This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at West Chester chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

The grammy award for album of the year is the most prestigious award offered to musicians every award season. Fandoms gear up to fight and defend just their favorite artist against other fandoms who do the same. Twitter (it will never be X to me) literally transforms into a battlefield every year after the nominations are announced. This year, Billie Eilish fans were certain that she would be the one taking home the award, as her third studio album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT received massive amounts of praise and was received well by the public. Another top contender for the award was Charli XCX’s Brat, as the neon green simplistic cover took over pop culture and turned into the cultural phenomenon of “Brat summer.”

Other nominees included Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Sabrina Carpenter, Andre 3000, Jacob Collier and Chappell Roan. Although all great contenders, the shared sentiment among the public was that the award would go to either Billie or Charli. To everyone’s shock, Beyonce was awarded album of the year for her country debut, Cowboy Carter.

Cowboy Carter

Cowboy Carter is Beyonce’s eighth studio album and was released in March 2024. The album is the second released in a trilogy where Renaissance is number one. Beyonce took the world by storm as Cowboy Carter is primarily a country album, which contrasts greatly with her usual r&b, pop genre. The album’s single “Texas Hold ‘Em” was released a month before the album and had mixed reviews. The song went viral on social media platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram Reels, even though the overall sentiment was that the song was overplayed and annoying. According to Pitchfork, the album may have been inspired by a moment in which Beyonce did not feel welcomed. The moment being her appearance at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards, where she was met with racist remarks after a performance with The Chicks. The album’s concept is that of a radio broadcast with Dolly Parton, Linda Martell, and Willie Nelson featured as disc jockeys. Beyonce created the album as a reinvention of Americana, spotlighting the contributions of Black pioneers in the music industry. The album includes 27 tracks, one of which being a cover of the iconic Dolly Parton hit, “JOLENE” and another being a duet with Miley Cyrus, titled “II MOST WANTED.” Other artists featured on the album include Post Malone and Shaboozy among others. Cowboy Carter debuted at number one in multiple countries and also broke various records upon its release.

People are mad!

After the award was announced, Billie stans flooded social media with their feelings of disappointment, some even posting that Billie was robbed. Fans resonated with Billie’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT because of its vulnerability and emotional themes – and led many to have a personal connection to the album, which can explain the outrage. Charli xcx fans were also shocked by the outcome, Brat took the world by storm and it marked Charli’s highest appearance on the billboard 200. Bratsummer took over as Charli took the album on tour along with Troye Sivan’s Something To Give Each Other during their “Sweat Tour.” Brat summer turned into brat fall, winter and spring as the success of the Sweat Tour led her to announce a solo Brat tour for this upcoming spring.

Cowboy Carter’s impact

Fans were confused about the award going to Cowboy Carter because they saw it as the least impactful – however it can be argued that Cowboy Carter is the most impactful album of all that were nominated. The album delves into themes such as oppression and suffering within the black community, but at the same time highlights the liberation and transformation of Black Americans. Also, Beyonce delving into the country genre opens doors for other Black artists to do the same. According to Brittany Porter of Forbes magazine, Black people were the originators of country music in the early 1900s, she writes “traditional string music was appropriated from the positive and healing communal activities that Black people created for themselves and it was then spread to broader American culture through racist minstrel shows.” Therefore, Cowboy Carter is an act of reclaiming country music for the Black community. Also, the cover art of the album features Beyonce riding a white horse, white horses have long been a symbol of strength, courage and freedom in the US – dating back to the days of George Washington.