This year is looking to be an interesting year for the music industry and may even surpass 2023. 2024 has already seen the release of new music like Kanye West’s new album Vultures 1 and Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine. Looking forward, artists have given big announcements such as during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for her 13 Grammy announcing her new album The Tortured Poets Department and Lady Gaga teasing work on a new album on social media.
However, it seems like it may be especially interesting in the country music genre. Within a month alone two big artists, Beyoncé, and Lana Del Rey, have announced new albums heavily influenced by country music. So we ask, will 2024 be the year of country music?
During the Billboard and National Music Publishers’ Associations Songwriter Awards, held on Jan. 31, Lana Del Rey was on stage paying tribute to one of her producers and lead singer for The Bleachers, Jack Antonoff. During her speech, she told the audience, “If you can’t already tell by our award winners and our performers, the music business is going country.” In her speech, she predicted that a country music wave would flood the music scene this year. “That’s why Jack has followed me to Muscle Shoals, Nashville, Mississippi, over the last four years.” Lana Del Rey said.
Lana Del Ray later confirmed that her tenth studio album Lasso is in the works. The album is aiming to be released in September, just under a year after her critically acclaimed album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd released in March of 2023. Lana Del Rey has teased the public with her work in country music over the past few months. In November she released a cover of John Denver’s popular “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” On Jan. 17, Lana Del Rey posted to Instagram a snippet of a song rumored to be on the album called “Henry, Come On.” In the post, she tagged Luke Laird, a country music producer known for his work with Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw.
Another sudden announcement came from hip-hop and pop artist Beyoncé on Feb. 11 during a Verizon ad that aired during the Super Bowl. In the ad, Beyoncé attempted to break Verizon’s network through multiple means, all of which failed. In the last seconds of the ad, Beyoncé said “Okay, they ready, drop the new music.” A few hours later two songs were released called “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” The former is a heavy country feel referencing the popular poker game style and Beyoncé’s home state of Texas. The song flirts with metaphors and has a heavy country-esk feel to it. The latter is an acoustic song reflecting on Beyonce’s life and career.
Shortly after a video was released on Beyoncé’s social media with the title “Act ii 3:29”. The title explains that this unnamed album is her second release of a three-album project, with Renaissance being released in July 2022. The unnamed album, or “Act ii,” will be released on March 29 according to the trailer released by Beyoncé. The trailer further reinforces the theory that this is a country album by displaying country themes such as a western desert, a radio playing old country songs, and a giant billboard saying “Texas Hold ‘Em” with Beyoncé dressed as a cowgirl.
With 2024 only just beginning, it will be exciting to see what other projects it will hold. As the year goes on, we will see if Lana Del Rey’s prediction will be right. So, will 2024 be the year of country music?
