While none of us will ever know what it’s like to go on a lavish island vacation with Jay-Z, to hear Beyoncé tell it, the soundtrack to her 2024 Hot Girl summer is totally relatable. In a new email interview feature with GQ, Queen Bey opens up about about why she decided to launch her own whiskey brand, SirDavis, as well as the musical influences on her Cowboy Carter album and what movies and albums she’s had on repeat lately.
Asked what is currently inspiring her in the world of film and music, Beyoncé said she simply loves and respects “all of the female singers-songwriters who are out right now,” ticking off a list that includes: Raye, Victoria Monét, Sasha Keable, Chloe x Halle, and Reneé Rapp. “I love Doechii and GloRilla, and I just heard That Mexican OT, he’s from Houston…. He goes hard!,” she said of the MC from Bay City, Texas whose 2023 breakthrough hit “Johnny Dang” hit No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In addition, like so many of you, she also loves Sabrina Carpenter’s first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, “Please Please Please,” and added that, “I think that Thee Sacred Souls and Chappell Roan are talented and interesting.” Most relatable of all, though, was her love for Miley Cyrus, with Bey saying she’s mesmerized by the singer who joined her on the Carter track “II Most Wanted.”
“I’m obsessed with my backseat baby…. I’m a Smiler,” Bey said, referring to Cyrus by her fan group name and via a lyrical reference to the line “I’ll be your backseat baby, drivin’ you crazy/ Anytime you like, whoa/ I’ll be your shotgun rider, ’til the day I/ ‘Til the day I die” from their whiskey-soaked Carter ballad collab.
Back in March, Miley gave thanks for her feature on the landmark country-tinged album from Bey that features a galaxy of other stars — including her godmother Dolly Parton, among many others. “I’ve loved Beyonce since long before I had the opportunity to meet & work with her,” Cyrus wrote in an Instagram post that included the Cowboy Carter album cover. “My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created along side of her,” she continued. “Thank you Beyonce. You’re everything & more. Love you. To everyone who spent time making this song so special thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
When she’s not listening to her fellow female pop stars, Beyoncé said she spins classics by Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and the legendary Stax label, as well as watching the 2024 documentary about the Memphis soul label that broke Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and Sam & Dave, Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.
The best movie she’s seen this year? The long-awaited, $1 billion-grossing sequel to the feelings-forward animated smash Inside Out 2. ” I think it’s brilliant,” she said of the film featuring the voice work of Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Tony Hale, Amy Poehler and Lewis Black, among others. She said she’s also currently watching the Game of Thrones sequel House of the Dragon and Lena Waithe’s long-running drama about life on the South Side of Chicago, The Chi.
