Liberation Economics

There is a peculiar discomfort that surfaces the moment a Black woman names her price. It doesn’t show up when she’s toiling. Not when she’s performing. Not even when she’s breaking her back to entertain the very people who once called her too loud, too dark, too free. No—the discomfort erupts when she dares to invoice. It’s not the brilliance that unsettles them. It’s the audacity to bill for it. And so it is with Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s latest musical masterstroke, choreographed cultural thesis, and economic provocation. The tour is rolling out like a Black-owned locomotive across stadiums worldwide. And what do we hear? Not praise for the historical reclamation of country music. No reverence for the multilayered genre fusion. No analysis of the complex business infrastructure required to carry out a self-funded global tour. What we hear, instead, is: “Why are the tickets so expensive?”.

Show Business

Welcome to the business of show business, where Beyoncé is the boss.