Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Tour Felt Like A Revolution For Southern Black Women—And I’ve Never Felt More Seen [Op-Ed]

Beyoncè’s Cowboy Carter Tour has officially come to an end, but it is an event that will more than likely be talked about for generations to come.

The nine-city tour kicked off in Los Angeles on April 28, 2025, and concluded on July 26 in Las Vegas (Paradise), Nevada. Cowboy Carter is Beyoncé’s eighth studio album. The critically acclaimed project is not only a nod to her southern roots by way of Houston, but it is a reclamation of the country music genre, not only for herself, but also for other acts featured on the album, including Tanner Adell, Britney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey and Rhiannon Giddens.

Pioneering Black country artist Linda Martell serves as a radio DJ on the project, alongside other country music icons Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton. 

During one of her final stops on the tour, Beyoncé confirmed rumors that within her current trilogy project, Cowboy Carter was completed first despite Renaissance being released as the first installment, known as Act I. Now that she has admitted this, everything falls into place, as the album shines a bright light on the singer’s roots, stemming from Alabama through her father, Matthew Knowles, and Louisiana and Galveston, Texas, through her mother, Tina Knowles. It only makes sense that she would start the acts with a project that covers the deep, and also painful history of what it means to be a Black artist from the South, before heading to Renaissance, which explores themes of escapism, hedonism, confidence, and self-expression with a cultural nod to post-1970s Black dance music styles, including disco, house and funk.

As a descendant of sharecroppers by way of Dinwiddie, Virginia, when Beyoncé, kicked off the Cowboy Carter era during the LVIII Super Bowl held in Las Vegas in 2024, I was ecstatic, particularly running “16 Carriages,” one of the two singles released during the time, because I am a country girl, tried and true.

Fast-forward to summer 2025, where the highlight of my season has been attending two of the Cowboy Carter Tour stops: first, in the “Dangerously in Love” crooner’s hometown of Houston, on June 29, and making my way back close to home for a second show on July 7 in Washington, D.C. 

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Here are 5 things that the Cowboy Carter Tour reaffirmed for me as a Black woman from the South.

1. To Know Who You Are, You Must Know Where You Come From

The term “Been Country,” coined by journalist Taylor Crumpton, whose essay in Time Magazine explored just how country Beyoncè has been from the very beginning, challenged the criticism the singer faced when it was announced that she would be releasing an album within the country genre.

It is the same criticism that led to the Cowboy Carter album in the first place, after Beyoncè faced mistreatment at the 2016 Country Music Awards when the CMA itself invited her to perform “Daddy Lessons,” from her 2016 album Lemonade (another critically acclaimed album), which she obliged to under one condition—The Chicks, formerly known as The Dixie Chicks, had to join her on stage for the performance. 

The moment happened, and not only did it ensue backlash from country music fans who did not consider Beyoncè to be country, but it was reported that some people in attendance booed during the performance, and that she experienced a very volatile and hostile environment while at the award show.

Although we would never condone the mistreatment of our Queen Bey, we have these rude, racist people to thank for Cowboy Carter. From the Chitlin’ Circuit approach and nod to the tour to the images of those who came before her in the space displayed on the jumbotron screens during the tour, Beyoncè made a statement that she not only knows where she comes from, but is damn proud of it.

The song “Daddy Lessons” is one of the standout tracks from the album that was featured during the Cowboy Carter Tour, serving as a poignant reminder of how this era began. During the Houston stop, she revealed that “Sweet Honey Buckiin,” which features Shaboozey, was explicitly written about her hometown, particularly this lyric, “The Cadillac back on the road/ We taking Route 44/ Just say what you need from the store.”