In an interview with journalist Alana M. Yzola for her Acknowledge YouTube series, songwriter and producer Atia 'Ink' Boggs broke down the difference between working with Beyoncé on Renaissance and her country-styled follow-up, Cowboy Carter.
Boggs has a writing and producer credit on "16 Carriages," which starkly contrasts the songs she worked on for Renaissance. She revealed that the song was the first one she ever worked on with Beyoncé, despite releasing after the three songs she worked on for the dance-oriented album Renaissance. "So a lot of people don't know, we actually had this first," she explained at 24:00 point of the interview, seen below. "So imagine having this timeless, classic music first and having to wait, and then she came up with Act I."
Bey and Boggs started working together in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which influenced the direction of the music they worked on and what order it was released. "So we came out of being isolated, back into the world from no parties to finally expressing ourselves," she continued. Boggs said that Renaissance took listeners to "other planets," while Cowboy Carter is more about roots. "And it's like, baby, we don't do just one thing we do everything and we do it well," she said. "That's what she's letting you know. This is her southern roots, this is her Texas roots."
Boggs also explained that the pivot of Cowboy Carter reiterates that Beyoncé cannot be put in a box. "Representation matters, that sound matters. This sound is Black music, this is what we started," she said. "'16 Carriages,' that was one of my favorite songs I've ever made and produced in all of my life. Because it's so personal. I love to see her in that personal light."
When Beyoncé announced Renaissance in 2022, she billed it as the first entry in a three-act project. Cowboy Carter was originally announced as Act II, which is leading fans to believe that she's going to continue the trend of exploring Black music history by reclaiming another genre with Act III. Last month, fans theorized she's teasing her rock era thanks to a picture showing her with a mullet in a recent issue of CR Fashion Book.
When asked about the possibility of Act III being a rock album, Boggs smiled and replied, "See, y'all skipping... Shit, we got to get to Act II first."
Watch the full interview with Boggs below.
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