The Jon Batiste and Beyoncé collaboration is one for the history books.
Jon Batiste took to Instagram Saturday, March 30 to celebrate Beyoncé’s buzzy Cowboy Carter release and talk about his own contributions to the project. Jon Batiste isn’t the first New Orleans artist to collaborate with Beyoncé (Big Freedia appeared on the superstar’s first single from the Renaissance album titled “You Won’t Break My Soul.”)
In his post, Batiste praised Beyoncé for “dismant[ling] the genre machine.” As many fans of the pop singer multi-hyphenate already know, Beyoncé premiered her 27-track country album on Friday, March 29 and made music history by releasing “Texas Hold ‘Em,” a breakthrough that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. In his lengthy post, Batiste shared his original lyrical visions for the song and praised the singer for “making the lyrics her own.” He gushed, “Quincy Jones told me, as he also wrote in his forward to my WE ARE album, ‘it’s up to you to de categorize American music!! ‘ , which is what Duke Ellington told him. I really believe that is our generations role, led by a few artists willing to take this leap.”
Batiste and Beyoncé specifically collaborated on the track “American Requiiem,” which Batiste wrote is ushering in a new era of music. Notably, the track includes the double “ii”s affiliated with this new era for Beyoncé — It appears in her track with Miley Cyrus titled “II Most Wanted” making fans speculate the double “ii”s refer to a second chapter and/or Roman numerals. American blue jeans manufacturer Levi’s has changed its name in honor of Beyoncé’s fans, referred to as the “Beyhive” by adopting the double lowercase “i” spelling of “Levii’s” and adding a bee logo. (Renaissance is said to be a three-act project so by this speculation, Cowboy Carter would be the second act. Alternatively, the album is being referred to by some as Act II: Cowboy Carter.)
At one time Beyoncé and her husband, Jay Z, owned a New Orleans property located at 1527 Harmony Street, a former Presbyterian church turned ballet school. In 2021, the property made news for unexpected and currently unsolved arson. It has been most recently appraised at being worth $2.38 million.
In other Jon Batiste news, the artist who won an Academy Award for his musical contributions to Disney Pixar’s Soul, is slated to will portray the first-ever Saturday Night Live musical guest Billy Preston. The feature directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Young Adult), titled SNL 1975, will be about the NBC show’s opening night.
To hear Jon Batiste and Beyoncé, watch the lyric video below. Other collaborations and covers include Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and The Beatles’ “Blackbird.” Willy Nelson and Post Malone also appear on the album. She also enlisted Linda Martell, the “first commercially successful Black female artist in the country music field” and the first to play the Grand Ole Opry.
