Beyoncé says she made new album after feeling rejected by the country music industry

For decades, Beyoncé has been considered one of the most important Black singers in the world. With her album Cowboy Carter — the second act of her Renaissance trilogy — she has set herself a new challenge: country music.

According to the singer, the idea for the project came from feeling rejected by the country music industry. As a Houston-born star, Beyoncé also wanted to reclaim her Texan roots. “The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. [The album] is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work,” Beyoncé said in a post on Instagram, where she has 319 million followers.

The message was posted alongside a photo of Beyoncé on top of a horse, wearing a cowboy hat, and waving a huge American flag.

For months, Beyoncé has been dropping clues about her new album. The most recent came in a commercial broadcast during February’s Super Bowl, following Usher’s halftime show, one of the most-watched moments in U.S. television. And her two country-style singles from the album — Texas Hold ‘Em and 16 Carriages — give a sense of the musical direction of the album, which will be released on March 29.

Texas Hold ‘Em has already debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country songs chart. “I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you. My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant,” said Beyoncé in the Instagram post.

“I have a few surprises on the album, and have collaborated with some brilliant artists who I deeply respect. I hope that you can hear my heart and soul, and all the love and passion that I poured into every detail and every sound,” she continued, explaining that the album 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.”

The experience she is talking about could be the 2016 Country Music Awards (CMA). Organizers had asked Beyoncé to perform her song Daddy Lessons with The Chicks, the band previously known as the Dixie Chicks. Beyoncé's performance reportedly contributed to some of the most-watched minutes of a CMA awards in the show’s history, but it was also met with backlash from country music fans, who argued that the singer did not represent the genre.

Months after, Natalie Maines, the lead singer of The Chicks, confirmed in an interview that the CMA “caved” and took down a promotional social media video of the performance after receiving racist backlash from the public. After receiving a wave of criticism for pulling down the video, the CMA reposted it less than a day later, although it could not be found on any platforms. The executive director of CMA, Sarah Trahern, told The New York Times that the video wasn’t deleted to the backlash, but rather because “Beyoncé's team hadn’t approved [it].”

Beyoncé spent five years working on Cowboy Carter. “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 in the post.

It is clear that at 42 years old, Beyoncé is still at the peak of her career. The more than 90,000 comments to her Instagram post are testament to the excitement surrounding her new record. “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album. This is act ii COWBOY CARTER, and I am proud to share it with y’all!” said the singer, who has won 32 Grammys — the most of any artist.

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