Jon Batiste hails Beyoncé for breaking music stereotypes with new album Cowboy Carter

Beyoncé’s single ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ makes history by topping Billboard’s country music chart

Jon Batiste has hailed Beyoncé for breaking the barriers of music genre with her new country album Cowboy Carter.

The 27-track album released on Friday and Beyoncé’s single “Texas Hold ‘Em” quickly made history by climbing to the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and making her the first Black woman to achieve the feat.

Batiste, one of Beyoncé’s collaborators on the album, commended the singer-songwriter for shattering stereotypes in the industry.

Batiste is himself a five-time Grammy winner. He also won an Oscar for his work on Pixar’s 2020 film Soul and was nominated for an Oscar for the song “It Never Went Away”. The song is featured in the 2023 documentary American Symphony, which follows Batiste composing his first symphoney as his wife Suleika Jaouad battles leukaemia.

“This is the moment yall, where we dismantle the genre machine,” Batiste posted on X.

“Quincy Jones told me, as he also wrote in his forward to my WE ARE album, ‘it’s up to you to de categorize American music!!,’ which is what Duke Ellington told him. I really believe that is our generations role, led by a few artists willing to take this leap.”

“Producing and writing for AMERIICAN REQUIEM was an example of extraordinary alignment—when many leading artists see a similar vision at the same time, that’s when you know a major shift is happening. A new era, long time coming. Let’s liberate ourselves from genre and break the barriers that marginalize who we are and the art that we create. Grateful also for the contribution by my brother @dixson and the other collaborators who made this opening statement of Cowboy Carter possible.”

Besides Batiste, Beyoncé collaborated on Cowboy Carter with artists Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Mylie Cyrus, Post Malone, Rhiannon Giddens, Nile Rodgers, Robert Randolph, Gary Clark Jr., Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, Shaboozey, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy.

It is her eighth studio album.

“I think people are going to be surprised because I don’t think this music is what everyone expects,” the singer said on Friday.

“But it’s the best music I’ve ever made.”

Talking about the inspiration for the album, Beyoncé said on Instagram: “It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. Because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of country music and studied our rich musical archive.”

“It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history,” she added.