Did Beyoncé reference a Marvel supervillain in her new album? She sure did

In case you’ve somehow missed the biggest news in music this week, Beyoncé released her latest album on Friday, and it delivers on so many levels.

In case you’ve somehow missed the biggest news in music this week, Beyoncé released her latest album on Friday, and “Act II: Cowboy Carter” goes out of its way to point out that music genres are overly confining labels. The 27-track compendium contains country music, to be sure, but also folk, gospel, rap, pop and even some Italian opera – and it celebrates Bey’s desire to span beyond any labels or limits. (She even spelled it out in a rare caption on her Instagram ahead of the album drop, writing that “Carter” “ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”) The resulting collection is musically rich, lyrically creative and distinctly Beyoncé. In “Cowboy Carter’s” most hip-hop-heavy song “Spaghettii,” which is introduced by Black country trailblazer Linda Martell, Beyoncé raps near the top of the track, “At the snap of my fingers, I’m Thanos” – a direct callout of the peak Marvel Cinematic Universe villain who snapped his fingers and caused half the universe to turn to dust. “Spaghettii” is Beyoncé in one of her most unrestrained moments on the new record, bringing out a rougher side as she raps brazenly on an album most thought would be exclusively “country” (which itself is a changing blanket term) mixed in among the more introspective “Daughter” and beautiful, pointed ballad “Alligator Tears.” The song, which additionally features Shaboozey, also contains one of “Act II’s” several references to Beyoncé’s previous album “Renaissance” – which is now considered her “Act I” in this new era – when Shaboozey utters also near the top, “That Beyoncé Virgo s–t,” a nod to “Virgo’s Groove” on that hit 2022 record. Later in the new album comes the gleeful “Ya Ya,” arguably the spiritual successor to “Renaissance” in its playful and infectious tone, which itself packs a plethora of references and samples including (most notably) Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 hit “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” Later in the track, Queen Bey calls to mind another 1966 charttopper, “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys, when she croons, “She’s pickin’ up good vibrations, he’s lookin’ for sweet sensations.”