. When the country album was announced during Beyoncé’s appearance in a Verizon Super Bowl commercial back in February, accompanied by two country singles,it declared a new era for the artist. And it’s one that positions her, rather boldly, in a genre that has been less than welcoming to her. .
“It wasn’t the first time that she had released a video for every song on an album, but so many things happened that year culturally both in terms of technology and politically,” Kameir says. “What made it feel like a particular pivot point was that everything about it was different—the surprise drop, the fact that you could only buy it, you couldn't stream individual songs, the music videos for each song making a built-in narrative.
“She was around during the days when radio promotions were super important, but she also is young enough to see the impact of the various digital media, so she has this advantage to respond to or get ahead of trends without losing her own sense of self and control,” Kameir says. “A lot of the innovations that she's made that have taken off aren't just random experiments—they’re part of the legacy of an artist who really believed in the full album experience, during the pre-Internet era.