Baltimore native Brittney Spencer featured on new Beyoncé album "Cowboy Carter"
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore-bred country artist Brittney Spencer's star continues to rise with a feature on Beyoncé's latest album "Cowboy Carter," which dropped Friday.
Spencer, 35, is one of a few featured singers on "Blackbiird" - a reimagining of the Beatles song 'Blackbird.' The two I's in the title might reference how 'Cowboy Carter' is the second installment of the superstar's three-act project, which began with 2022's critically acclaimed "Renaissance."
Spencer went to Loch Raven Middle School and the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology. Then she moved to Nashville to pursue her dream of becoming a country artist.
In a 2020 interview with WJZ, Spencer said she had to accept that her life and career in Nashville might be filled with challenges because of her race.
"The challenge with pursuing in a predominately white industry, such as country music, is that there's very little representation of yourself and your life experiences," Spencer said.
Spencer's success and Beyoncé's country album is certainly challenging that status quo. In February Beyoncé became the first Black woman to score a No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs after the single "Texas Hold 'Em" debuted at the top of the chart.
Spencer has shared the stage with legends – performing with acts like Willie Nelson, Bob Weir and the Highwomen. In London last summer, at the BST Hyde Park Festival, she played on the same bill with Bruce Springsteen and The Chicks.
Video above: Country singer Brittney Spencer talks debut album and more on WJZ at 9
In a January CBS News interview, Spencer reflected on her success and the journey to learn her worth.
"It got bad," she confessed, adding she's thankful for therapy. "Like, I was having panic attacks, anxiety attacks … It literally could send me into a spiral. It's like, this thing makes me so happy. Why am I so miserable right now? Why am I so sad? Why is this so heavy? The core of who you are is put to the test constantly."
"I don't know, I'm a plus-size Black girl from Baltimore City, in Nashville doing country music. On paper that sounds weird as hell!"
There's a bit of Baltimore in "Renaissance" too. Rapper Tate Kobang is listed as a songwriter and composer on the album's single "Virgo's Groove."
Beyoncé dropped the "Cowboy Carter" track list Wednesday in a vintage-inspired social media post, prompting a flurry of excitement and hypotheses among her fans.
With 27 titles listed, the album is Beyoncé's longest by far.