Oliver Anthony criticizes Beyonce's 'Cowboy Carter' album: 'It makes me just want to throw up'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Renowned singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony has unleashed a fierce critique of Beyonce's country music venture 'Cowboy Carter'. In a recent video, Anthony blasted the album, calling it "complete trash" and "total cringe."
Released in 2024, 'Cowboy Carter' failed to make a lasting impact, with the song not even receiving a nomination at the CMA Awards. As both Anthony and Beyonce have been making waves in the country music scene, Anthony seized the opportunity to voice his strong opinion on her foray into the genre.
Oliver Anthony criticizes Beyonce's country album
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Oliver Anthony Music, titled 'What He's Learned About The Music Industry So Far...', Oliver Anthony shared his thoughts on the flaws of the Nashville music scene and made it clear that he wants no part in it.
He also pointed out that many songwriters and performers don’t truly understand or connect with the lyrics they sing. "It’s just a rinse and repeat model. It serves no purpose, other than it’s just a business," he stated.
As the video, which lasted 15 minutes, progressed, Anthony got more specific. "One of the guys I worked with, he wanted me to make some stupid f**king post about Beyonce’s country album. About how it was good… even though it was complete trash," he said, adding "It makes me just want to throw up, trying to listen the beginning of her version of ‘Jolene'."
He further said, "Just total cringe. It represents how degenerative our society has become that a song like a Beyonce version of ‘Jolene’ can come out and anybody actually listen to it and think it not’s complete f**king trash."
Oliver Anthony blasts 'inauthenticity' of Nashville music industry
Before criticizing Beyonce's country album, 'Rich Men North of Richmond' singer Oliver Anthony discussed the Nashville music industry.
He began by saying, "At the very beginning, our focus was just trying to figure out what we felt like God's purpose was for our lives and trying to figure out how to pursue that. I think it was just being around all those people that weren't of that mindset."
He went on to explain, "There's no way to create something that's focused around God when you're working with people who are just focused around making money. And just using you for whatever they can."
To illustrate how the music industry is driven by business, Anthony shared a story about how his hit song disrupted the typical patterns of the music charts.
"Around the time ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ came out, there were other songs that it knocked out of the way that had millions of dollars invested in for marketing," he said. "A lot of the music that goes on the charts, the companies actually buy their own song however many times. They’ll spend a million dollars just to jump it up the charts a certain amount where people start to see it," he added.
He further criticized the inauthenticity of the music industry, stating, "These are all just systems. They’re not inherently bad. It’s not like there’s a bunch of people sitting around who are evil thinking about how to trick you into making you listen to a certain kind of song."
He concluded, "But it’s just a business model that they’ve followed and adapted to. It was evident talking to all these people, and every time I go to town and talk to people in Nashville, I realize how scary this new era is."
