Johnathan Walker:Why Dolly Parton Is Defending the CMAs After Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Snub

Within the first single on Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé lays it all out for her critics, seemingly referencing the backlash she faced after she performed at the CMA Awards in 2016. 

“They used to say I spoke, ‘Too country’ / And the rejection came, said I wasn't, 'Country 'nough,'” she sings, “Said I wouldn't saddle up, but / If that ain't country, tell me, what is? / Plant my bare feet on solid ground for years / They don't, don't know how hard I had to fight for this.” 

At the time, fans noted that the CMA Awards appeared to take down footage of her surprise performance alongside The Chicks. However, in a statement to E! News, the organization shared they took down a promotional clip instead.

Not only did the Grammy winner take Dolly Parton’s hit “Jolene” and make it her own: “Jolene, I'm a woman too / Thе games you play are nothing new / So you don't want no hеat with me, Jolene,” but she also recruited the country star for an interlude that tipped its hat at another well-known character: Becky with the good hair. 

“Hey miss Honey B, it's Dolly P,” Dolly says, “You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about? / Reminded me of someone I knew back when / Except she has flamin' locks of auburn hair / Bless her heart / Just a hair of a different color but it hurts just the same.” 

Though Beyoncé made it clear that her take is more of a stern warning: “But you don't want this smoke, so shoot your shot with someone else (You heard me).”

On this track, the 32-time Grammy winner made note of one snub that stood out noticeably during the 2024 Grammys: Her not winning Album of the Year for Renaissance.

In fact, when her husband Jay-Z took the stage that night, he couldn’t help but call it out then and there—a moment that she doesn’t hesitate to highlight. 

“A-O-T-Y, I ain't win (Let's go) / I ain't stuntin' 'bout them,” she sings, “Take that s--t on the chin/ Come back and fuck up the pen (Yeah).” 

One of her more melodic singles, “Protector” opens up with none other her daughter Rumi asking about a lullaby.

The singer—who is also mom to Rumi’s twin brother Sir and their oldest sibling Blue Ivy—reflects on her role as a mom. “Born to be a protector, mm-hmm / Even though I know someday you're gonna shine on your own.”

“I will be your projector, mm, mm-hmm / An apricot picked right off a given tree,” she notes. “I gave watеr to the soil / And now it feeds me, yeah, yеah (Yeah) / And there you are, shaded underneath it all / I feel proud of who I am /Because you need me.”

Rounding out her 27-song album is “Amen,” which leads fans right back to the opening declaration of starting anew and making an experience all her own. 

“Say a prayer for what has been /We'll be the ones to purify our Fathers' sins,” she sings, “American Requiem / Them old ideas (Yeah) are buried here (Yeah).”