Beyoncé is making even more history with Act II, following the Renaissance’s global conquest. The Grammy winner’s latest single “Texas Hold ‘Em” topped the Hot Country Songs chart, according to Billboard, which released the news on Tuesday.
According to Rolling Stone, she will go down in history as the first Black woman to ever top the chart, which has been running since 1958. On the Hot 100, the song is at #2, just behind “Lovin’ on Me” by Jack Harlow.
After hinting at new songs in a Verizon Super Bowl commercial on February 11, Beyoncé officially revealed her forthcoming album on February 11. Streaming services saw the instant success of “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” shortly after the commercial broadcast.
The former song peaked at No. 9 on the country chart with 19.2 million official streams, while the latter peaked at No. 10 with 10.3 million streams. Columbia Nashville declared on February 14 that it would formally promote “Texas Hold ‘Em” to country radio stations in response to fan complaints.
Station management informed EW that they were playing “Texas Hold ‘Em” anyhow, and the response had been tremendously positive, even though it was unclear whether either song would officially be played on country radio.
“I added the song because it’s a beautiful song, and I’m happy because it just sounds so freaking good on the radio,” 93Q Country’s Travis Moon told EW. “Besides, it’s great for my radio station if some of her fans who listen to the song also enjoy other songs.”
The instrumentation of Beyoncé’s new singles and her recent adoption of cowboy visual motifs lead fans to believe that Act II will be the singer’s first full-blown country album. This comes after Beyoncé’s 2016 album Lemonade, where the song “Daddy Lessons” used country elements.
Bobby Bones, a former mentor on American Idol, pointed out that country music owes some of its roots to African music, and many Black women have been influential in the genre for decades. Slave ships transported music from Africa to the Americas, and that’s where country music got its start. Moreover, from the European continent.
“Along with the fiddle and banjo,” Bones had earlier stated in an online post. In other words, “that ain’t country” is what these men are shouting. “You’re not a “nation” unless you’re from Europe or Africa.”
Now I’m on one with you guys coming at me. So let’s get historical. Country music is based on the music from Africa brought over on the slave ships. And from Europe. With the fiddle and banjo. So all these dudes yelling “that ain’t country”… unless you’re European or African,…
— Bobby Bones (@mrBobbyBones) February 14, 2024
With the country music industry’s attitude toward Black musicians being heavily criticized, Beyoncé’s song popularity becomes even more noteworthy. The 2019 Hot Country Charts did not feature Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” because, according to Billboard, the song did not have sufficient country elements.
Even before that, Beyoncé caused a stir when she performed “Daddy Lessons” at the 50th Country Music Awards. Some viewers were against having a non-country singer participate in the show, while others were outright racist.
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