Beyoncé broke the internet again this week after announcing the title of the highly anticipated second act of her three-album trilogy: Cowboy Carter. Fans have had much to say about it. Some find the title disappointing, and others have speculated about its meaning. One TikTok user, @beysus.christ, shared an interesting theory on the platform, explaining that the title may be a nod to country group The Carter Family’s appropriation of Black and brown music during the early 20th century.
@beysus.christ Allow me to enlighten you! Act ii Cowboy Carter, The Carter Family, Leslie Riddle, and whu Bey may be opening in Mexico #actii #cowboycarter #beyonce ♬ original sound – beysus christ
Who is The Carter Family in country music?
In the video, @beysus.christ explains that The Carter Family was “the first family of country music.” According to Yard Barker, the group was formed in 1927 and is best known for singer Maybelle Carter’s vocal and guitar stylings.
“Maybelle Carter is credited for creating this guitar picking style called the Carter scratch that kind of revolutionized country music,” the TikToker said in the video.
Who is Leslie Riddle?
But according to @beysus.christ, Carter wasn’t the originator of the technique. Leslie Riddle, a North Carolina native and talented guitarist, was the sound’s creator, and he taught Carter how to do it. The Herald and Tribune reported that Riddle, sometimes called Esley, was influential to the Carter Family, meeting patriarch A.P. Carter sometime between 1928 and 1930. Riddle’s influence can be heard in many of the group’s tunes, including 1930’s “The Cannon-Ball.”
“Leslie Riddle sat down with and played for Maybelle and she really liked the way that he played the guitar and he taught her how to play it the way that he did,” the TikToker explained, “and that birthed the Carter scratch.”
Riddle traveled around the country with A.P. to find songs for the group to cover. According to @beysus.christ, Riddle and A.P. would drive up to people’s homes and ask if they had any old familial songs and ask them to play them. Riddle would then memorize it and later teach it to Maybelle.
“AP Carter would frequently take songs from Black neighborhoods who shared and capitalized off of them with no compensation to these families,” the TikToker noted in an in-video caption.
“This is what birthed country music,” they argued. “The Carter Family wouldn’t have been as successful as they were without Leslie Riddle.”
@beysus.christ also believes the album will have strong ties to Mexico and the Spanish language.
“The Carter Family also is famously known for taking music from Mexican artists and using it as their own for country music,” they explained, adding that the group even moved to the Texas/Mexico border and took music from locals.
Viewers appreciated the TikToker’s theory in the clip’s comment.
One even said, “Beyonce team should pay you!”
Cowboy Carter drops on Mar. 29.
