Is Beyonce Niche?
When we hear the name “Beyonce” it is nearly impossible to not think of her biggest hits like her solo debut song “Crazy in Love” or “Single Ladies” which became an inescapable popular culture moment. Beyonce has single handedly carried the music industry from the 90s to the present, with the girl group “Destinys Child” heavily influencing the way many girl groups after it had formed or presented their art to the public. There is no other group that has been able to reach the level of strategy that Destinys Child used when laying the groundwork for with all three of the main girls to be widely successful going solo within their own musical niche, and no one has been able to figure out how to recreate it since.
Her solo debut album opener “Crazy in Love,” became one of the most widespread songs, and its popularity has still yet to fade, proving that it is a timeless classic. Dangerously in Love is a contemporary R&B album with some soul influences, it contains many well-known hits such as “Baby Boy,” “Me, Myself, and I,” “Naughty Girl,” and “Speechless.” Absolutely no other artist has been able to replicate the phenomenal success with a debut since, and I don’t think we will see anything like it again. Through her unique and innovative way of expressing herself through her art, Beyonce has been able to amass a level of success only before seen in Michael Jackson and hot take but she has surpassed even him. Her music is like nothing anyone has ever seen because of how completely she dedicates herself to her craft and immerses herself in music as both a student and a teacher. Beyonces ear for finding a track or beat that sounds a little strange on its own and then transforming them into an instant classic cannot be said about many artists living and dead.
But although we all know who Beyonce is and her songs, not many people take the time to listen to her full discography. After going through her entire music catalog and carefully listening to each of her albums, I concluded that Beyonce is in fact a niche artist. Her artistic range makes her standout among her peers; nobody can do what Beyonce has done because they simply don’t have the tools or capability. Each one of her songs that has been thought-out and conceptualized in a way that is strictly hers.
Her most recent album, Cowboy Carter, is a prime example of her being a niche artist. The lead single “Texas Hold Em” was almost everywhere at the time of its release, but it was the only song on the album that had no subtext. There was no message in it; it was simply just a song. Many members of her fanbase the “Beyhive” are completely aware of the albums less popular songs that offer depth and complexity to a certain degree within the album. But when people outside of her fanbase talk about Cowboy Carter, the song they are commonly associating the album with is Texas Hold Em. As someone in the Beyhive, I think Texas Hold Em was Beyonce’s way of proving once again that her artistic talents far surpass what we see in almost every other living artist, specifically those in country music.
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Country music was born from the Blues, a genre that was formed as an escape from the violent oppression of Black people in America during the 18 and 1900s. Blues was a very impactful style of music because it gave room to breathe when it seemed like the oxygen was constantly being sucked out of their space by the oppressors. The blues gave them a way to process and share their emotions in a way that allowed for the beginning of collective healing from the atrocities that were committed by white people. The Blues was a genre that gave a voice to people that felt like they had none and realistically, at the time, they didn’t really have one. It gave a voice to their pain and turned it into something absolutely breathtaking. Around the 1920s, it had shifted from Black people singing and creating the songs to white people gaining more popularity within the genre than its originators. This is because white people had begun to steal music that was not native to them. One family in particular, the Lomax family, would travel across the South recording the blues of slaves. They then either stole the song completely, or the songs they did write were heavily influenced by the ones they heard while in the South. Another, and perhaps the most well-known instance of white musicians stealing from Black artists is Elvis who stole entire songs from a Black woman named Big Mama Thornton. She was a blues artist who was popular within the authentic blues community and the writer of the widely known song “Hound Dog” which Elvis claimed as his own and made millions in royalties off of while Big Mama Thornton only received $500 following its massive success.
With Cowboy Carter, Beyonce is directly confronting this forgotten history through songs like “Ameriican Requiem,” a truly one-of-a-kind album opener that is sure to bring tears to your eyes when you hear it. Beyonce, as usual, completely exceeded all expectations that people had with just one song. Ameriican Requiem is a song that speaks about the struggle Black women in particular face in society today. One of the lyrics reads “You change your name but not the ways you play pretend. American requiem, them big ideas are buried here. Amen.” It shines a light on unfair standards that the American system places on Black Americans, she then goes on to sing, “Theres a lot of talking going on while I sing my song. Can you hear me? I said do you hear me?” Beyonce with this is describing how Black women’s voices are often not taken seriously or they are disregarded within society. Black women have been the backbone of countless revolutionary movements such as the Black Panther Movement in which they fed a maximum 200 kids a day. They have been the biggest advocates for inequities but have yet to be recognized for their extreme devotion and hard work towards the greater good for everyone.
Her cover of “Blackbiird,” which was written in the 60s by the Beatles during the beginning stages of the desegregation of schools in America, making it especially profound when viewed within the context of the album. On this track she also shared the spotlight with up-and-coming Black country artists Tanner Adell, Britney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts. When we include the historical context of the original song, the cover of Blackbird engrosses the listener in the history of Black Americans and transports them to Beyonces retelling of a history that has been glossed over by the oppressors. “Alliigator Tears,” which is a song describing the complex relationship that many Black and Brown people across the country have with the United States. The song describes how many marginalized groups view America. Beyonce in this song sings “You say move a mountain and I’ll throw on my boots. You say stop the river from runnin’ I’ll build a damn or two. You say change religion now I spend Sundays with you, somethin bout those tears of yours how does it feel to be adored.” It doesn’t matter what we do, we will never be enough in the eyes of the oppressor because they viewed and still view us as subhuman. I don’t think its necessarily a bad thing though, the box that the colonizers have set for Black and Brown people across the country are not meant for us because it was not made with our well-being and our own societal frameworks in mind.
“YA YA” one of my personal favorites because of the way it boldly and unapologetically critiques the United States of America, past and present included. “YA YA” is, in my opinion, one of the deepest and most accurate critiques in the form of art there has ever been of colonial America. The opening lyrics read “My family lived and died in America, good old USA. Whole lotta red in that white and blue, history can’t be erased.” This is a level of daring action that no other mainstream artist has even considered doing because of the possible repercussions that such assertive commentaries can have. It was an immediate standout because there is simply no other song that can capture such complex feelings and organize them in a way that is still authentic and accurate. Cowboy Carter undeniably marked the revival of true country music.
Beyonce is not one to be content with putting her artistry into the very rigid box that genres often put musicians such as her in. Cowboy Carter is a blend of many genres. While it still is a country album, it does not confine itself to those limits. It expands into rap, rock, r&b, blues, and soul making it a unique listening experience to the consumer. Beyonces artistic capacity to disregard the overall standards of what an artist should define themselves as places her in a spot that mainstream artists have not figured out how to do yet. She has the talent to produce, write, sing, and perform any genre and make it a hit because she doesn’t follow the status quo that many artists cling to.
She creates what she feels is true to her and has shown that she doesn’t have to make the same moves such as extensive promotion as her peers. Her hit self-titled album “Beyonce” proved that she is a completely different type of artist. With this album, she changed the music industry as a whole. This album was a complete surprise to her fans because there was absolutely no promotion. She released it on Friday, November 24th, 2014. Before self-titled albums were released on Tuesdays because it gave the distributors time during the weekend to ship the album and the stores time on Monday to set up. Self-titled opened the door to the future of music with her Friday release and with it changed the global standard of release dates.
Beyonce often doesn’t get the recognition she deserves; she has completely changed music as a whole on top of being the greatest vocalist, artist, writer, performer, producer, and creator ever. Although we all know Beyonce through her biggest hits, the true showcase of her artistry lies beneath the surface and in her deeper cuts that you can only discover when you slow down and really dive into her music.
