Despite the chart-topping success of her polarizing country album0 Cowboy Carter, 42-year-old superstar Beyoncé insists she no longer gets “excited” by chart positions and accolades.
“When you’re breaking down barriers, not everyone is ready and open for a shift. But when I see Shaboozey [Cowboy Carter collaborator] tearing up the charts and all the beautiful female country singers flying to new heights, inspiring the world, that is exactly what motivates me,” she said in a rare interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“There was a time in my life when charts and sales excited and motivated me. But once you’ve challenged yourself and poured every ounce of your life, your pain, your growth, and your dreams into your art, it’s impossible to go backward.
“I’m very grateful and humbled by the extraordinary success of the new album,” she said.
Beyoncé insists it’s the “music industry gatekeepers” who took offense to a Black woman doing a country record that traversed genres.
“I’m honored to introduce so many people to the roots of so many genres. I’m so thrilled that my fans trusted me. The music industry gatekeepers are not happy about the idea of bending genres, especially coming from a Black artist and definitely not a woman,” she said.
The Grammy winner became the first Black woman with a No. 1 country song in Billboard history with the hit “Texas Hold ‘Em” from the LP. One accolade she has yet to receive is the Album of the Year award at the Grammys, despite being the most-decorated artist in the history of the prestigious awards ceremony.
Beyoncé insisted she is not “stung” by the Grammys for the snub on a track on Cowboy Carter. On “SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN,” she made it known that she doesn’t care anymore.
“A-O-T-Y, I ain’t win (Let’s go) / I ain’t stung by them / Take that s— on the chin / Come back and f— up the pen,.” she sings.
