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

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[OP-ED] 5 Ways Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Tour Reaffirmed My Identity As A Black Woman From The South — Photo Credit: Julian Dakdouk and Raven Varon / Courtesy of Live Nation.

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.

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.”

2. Legacy Provides A Sense Of Purpose

Before the show concludes, a montage of Beyoncè’s now 28-year career appears on the screen, highlighting where it all started, from competing in Houston pageants to her days as a member of the iconic girl group Destiny’s Child, to the very beginning of her solo career.

The show also features Easter eggs, such as salon chairs that grace the stage, nodding to her mother’s salon, Headliners, which she opened in the early 1990s, and catalyzed Destiny’s Child’s early career. As Tina Knowles, affectionately known as Mama Tina, notes in her 2025 memoir, The Matriach, the salon was a stage for the girls in the group, reminiscing about how they would sing and perform for patrons, sometimes against their will, helping them to get comfortable in front of an audience.

Other nods to the legacy she is building through her expansive music career include visual interludes where snippets from her catalog are mashed up, such as “Spaghetti” being infused with bits of “Run the World (Girls),” “My Power,” and “Flawless” being intertwined at one point. There’s a rendition of “Thique” that honors her Destiny’s Child days as it included samples of “Say My Name” and “Bills, Bills, Bills.”

On the final night of the Cowboy Carter Tour in Las Vegas, Destiny’s Child reunited on stage for the first time since Beyonce’s historic 2018 Coachella headline performance, also known as Beychella. If that’s not the ultimate nod to her legacy, I don’t know what else is. Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, and Beyoncè hit the stage as full-grown women, not missing a single beat, and in synchronization just as they were for many years before branching off for their respective solo careers.

I left both tour stops encouraged to continue to explore my family’s sharecropping roots, and what it has meant for me to tie that into my own line of work through a short documentary titled Voices Unheard, which explores my late great-grandfather, John Moses Bonner, and the role he played in the Black Farmers Movement in Central Virginia.

3. The South Ain’t A Stereotype, It’s A Super Power

At one point during the tour, there’s an interlude titled “Attack of the 400 Foot Cowboy,” where a giant version of Beyoncè traverses the globe, treating cultural landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower as playthings. At the same time, “The Biggest” by BigXthaPlug plays in the background.

While it’s a parody of the 1958 science fiction horror film, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, directed by Nathan H. Juran, I took it as a clear statement that wherever she goes, Beyoncé takes her country with her. While people have often poked fun at her accent or the larger-than-life persona that exudes from people from the South, it will never leave her.

Moreover, the South is portrayed as a superpower several times throughout the show, as Beyoncé showcases Southern Blackness as layered, regal, and revolutionary. For instance, she never told people to come dressed in their finest cowboy and cowgirl attire; they just did.

Before each of the shows, a Rodeo Queen and Rodeo King were selected from the VIP section at the stadium, which was rightfully named Club Ho Down. In true Beyoncè fashion, it’s deeper than just choosing the best dress man and woman at each show; it is a distinct nod to the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, a platform made particularly for Black cowboys and cowgirls. It highlights a broader history of the role that Black people had in Western culture and rodeo, which has often been overlooked or minimized, and more plainly, whitewashed.

As she prepared to close out the Cowboy Carter Tour, the tenth tour in her career, Beyoncè shared that when she was working on Cowboy Carter, she dreamed of ending the show in Las Vegas.

“When [we] were writing this album, I imagined this night, ending the tour in Las Vegas, y’all are making that dream come true. Thank you so much,” she expressed to the audience.

As a kid, I wanted so badly to escape the country’s dirt roads and the miles-long drive just to reach a major grocery retail chain like Walmart. I thought the city was where it was at, but the older I get, and thanks to projects like Cowboy Carter, I am reminded that being country is indeed a super power; everything that we do sets the tone for the rest of the culture.

4. Sensuality Is My Birthright

No need to dive into the deep-rooted history that comes with having your body overly sexualized as a Black woman. Sometimes it comes by way of family members, other times it’s the world, telling you what you should and shouldn’t wear or the ways that you can or cannot express yourself sexually—the Cowboy Carter Tour completely diminishes that notion with Beyoncè, who let’s be clear, let’s it be known that she’s a mother FIRST (never performing her raunchier hits while the babies are on stage), showcasing her sensuality.

When sis pulled out that gold mechanical bull to perform spicy tracks like “Tyrant,” transitioning into “Haunted,” (chef’s kiss by the way) she did so with precision, never missing a note, and reminding us all that it’s more than okay to pop your sh*t. As a woman from the South, I can recall negative remarks from elders about the message that wearing a red lip or long red nails sent. I am so happy that I completely disregarded those messages. Presenting as a lady was drilled into my head before I even became an adult. I love that Beyoncè uses her art to remind women like me that sensuality is our birthright, and we have the power to do with that what we will.

5. Black Southern Pride Must Be Passed Down To The Younger Generations

We’ve been fortunate enough to witness the evolution of Blue Ivy Carter, who has been featured in various projects led by her mother over the years. However, something about her performance at the Cowboy Carter Tour hit differently, especially with her “Deja Vu” solo, where she completely dominated the stage during each tour stop.

It’s a direct callback to the 2006 BET Awards, where her mother set the tone for what a future with Beyoncé as a solo act would look like, and Blue Ivy certainly did not disappoint, even becoming overwhelmed with emotion by the crowd’s reaction during her final performance in Vegas.

Rumi Carter, however, really stole the show, coming out to “Protector,” the track on which her voice is also featured on the Cowboy Carter album. Following a montage centered around her children, who are a central theme throughout the performance, with Rumi joining her and Blue Ivy on stage for a performance that left me in tears during both shows I attended.

Including her children in an album that is so rooted in her Southern identity, and having her daughters join her on stage for the tour is proof in the pudding that no matter where life takes us Southern girls, it is our responsibility to have those who come behind us know the importance of having a lineage that stems from the South—something that, contrary to popular belief, rings true for a lot of Black Americans no matter the region that wound up in.

For Beyoncé, it was her parents who remained rooted in their Southern identities, with roots in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, that have always caused her to remain authentic to who she is at her core.

Kicking the show off with a powerful live rendition of “Ya Ya” where she belts out B-E-Y-I-N-C-E, serves as a reminder that though white America tries to strip and rob us of our identity, Beyoncè will never get where she comes from, with this particular moment in the song referencing her family history passed down to her through her mother, as Beyince is her mother’s maiden name.

Again, you can take a girl up out of the country, but you cannot take the country up outta the girl, and at its core, the Cowboy Carter Tour has reinvigorated a desire in me to continue to pinpoint and highlight where I come from.

Beyoncè’s Cowboy Carter era may be coming to a close, but for what it’s worth, it has implored me to dig deeper into my Southern roots. Her first live performance of the album during the Beyonce Bowl, her history-defining halftime show during the 2024 Christmas Day Houston Texans game against the Baltimore Ravens at NRG Stadium in the Lone Star state, led to me discovering that I may have roots there myself by way of Jack Yates, but stay tuned as I continue to uncover!

Cowboy Carter Tour Black Southern Woman Takeaways