Here’s Why Beyoncé Changing Lanes Really Isn’t A Big Deal

Alright, everyone is talking about the Beyoncé new album. So I've decided to jump in on this conversation. Everyone has their opinion about this thing. Most people have called it a country album. Bae Bae herself calls it a Beyoncé album.

And then there's country singer and former Dukes Of Hazzard star, John Schneider. Who equated Beyonce's venture into the genre as a dog marking its territory. In case you missed it, Schneider told Huffington Post, "They’ve got to make their mark, just like a dog in a dog walk park...You know, every dog has to mark every tree, right?”

Look, what I’ve heard of the new Beyoncé album isn't my jam at all. However, I do ask what all the fuss is about. I mean we had no issue when Dolly Parton released a Rock & Roll album. Sure, we didn't buy it. But we didn't give her a hard time about it either.

Jelly Roll started out as a rapper, selling hip-hop tapes out of the back of his car. Now he's one of the biggest country music stars around. He just won a Country Music Association Award, cbsnews.com reported.

Um, Kid Rock anyone? (None for me, thanks though.)

So what's the issue with Beyoncé doing a country album? Is it that she decided not to live in the box we designated for her? She’s not ‘staying in her lane”? The “know your role” rule? Or is it that she covered “Jolene.” An epic Dolly Parton song?

Well kids, get over it.

Related: You Love Neil Diamond, And It's Okay To Admit It

Even Dolly herself wanted Beyoncé to cover her ode to another woman trying to steal her man. According to ctvnews.ca, Dolly mentioned Beyoncé specifically when she was talking about who would do a great cover of "Jolene." Dolly told CTV News, "That would be a marvelous day in my life if she ever does ‘Jolene'".

Dolly said in that interview that Beyoncé could make "Jolene" a powerhouse song like Whitney Houston did with "I Will Always Love You." And while Beyoncé changed some lyrics to make it more of a modern woman song, she didn't change the tone of the tune.

There have been other genre bending snowflake melters in the past. Ok, maybe snowflakes didn't melt. That's a new phenomenon. What I’m saying is that an artist from one genre covering another genre isn't new. Its just new to be all bent out of shape over it. Let's take a look at some others.

"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" - Cover: Cyndi Lauper - This song haunted me as a kid. It was on the radio every five seconds. Plus MTV beat it up as well. You, or at least I, could not escape this travesty when it was “hot.”

Yes, this song was weird when Cyndi Lauper sang it. It's an over-the-top, sappy, pop song. So sugary it could give you diabetes. But a dude singing it? Well, That's just creepy. Check out this original version of the song.

You've got to love it when a death/black/whatever-kind-of-metal-this-is band takes on some super cheese 80’s new wave song. I’m not sure about the artistic value, but the comedic value of this cover is off the charts!

These guys were fairly big, almost as big as their pants were in their original 1983 video. And that video was just as epically worthy of mockery as Cradle Of Filth's version. "Let Me Go” is their big hit, but this tune was mildly successful.

Genre bending doesn't even begin to describe this piece of art. Not only did it bend, but it twisted, turned and poured milk all over N.W.A.’s masterpiece. If you haven't heard it, check it out here.

The OG’s of offending people, especially Tipper Gore. We have warning labels on music now, because N.W.A. came out and just didn't give a f---. Or is too many that they gave? Whatever it is, these guys took melting snowflakes to a whole new level.

*This video is NSFW, P.S. So put those headphones on before you blast this video and get called into HR.

I'm sure these covers caused just as much outrage when they first came out. But now they're just on a list of covers that DJs like me use to prove that the latest outrage is no big deal. So let's just skip to the part where we all insult each others' music genre and fast-forward to the part where we don't care anymore. Cool? Cool.

Have you ever watched an animated movie and couldn't figure out who the voice actor was? If the voice sounded familiar to you and you still couldn't place a face to the voice, it may be because it was by someone you're used to hearing sing. Over the years, musicians have signed up to voice roles for animated films. Taylor Swift was in The Lorax, Rihanna was in Home, Katy Perry was in Smurfs, Beyoncé was in Epic, Selena Gomez was in the Hotel Transylvania franchise, and Nicki Minaj and Jennifer Lopez were both in Ice Age. Animation houses DreamWorks, Illumination, Pixar and Disney Animation Studios feature at least one cameo from a star musician.

In some films, musicians explore how good their voice-acting chops are, while others contribute to the project by working on an animated film’s soundtrack. For example, one of Justin Timberlake‘s best-charting songs, "Can’t Stop the Feeling!" was written for Trolls 2, in which he also starred, and took home the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2017. Now, *NSYNC is going to be featured in the upcoming Trolls Band Together with their first song in two decades. The song, titled "Better Place" is *NSYNC’s first new song since 2002. The pop group reunited for a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2013 and, in 2018, got together once again for their Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony. But this is their first new song.

Keep scrolling to see which of your favorite musicians have starred in an animated film below:

In 2008, Cyrus expanded her acting chops fresh from her Hannah Montana days when she voiced super-dog Bolt’s owner, Penny. John Travolta voices the super-dog, and though he's an actor, he famously starred in musicals Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Hairspray.

In the 2006 fantasy adventure film based on the book of the same name starring Freddie Highmore and Mia Farrow, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, and David Bowie star as elves. Madonna plays Selenia, princess of a race of tiny beings, Snoop portrays Max, leader of the Koolamassai, and Bowie voices the antagonist, Emperor Maltazard.

The Black Eyed Peas frontman stars as the smooth, alpha hippo named Moto Moto in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. When he meets Jada Pinkett Smith's Gloria, he sings, "I like 'em big, I like 'em chunky." The name is so nice, you say it twice. will.i.am also provided his voice for another animated film series, Rio and Rio 2 as a red canary named Pedro.

Uglyville is such an adorable town. And so many musicians have lent their voices in the 2019 animated film. Shelton stars as Ox, a green uglydoll and the Unofficial Mayor of Uglyville, mentor to all of the other Ugly Dolls and former friend of Lou. Clarkson is Moxy, a pink uglydoll with lots of confidence, hope, and curiosity. Jonas is Lou, the preppy leader from the town of Perfection and a bully towards the Ugly Dolls and the other imperfect dolls. Lizzo voices Lydia, a purple-haired perfect doll, Rexha is Tuesday, a blue-haired perfect doll, and Charlie XCX voices Kitty, a pink-haired perfect doll. The three of them make up the Spy Girls. Pitbull fittingly voices Ugly Dog, a one-eyed blue uglydoll, while Ice-T is hilariously Peggy, a small one-eyed flying unicorn. Monáe voices Mandy, a kindhearted perfect doll who wears glasses for eyesight problems and befriends the Ugly Dolls.

After Brittany Murphy’s death in 2009, Pink took over the role of Gloria in the sequel to 2006’s Happy Feet. In the jukebox musical, she sings "Bridge of Light" and "Under Pressure/Rhythm Nation." Robin Williams starred in the sequel as Ramón and Lovelace, Mumble's two friends and is also this film's narrator, like the first film. This was Williams' last animated feature before his death in 2014.

The "Butterflies" singer made her venture into voice acting when she played Earwig’s mother in the English dub of Earwig and the Witch by Studio Ghibli. She puts on an English accent for the English dub, and we even got the chance to hear Musgraves sing the movie's big song, "Don’t Disturb Me."

In the first and second installments of The Smurfs films, Perry starred as Smurfette. She once described her character’s voice as being "like my voice and a bag of rocks, with a pinch of sugar." When she was growing up, her conservative parents didn't allow her to watch the television show. "My mom thought that Smurfette was a little bit slutty, being the only female in the village," she explained to MTV in 2010. She was replaced by Demi Lovato in the third Smurfs feature film, Smurfs: The Lost Village.

Queen Latifah reprised her role as the wooly mammoth Ellie, while newcomers to the Ice Age franchise Nicki Minaj and Drake starred as teenage mammoths Steffie and Ethan, respectively. Lopez starred as Shira, an ex-pirate saber-toothed tiger.

Before Taylor Swift starred in the Cats live-action film, one of her earliest film roles was voicing Audrey in the Dr. Seuss animated adaptation of The Lorax. High School Musical alum Zac Efron joins her as Ted, who is in search of a real tree in a town where they are all extinct.

In the 2013 animated film taking place in an enchanted woodland run by leaf people and talking slugs, Bey voices Queen Tara, while Mr. Worldwide plays an entrepreneurial toad named Bufo. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler voices a glow-worm named Nim Galuu.

Selena Gomez first began voicing vampire heroine Mavis Dracula in 2012, when the first of four Hotel Transylvania films came out. She wrapped up the franchise ten years later, releasing the final chapter, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, in 2022.

Rih Rih stars as Gratuity “Tip” Tucci and also created the soundtrack for DreamWorks’ 2015 animated film Home. Jennifer Lopez voices Tip's mom, Lucy, her first collaboration with director Tim Johnson since her previous role as Azteca in the 1998 DreamWorks film, Antz.

Dolly Parton’s first experience voice acting was when she played herself in a 1983 episode of Alvin and the Chipmunks. She then played herself once more in a 1999 episode of The Simpsons. Her first voice acting role was in 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet as Dolly Gnome, the announcer for the lawn mower race.

Timberlake stars in the Trolls film franchise as the overly cautious, friendly troll Branch. He also helped produce the film’s soundtrack. Stefani voices DJ Suki, a Troll who uses DJ equipment made of insects.

Shakira voiced, Gazelle, a famous singer in the Zootopia world. So, not a huge stretch! The "Hips Don't Lie" singer also contributed an original song called “Try Everything” to the film.

In the second installment of the Sing franchise, Halsey joined Tori Kelly, providing her voice acting for a wolf named Porsha Crystal. Bono also made a cameo in the film. He plays an ex-rockstar lion named Clay Calloway.

Shawn Mendes stars as the title character in Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. His character overcomes his fears through the power of friendship and embraces his gifts as a talented reptilian rockstar.

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