FANS IN BEYONCE’S NATIVE HOUSTON FETE NEW COUNTRY ALBUM

In Beyoncé’s hometown of Houston fans turned out in full force at a roller rink listening party celebrating the megastar’s new country album.

The scene on Friday night was a jubilant display of support for the 42-year-old Texan, who faced some bigoted criticism when she announced her new project Cowboy Carter, which was released in full on Friday.

Despite the long lineage of black artists in country music, overwhelmingly white and male gatekeepers of the genre have long vied to rigidly dictate its boundaries.

But they were no match for Beyoncé, who pressed on and dropped a 27-track epic to great fanfare.

Cowboy Carter is the second installment of her Renaissance trilogy, a rollicking, history-rich honky tonk of an album that quickly soared to the top of the streaming rankings. It’s rife with country elements but also draws across the genres, including rap, dance, soul, rock, gospel and funk.

“This I think is probably her best album yet. I think it is so thoughtful, it is so new, it is so different really than anything else that she’s done before,” said Austin Davis Ruiz, a civil servant.

That the listening party was held at a roller rink was also in line with Beyoncé’s roots; she used to skate as a child, and even filmed her 2013 music video for the track Blow at a Houston roller rink.

Teacher Candice Williams said that “being from Houston and from Texas, we’ve always sang country music.”

“Black women have always sung country music, this is nothing new; it’s just the fact that she’s such a worldwide known artist,” Williams said.

“So she’s bringing country music like out there to pop artists and people who don't know the background.”