00:00I've got Solange Mougin on set with me now who's dressed very appropriately to tell us a bit more
00:04about Beyoncé. Solange. That's my Queen B look. Yeah, tell us. It's true that this was a significant
00:10night for Beyoncé and it's true that even before winning Album of the Year, Beyoncé was already
00:15the Grammy Awards most celebrated artist of all time. She had a record 99, she has a record 99
00:20nominations. Prior to the ceremony she'd won 32 times and now she's won 35, more than any artist
00:27ever. But most of these wins were not in the big categories of Best Album, Song, Record of the Year
00:33and New Artist. She did win Best New Artist in 2010 for Single Ladies but there has been much
00:39discussion in recent years about why this most sought after prizes don't generally go to her.
00:46Last year her husband Jay-Z even called out the Recording Academy when he received a Lifetime
00:51Achievement Award saying quote, even by your own metrics it doesn't work. We want you to get it
00:57right, at least get it close to right. So this may be a bit of a return on that and I'll discuss the
01:03political element of this win in a minute but Beyoncé's album is, as Beyoncé's album, is very
01:10much a response to these issues of racism and misogyny in American music, in the industry and
01:16specifically in the country music world. But first a little bit more on why last night was so
01:21significant for Queen B, which is how the Beehive, or her fans, call her. When Beyoncé accepted her
01:27prize for Best Album she said it with a bit of a giggle saying it's been many many years and
01:32indeed this prize did elude her. She'd been nominated four times, lost each time. She is
01:38also the first black woman now this century to have won it and the fourth overall. Another sweet
01:44note, she became the first black woman to ever win Best Country Album as you mentioned, which in
01:49itself is also a sort of strong message of sorts. All right, well let's get a bit more into that
01:53message. So the album's called Cowboy Carter. It's a country music album but it's also been widely
01:57praised for breaking down barriers. Yeah, there is the the musical element of course, the album's
02:02mixing of genres, playing around with country music themes like trucks and whiskey and
02:07and cowboys. Texas, Beyoncé is from Texas. While also including historical reckonings and jokes
02:15about all of this and pushing as well the definition of what country music is and what
02:20Americana music is and can be while reminding listeners of the black and immigrant heritage
02:26that helped shape American music. So there is this musical element but also many people view this
02:31album as a direct political response to big country or the country music industry which has
02:38remained a very white and a very male world. Let me give you a few examples of this. According to
02:44studies by the University of Ottawa the percentage of songs by women that are played on country radio
02:49stations was around 9.87 percent in 2023. The number of songs by women of color was just seven
02:57hundredths of a percentage point or 0.07 percent. Now the music world is not suddenly discovering
03:03this. Back in 2015 there was something called tomato gate which was when a radio host said
03:10indeed that women's songs should not be played back to back but should be the garnish or the
03:14tomato on the salad of men's songs. There has been a lot of pushback against and outrage against this
03:21but not much has changed since then. A case in point of this was this year's country music awards
03:26where Beyoncé was not nominated in a single category despite being high up on the country
03:32music and billboard charts. So this album is a response to that. It lays bare the injustices of
03:38big country by creating a praised country album. It essentially says yes a black woman can make an
03:44excellent country album and stop whitewashing country music. Its roots come from U.S. immigrant
03:50and black history and that is also a response to the current political situation in the United
03:55States where the president is pushing D.E.I. or he's purging rather D.E.I. or diversity equity
04:02and inclusion programs. He's getting rid of them. It comes at a time when racism in America
04:07is on display and thus the legend of Cowboy Carter this album may in turn be a sort of response to it.
04:14Solange, just to wrap up, Beyoncé also made some big announcements about the future before the
04:18Grammys. Tell us about this. Yeah, the Queen Bee's fans were expecting a big announcement mid-January
04:24but that was postponed because of the L.A. fires. There was quite a bit of speculation
04:31about whether it would be another album as this is the second in what is expected to be a trilogy
04:36looking at black heritage in American music. There was also speculation about whether she
04:41would announce a world tour or not. Keep in mind Beyoncé is someone who sold 60,000 seats for her
04:46Paris show in just 45 minutes. Wow. There's quite a bit of money and excitement about this but prior
04:53to that to the announcement there was nonetheless some skepticism about whether a country music
04:59album could actually take the global stage and work and right before the Grammys Beyoncé confirmed
05:04that yes she is taking Cowboy Carter worldwide but on a smaller tour with only a handful of cities
05:10at least for now. On her announcement with its signature code bending visuals she wrote she's
05:17she coming and Beyoncé is indeed coming for the country music world but she's also coming or
05:22stepping out for her fans too. And I was also happy to see very quickly there Paris. She's
05:27coming to Paris. Thank you so much for that Solange for that look at Beyoncé who had that
05:32great night last night at the Grammys. Thank you so much.
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