Kind of hard to believe this was big just this year, feels like it's from 2011 or something
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcJf5LIIZ-0
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Loading... Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus & Keith Urban – Old Town Road
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This is definitely the song of 2019 for my kids. I'm so used to the version the peperoncino sings that it's always a little surprising for me to hear what the song really sounds like. He and I had a hilarious conversation a month or so ago about the meaning of the line "you can't whip your Porsche."
So, surprisingly enough I was aware that this song existed and that it was hugely popular but wasn't sure I had heard it. I was thinking that I probably had and didn't realize it. So when I clicked on this video I discovered that I hadn't actually heard Old Town Road. After it was finished I was like "Is that all there is?" It's a fine enough song but it's super popularity evades my comprehension.
If I had to guess, I would say that mixing rap with themes associated far more with country music than rap are part of the appeal--it's a fresh combination of things. (Interestingly, there were quite a lot of black cowboys back in the day.) And kids really, really, really like to sing it.
Further proof of that last point:
This is probably a larger discussion that I have time for, but when you step back a bit and look at the themes of popular hip hop and popular country you’ll find a lot of overlap. Sure the brand names are different, but the themes are really, really similar.
Interesting! I was thinking on a very superficial level--wearing cowboy boots and singing about horses--but there's certainly more to it than that.
The episode of Bourdain when he was down in Cajun Country had a segment with some Black Cowboys that was pretty interesting, and I think relevant to this part of history..
I don't particularly care for this song, but Lil Nas X is so goofy and affable and his very existence irritates so many of the right people that I have a hard time wishing anything but a prosperous career for him.
I hope he realizes he caught lightning in a bottle.
He could write 100 songs better than this and the chance that any of them will be half as popular are still slim.
Enjoy the ride, milk it for future revenue, but don't expect any similar successes are possible.
The goofiness he expresses gives me hope he gets it.
It was not played much in the Minneapolis radio market, where Lizzo's "Truth Hurts" felt similar.