Beyoncé’s full pivot to country music is right around the corner, as she has shared more details about the second act of her Renaissance trilogy.
On Tuesday (March 12), the superstar singer posted an image of a saddle against a black background on her Instagram Stories. Stretched across the brown padding is a red, white and blue ribbon that reads Cowboy Carter — the title of the upcoming LP. A rep for the singer clarified that this image is not the cover of the album.
Whereas the post itself doesn’t reveal any further details, the pre-order link stamped on it redirects to a web page exclusively for act ii, with limited-edition products such as vinyl records, CDs, and box sets. Some packages come with t-shirts.
The project is set to arrive on March 29.
Beyoncé announces Act II: "COWBOY CARTER" pic.twitter.com/okeHbncvad
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) March 12, 2024
The megastar announced the arrival of Renaissance: act ii in a multi-layered reveal that started with a new Super Bowl ad for Verizon. In it, Beyoncé and the network’s now-iconic “Can You Hear Me Now” tech tried a number of different schemes to see if the singer could “break the internet” once again.
The commercial ended with her blasting off to space as a fictional news anchor announced her plans to deliver the first live performance from the cosmos. In the last few seconds of the ad, she said: “Okay, they ready, drop the new music.”
The surprise Verizon ad had the intended effect of driving fans to her socials as they looked for additional hints about how to access Beyoncé’s latest offering. Just moments after the ad premiered, she delivered with a Texas-themed trailer for the new project.
Thirty minutes after sharing the trailer, she returned to Instagram to announce the release of two new singles.
The surprise drop came after fans began speculating that she’s been hinting at a country release, citing things like Bey’s country-inspired look at the 2024 Grammy Awards as well as her 2019 “Black Parade” lyrics: “I’m going back to the South, where my roots ain’t watered down.”
One thing that has been confirmed in the past is that the original Renaissance album the first installment of a trilogy. In November, New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan wrote in a since-deleted tweet that act ii would be an “acoustic album” and that act iii would be a collaboration with JAY-Z.