The Cowboy Carter Economy: Who Profits When Black Culture Moves the Market? | Shoppe Black
With Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé reasserts authorship over a genre Black artists helped birth and proves, once again, that culture is capital.
She reframed country music through a Black Southern lens, spotlighted forgotten legacies, and rewrote American mythology in her cadence.
But the cultural impact didn’t stop at the sonic. It came with boots, fringe, braids, and an economic boom.
Since Beyoncé kicked off her Cowboy Carter tour on April 28, the ripple effects have been immediate and measurable.
Hotel prices in tour cities surged by up to 178%. Airbnb searches in Chicago spiked more than 100% compared to last year. Downtown hotels reported 95% occupancy on opening night alone. Rideshare apps joined the wave, offering discounts using Beyoncé song titles as promo codes. Lyft even turned its map cars into white horses in homage to the album’s artwork.
