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Beyoncé announced Sunday evening that she’s dropping a new album, minutes after starring in a clue-laden Verizon commercial about “breaking the internet” that aired shortly after the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show.
The project, which appears to be a country album, will be released on March 29 and was described as “act ii” of the three-act project that began with Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed “Renaissance” album, which she released in 2022.
The surprise news came in the form of a grainy video posted to her website and Instagram account that showed a group of men in cowboy hats in the middle of a desert ogling a giant billboard of Beyoncé (also in a cowboy hat) posing above the words: “TEXAS! HOLD ‘EM.”
The video ends with Beyoncé previewing a country song about Texas, the state in which she was born and raised.
Beyoncé later Sunday evening released two songs from the upcoming album — “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” — alongside visualizer videos of the queen in racy Western outfits and a bejeweled cowboy hat.
Her website published the track titles alongside a series of glamour shots featuring the superstar in cowboy hats and couture ensembles designed by the likes of Dolce & Gabbana.
Beyoncé hinted she was up to something country-themed by wearing a cowboy hat to the 2024 Grammy Awards, which took place on Feb. 4. She also wore a glittery version of the hat on promotional images for her Renaissance World Tour.
While the world’s most Grammy-awarded artist is primarily known for her conquests in the R&B and pop genres, she has forayed into country before.
Beyoncé’s song “Daddy Lessons,” off her 2016 album “Lemonade,” was a country tune that paid homage to her father. She performed the song with The Chicks (then the Dixie Chicks) at the 2016 Country Music Awards, and she later released a remixed version of the song featuring the legendary all-female country group.
Beyoncé continues to express pride in having grown up in Houston and has sung about the state in songs like “Countdown,” “Formation” and “Savage Remix.” The teaser video for this new album includes the lyrics, “This ain’t Texas, ain’t no hold ’em, so lay your cards down down down down.”
