Renaissance vs. Cowboy Carter

[Blackout19 13,204]

Which album do you like more?
Renaissance is my favorite album from Beyonce. 

[Bronco 14,802]

Renaissance just hit the brief so much harder. 

Paid homage in a way that felt genuine, built on its inspirations & took those inspirations with it to the next level. 

Cowboy Carter just feels a little...stunty in comparison. 

[bionic 50,108]

renaissance is slay from start to finish

cowboy carter fell flat from track 1

[Guest]

I like Cowboy Carter more and have probably listened to it 5 times more than Renaissance. 

[Bradley 59,690]

Renaissance but then we had a whole massive tour around that. Let's at least wait until the CC tour begins.

[Ladle Ghoulash 31,845]

15 minutes ago, Bradley said:

Renaissance but then we had a whole massive tour around that. Let's at least wait until the CC tour begins.

IMO, even without the tour, Renaissance still clears CC.

[IllusionLover 7,054]

Risonnance all the way, Beyincé didn't do it for me tbh 

[EDEJ 38]

I love both RENAISSANCE and COWBOY CARTER imo they are both 10s but RENAISSANCE just speaks to me more and dance music is my favorite genre so I feel biased but that doesn’t take away from how much I enjoy COWBOY CARTER 

[Borislshere 53,128]

Waiting for the tour. I didn’t truly care much for Ren when it came out but once I saw the show, I fell in love. Still love CC now but not something I regularly listen to 

[Chesescake 4,055]

Cowboy Carter's tracklist should be shorter. Ameriican Requiem and 16 Carriages are some of her best.

[Ziggy 12,394]

3 hours ago, Bronco said:

Renaissance just hit the brief so much harder. 

Paid homage in a way that felt genuine, built on its inspirations & took those inspirations with it to the next level. 

Cowboy Carter just feels a little...stunty in comparison. 

I think you can tell CC was made first. It’s a bit bloated and muddled in its intention and tbh I have a hard time finding a meaning on the merits of the music itself. The intent I understand but the intent of “reclaiming country as a space for Black artists” isn’t one that really reflects meaning. Like idk why these are the songs she picked, you know? Whereas with Renaissance it feels like a very hyper intentional, almost singular expression of celebration, sexuality, joy and pleasure through each track. And she is saying, “Black artistry has been making a space for these things for decades.” It’s brilliant. I struggle to find the same meaning in cc even if I like the songs.

[Bronco 14,802]

1 hour ago, Ziggy said:

I think you can tell CC was made first. It’s a bit bloated and muddled in its intention and tbh I have a hard time finding a meaning on the merits of the music itself. The intent I understand but the intent of “reclaiming country as a space for Black artists” isn’t one that really reflects meaning. Like idk why these are the songs she picked, you know? Whereas with Renaissance it feels like a very hyper intentional, almost singular expression of celebration, sexuality, joy and pleasure through each track. And she is saying, “Black artistry has been making a space for these things for decades.” It’s brilliant. I struggle to find the same meaning in cc even if I like the songs.

Honestly I think part of the dissonance comes from her connection to the genre. 

Everything I've personally seen about the motivation behind CC has talked about the response to Daddy Lessons at the CMAs. Not her having any sort of personal history with the genre. 

Where as a lot of the messaging about Renaissance was about her love for the genres she was referencing coming from memories of her uncle as a child.

Given the difference of motivation, its not surprising one album feels more grounded & intentional.

[Roughhouse Dandy 12,323]

As a collection of songs? Renaissance. 

As a body of work? Cowboy Carter by a mile. 

[tyler k 5,330]

Both are masterpieces.

It's like apples & oranges though, while I would agree that Cowboy Carter is a bit bloated and a lot to take in at once, repeated listens are super rewarding but I don't tend to listen to it front to back. I skip around a lot.

whereas with Renaissance, i start with one song and then suddenly ive listened to the whole thing. 

 

[RichAssPiss 4,997]

Cowboy Carter 1000%. I think Renaissance is good but sounds like pastiche, and it annoys me that she didn't credit any of the queer Black artists she sampled  by name except in the small print whereas Carter gave us a history lesson on Linda Martell. Plus, I just think the songwriting is overall better. Easily her best compositions at their barest elements. These songs can have a long lifespan and survive many covers and iterations.