Beyonce explains why she didn't release Cowboy Carter music videos as she stuns in GQ photoshoot

Beyonce's latest album, Cowboy Carter, was devoid of music videos, but the star, who made a R&B to country transition , said that was intentional.

The release of the latest album ushered in a new era for the star known largely for her R&B and pop-style sound. Instead, the VMA nominee served fans up a country album. In the past, Beyonce has been known for pairing her music with stunning visuals, even previously releasing a visual album, Lemonade. However, this time, Beyonce wanted her music to shine alone.

In her GQ cover story interview, she said: "I thought it was important that during a time where all we see is visuals, that the world can focus on the voice. The music is so rich in history and instrumentation. It takes months to digest, research, and understand. The music needed space to breathe on its own.

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"Sometimes a visual can be a distraction from the quality of the voice and the music. The years of hard work and detail put into an album, that takes over four years! The music is enough. The fans from all over the world became the visual. We all got the visual on tour. We then got more visuals from my film.”

The star went on to applaud the fans who support her. She has spent last year touring across the world to promote her album, Renaissance, before switching gears to Cowboy Carter. During that time, she was able to see all the shining faces of her fans and now, she has admitted, they became part of the story. Beyonce said: “The music is enough. The fans from all over the world became the visual."

In another explanation of the album, Beyonce noted that she chose not to name the album Cowgirl Carter, opting for the more traditional gender option. She wanted to pay homage to the American history of the Wild West where the untold stories of Black cowboys, who made up a quarter of all cowboys, are often ignored.

"These men faced a world that refused to see them as equal, yet they were the backbone of the cattle industry," she explained. Beyonce added: "The cowboy is a symbol of strength and aspiration in America. The cowboy was named after slaves who handled the cows. The word cowboy comes from those who were called boys, never given the respect they deserved. No one would dare call a Black man handling cows 'Mister' or 'Sir.' For me, SirDavis is a sign of earned respect. We all deserve respect, especially when we give it."