The BeyHive Is Stirring Over Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Vinyl Reportedly Missing Five Songs

Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter last Friday, March 29, and the BeyHive couldn’t have asked for more. The 27-track album — billed as “act ii” of Renassaince — hits every note, including covers of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” (stylized as “Blackbiird“) and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and features from Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Willie Nelson, Shaboozey, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, and more.

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter rollout has been flawlessly methodical. Even still, people found something to be upset about. According to Rolling Stone, people were less than enthused about the Cowboy Carter vinyl because it reportedly excludes “Ya Ya,” “Spaghettii,” “The Linda Martell Show,” “Oh Louisiana,” and “Flamenco.”

“The preordered CD is also missing those first four songs but includes ‘Flamenco,’ which has spawned another complaint: The ‘limited edition’ compact disc version promised the inclusion of an ‘additional song,’ with many fans assuming it was an unreleased, exclusive bonus track,” Rolling Stone relayed. “Instead, the ‘additional song’ appears to just be ‘Flamenco,’ a track already on the digital version of the album.”

Nobody definitively knows why those five songs (allegedly, seemingly, reportedly) were left off from physical versions of the album, but the BBC suggested that perhaps Beyoncé “added these songs late into the album’s creation.” Also worth noting is that the album is 79:03 long, and the Cowboy Carter vinyl edition is a 2LP release. Each side of a standard record can hold up to 25 minutes of audio, so the full album would fit into the 100 minutes of space across the 2LPs. Additionally, the tracklist of the songs included on the vinyl release isn’t listed on Beyoncé’s online shop or even on the physical release itself.

It’s only a guess, but the outlet posited, “Vinyl pressing plants are booked months in advance, with lead times of 10 weeks to six months — meaning albums have to be submitted long in advance of their release.” However, Variety smartly pointed out that the explanation wouldn’t necessarily make sense if “II Most Wanted” was under construction as recently as February, as contributing musicians suggested.

It should also be noted that Beyoncé’s store offers Cowboy Carter in four different vinyl variations — black, blue, red, and white — so specific complaints might only apply to certain vinyl variants.

See some of the reactions emerging from the BeyHive below.

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