PHILADELPHIA — Beyoncé’s "Cowboy Carter" has arrived.

The much anticipated follow-up to her 2022 album "Renaissance" — dubbed "Act ii" — is a 27-track opus that came out as clocks struck midnight on Friday.

The album is a genre-busting interrogation of what “country” and “American” music is, and calls attention to the importance of Black musicians in the history of a genre often erroneously portrayed and perceived as lily-white.

"Cowboy Carter" connects Beyoncé with two of country most-loved living legends. Dolly Parton gives her seal of approval with a “Becky with the good hair” reference intro to a “I’m warning you, don’t come for my man” remake of “Jolene.”

And Willie Nelson lights up in two between-song “Smoke Hour” interludes in which he pretends to be a radio DJ on station KNTRY suggesting they listen with open ears: “Sometime you don’t know what you like until someone you trust turns you on to some real good s—”

School is in session on "Cowboy Carter." The Instagram track list introduces “Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin Circuit,” referring to the network of venues Black touring acts played throughout the U.S. in the Jim Crow era, the most prominent Philadelphia outpost being North Broad Street’s Uptown Theatre.

"Cowboy Carter’s" many musical strands — there’s hip-hop on the album, too, and gospel and R&B — come together in a living breathing definition of American music, woven together into the red, white, and blue flag Beyoncé waves while riding a white horse on the album cover.

No dates have yet been announced for "Cowboy Carter" performances, and there’s no word of a “Renaissance Act ii” tour.

But allow me to suggest where it would make the most sense for Beyoncé to bring her take on American vernacular music to life: This year’s Made in America festival.

It would be a perfect fit. Back in 2012, when the festival made its debut with founder, curator, and Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z headlining along with Pearl Jam, the festival announced its goal to represent the full range of American music.

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