No apologies

It’s that time of the year again – concert tour season! Have you been able to catch a show in 2025 yet? At the beginning of this month, I traveled to Los Angeles with a friend to see Beyoncé’s opening weekend of her “Cowboy Carter and Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit Tour.” This was my first visit to L.A. and my second Beyoncé concert. I first saw her perform in Las Vegas nearly two years ago during her “Renaissance Tour.” This most recent album differs a bit from the first, in that it sparked controversy from the self-appointed gate keepers of country music. But like the Native art I wrote about in my last article, country music is an eclectic mix of arts, knowledge and history, and we would be remiss to ignore that. 

“Cowboy Carter” focuses on the white-washing of Black American music, culture and history. The country genre is a collection of different instruments and styles found within the American South, including blues and gospel. The banjo, an instrument found within this style of music, was created when enslaved West Africans brought knowledge of items like the gourd-made akonting with them to the Americas. These facets of black artistry, Knowles argues, are intrinsically part of American culture. How can one be separated from the other? Through systemic racism and discrimination, that’s how.

The namesake for Beyoncé’s album, Alvin Pleasant Carter, aka A.P., was a white musician who was part of the “first family of country” (his brother Ezra Carter was the father of June Carter Cash). In the 1930s, A.P. travelled throughout the South with Lesley Riddle, a black musician. Together, they recorded lyrics and harmonies of the songs that were shared with them. It was said that Riddle’s influence on the Carter family helped shape country music. The music the two men recorded together would go on to further define country music. But due to the discrimination enshrined in laws like Jim Crow, Riddle would not be credited.

In a twist of fate, Beyonce’s married name, Carter, matches the surname of the aforementioned Carter family. By naming her album “Cowboy Carter,” she stakes claim in the country genre. In so doing, she honors the unrecognized black artists who’s melodies and lyrics gave rise to country music today. Not only that, but she continues the legacy of this American-made music, further propelling us toward the future by looking back at what had come before.

We entered SoFi stadium, where her concert was, via Gate 11, on the eastern side of the building. It is a massive, recently built arena that is home to the Los Angeles Chargers football team. After visiting the bar and the merch table, we spiraled down into the stadium via staircases and escalators. Eventually, we found our way down to C114, located on the first floor. Sitting next to me were couples from across the West. One was from Santa Fe and the other from San Francisco. We all crossed miles of road and terrain to be here.

For the next three hours, the metaphorical barriers placed between the crowd fizzled away. Despite being divided into different sections and floors, we were all united by the words being sung to us that night. It felt like the veil between the past, the present and the future had been pierced. In a transition between the songs, big bold letters appeared on the screen that summed up the entire experience: “Never ask permission for something that already belongs to you.”