WOODBURY — Does sitting on a horse automatically make you country?
Beyoncé’s award-winning album, Cowboy Carter, has music fans up in debate: Is it really country, or does the word cowboy just make the album automatically country?
Taylor Swift presented Beyonce with the Grammy Award for Best Country Album of the Year during the Feb. 4 ceremony for her Cowboy Carter album.
But Beyoncé’s music isn’t country music, and she should not have been given the Best Country Album award.
Her face says it all: shocking. Beyoncé, once the lead singer of Destiny’s Child, now has the best country album of the year?
“I like her music from Destiny’s Child, but her new music is not for me,” says Stephanie Gutierrez, a counselor at Nonnewaug.
While some think it’s absolutely bogus that Beyoncé was presented with this award, Grace Walkup, a senior at Nonnewaug, says Beyoncé was worthy of the award.
“I think it was important for Beyoncé to win Country Album of the Year,” says Walkup, “because it shows artists can be whatever genre they want and they don’t have to feel boxed in. And it was pretty culturally significant.”
Though Walkup has a valid point, should Beyoncé’s music really be considered country?
“I think it’s a joke considering that she’s not actually a country artist,” says junior Liz Boisits. “I think Chris Stapleton would have been a way better candidate.”
Junior Allison Hardwick agrees with Boisits.
“She’s more just like trying to make herself country and try to gain popularity, even though she’s not even close to being country in the slightest,” said Hardwick.
Some even think there’s a conspiracy theory involved.
“I feel like it was kind of like she was forced into winning,” Boisits says, “because of that whole theory where everybody has to acknowledge her when they win.”
People acknowledge her as part of the “thanking Beyoncé” trend. The trend comes from a pattern seen in acceptance speeches at awards ceremonies. Artists frequently thank Beyoncé during their speeches, especially when they win in a category over her. So were the awards rigged after all?
Her music is not all that bad, but categorizing it into country is questionable to some.
“She has some good music, but the country album is just unreal,” says senior Olivia Bernardi. “It’s insane to me that she ended up winning over Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson and Megan Moroney.”
Many believe Chris Stapleton was robbed from this award.
Beyonce should not be considered country because her music sounds likes something you would hear at a club, whereas real country involves a Southern accent, beer, America, honkytonks, boots, trucks, and heartbroken guys and gals.
Beyonce’s music is more artificial, while country musicians like Stapleton, George Strait, and Alan Jackson include real instruments such as guitars, drums, and fiddles.
Beyonce is not a country artist and should not have been given that award. There were several other nominees that should have received the award over her. Although she is a talented person, she is not a country artist.
This is the opinion of Jadyn Heron, a sophomore reporter for the Chief Advocate, and Audrey Doran, a sophomore social media editor for the Chief Advocate.
