“I was leaving the studio, but they were like, ‘we’re doing country, man!’ and I was just like, ‘that’s different, let’s go.’ We did one country idea, then we started Texas Hold ’Em”: Killah K on the making of a lead single from Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter

Whether it’ll finally win her an Album of the Year Grammy remains to be seen, but Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is certainly one of the most talked about records of 2024. It marked the star’s much-discussed pivot towards country music, and one of the two lead singles that introduced us to this new sound was Texas Hold ‘Em.

Released alongside 16 Carriages on 11 February, Texas Hold ‘Em is a bouncy, country-folk-soul jam that comes complete with banjo from Rhiannon Giddens, but it turns out that the song was born before Beyoncé had ever heard of it. In fact, in an interview with Music Week, producer and co-writer Killah B - Brian Bates - said that the story of its life began at a birthday party.