in the entire world. Overall, her music empire is massive and fans have loved her various evolutions over the years. Her foray into house music back in 2022 with Renaissance was a huge success. Songs like “Break My Soul” and “America Has A Problem” were instant classics. However, the artist is now ready to deliver another incredible switch-up with act ii: COWBOY CARTER. This album delves into country music and is certainly going to be polarizing, no matter what.

We already got songs like “Texas Hold ’em” and “16 Carriages” which were considered to be huge successes. Now, however, it seems like fans are going to have to wait until March 29th to get the full album. Well, thankfully, the Travis Scott fan account @tervisscoot on Twitter provided fans with a brief snippet of an upcoming song. Based on the source, you can probably guess that the song features Travis Scott. He can be heard doing his signature ad-libs at the start of the song, although there isn’t much else to go off of. What is interesting to note, is that the song doesn’t sound particularly country.

Read More: Beyonce’s Shocking Vegas Residency Budget Unveiled

Beyonce x Travis Scott

The reactions to this new snippet were pretty hit or miss. While some enjoyed the last time these two linked up, “DELRESTO,” others aren’t so sure this is a good fit. In the tweets below, you can see some questions about whether or not this will even be a country album. After all, Travis doesn’t exactly scream “country.” At this stage, fans will just have to play the waiting game if they want to make a thorough judgment on the music.

Fans Weigh In

Let us know what you think of the decision to include Travis Scott on the album, in the comments section down below. Do you believe this song is going to work? Will it affect the fact that this is a country album? Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.

Read More: Beyonce’s “Drunk In Love” Turns 10

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“COWBOY CARTER” Cover: Beyonce’s American Flag Usage Has Music Lovers Debating

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Many members of the Hive still listen to Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE as if it only dropped yesterday. We’ve long known that the mother of three planned to expand her Grammy Award-winning LP into a three-project venture, and since she showed up to this year’s ceremony to support her husband in country garb, it didn’t take long for people to realize that she’ll be diving into the traditionally Southern genre on Act II. Earlier this week, Bey confirmed that this month’s release will be titled COWBOY CARTER and that it’s been in the works for over five years now.

On the cover, the Houston native sits upon a galloping white horse, her platinum blonde hair blowing in the wind. In many of the RENAISSANCE visuals we saw Bey serving body, but for this photo, she was nearly covered from head to toe in a red, white, and blue Western ensemble while holding the American flag in one hand. The patriotism in particular is a sign of contention for some, while others feel that the “Telephone” singer is using it to make a statement.

Read More: Dolly Parton Suggests Beyonce Recorded A “Jolene” Cover For “ACT II” Country Album

COWBOY CARTER is Already Stirring Up Controversy

 
 
 
 
 
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“I feel like everyone is taking the messaging of the imagery wrong because [of] the flag” one Twitter/X user expressed. “The letter that accompanied the photo was basically about reclaiming spaces where you ‘did not feel welcomed.’ Connect the dots.” Another wrote, “The symbolism here holds a double entendre. Reclaim space as an American, and in doing so, propping Americana up while we all witness US-backed genocides. It’s a miss. This cover would have been more appropriate when Obama was President, like in 2012, before Trump’s campaign tbh.”

One person who obviously doesn’t have Beyonce’s back as she attempts to make her mark on the country music industry is Azealia Banks. Earlier this week the New Yorker penned yet another of her scathing social media rants aimed at the Houston native and her husband, Jay-Z, suggesting that Bey’s “White woman cosplay” isn’t as endearing as she might think. Read everything Banks had to say at the link below and check back later for more music/pop culture news updates.

Read More: Jay-Z & Beyonce Under Fire For “COWBOY CARTER” Rollout, Azealia Banks Shares Lengthy Rant

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Jay-Z & Beyonce Under Fire For “COWBOY CARTER” Rollout, Azealia Banks Shares Lengthy Rant

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It’s no secret that power couple Jay-Z and Beyonce aren’t one of Azealia Banks’ favourite duos. Now that the latter is gearing up to unveil Act II of her RENAISSANCE album series, the “212” hitmaker is making it known that she’s not supporting Bey exploring genres outside her usual repertoire. “Wow, we didn’t even try to put even a little effort into a more artistic title?” Banks asked on her Instagram Story. “Sis, I live for Whiteyonce Donatella Bianca Bardot DOWN, but I’m kind of ashamed at how [you] switch from Baobab trees and Black Parade to this literal pick me stuff.”

The New Yorker then called the “Halo” artist out for previously supporting the embattled Dixie Chicks, “who would never do the same for [her].” According to Banks, Bey too often shares her “platform with White women who are so jealous of [her] but have such a long history of sabotaging other Black women’s careers.” In particular, the infamous social media troll is taking issue with the “White woman cosplay” we’ve seen the Houston native in lately, such as her platinum blonde hair and themed outfits.

Read More: Azealia Banks Blames Jay-Z For Nicki Minaj & Megan Thee Stallion Beef

Azealia Banks Shares Her Thoughts on Act II

As for Beyonce’s husband, Banks had a message for him too. “Ugh, I’m so saddened by Jay-Z and his over strategizing everything [Bey does] to the point where it’s clearly his influence and not the real Bianca Bardot… Someone tell Jay-Z his strategies are corny and Beyonce has better ideas… We would like to see her outside without him and his pound puppy dreadlocks breathing all over herrrrrrr.”

If you’re still curious to know more about Beyonce’s COWBOY CARTER, even after Azealia Banks’ loud hate train, the mother of three gave us a few interesting details via IG earlier this week. She didn’t unveil her list of collaborators yet, but Bey did promise that she has upcoming songs with fellow artists who have earned her deepest respects. Read all about that at the link below, and check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.

Read More: “COWBOY CARTER”: Beyonce Confirms “Surprises” And “Brilliant” Guest Features On Her Next LP

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