How an "Old Town Road" is Re-Unifying Hip Hop, Country Music and America
I know, I know. I may have hopped on this Lil Nas X train a little late, but it seems to just be picking up momentum at every stop. And, who can be mad at the 20-year-old country-rap star who's taking over the music industry with his 2018 hit #OldTownRoad?
What started as a #YeehawChallenge on the video sharing app TikTok, has now surpassed every expectation and can be heard on all airwaves, humming on everyone's lips, and played at every kid's birthday party and school function!
It's no doubt, then, that the superstar encountered a few set backs with the catchy tune before it peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
What was originally a country "rap" song that debuted at #19 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in 2018, was quickly determined as being "not country enough" and subsquently removed. However, country music legend (and Miley's dad), Billy Ray Cyrus heard the track and thought it was perfect as is, but was asked to do a feature, which ultimately helped to take the record to a whole other level! I think it's safe to say no one in a million years saw this collab coming, but that we're all glad it did so we could have yet another tune to play on repeat and so we can think on deeper issues that the song & collaboration present.
Most known for his 1992 hit, #AchyBreakyHeart, Cyrus' collaboration with Lil Nas X was also a collaboration outside of music. Serving as a comeback in its own right for the 57-year-old country rockstar, Cyrus & Lil Nas X have not only bridged a gap between #oldschoolers and #millennials, but have also opened up a pathway to bridge racial gaps in music and in the world.
Indeed, this isn't the first time music has seen interracial and inter-genre mixes, as pop artists collab with rap artists, and RnB artists collab with reggae artists all the time; many even remixing or covering songs from past genres and artists and making them into their own. But, in a United States of America, where gun violence, mass shootings, police brutality and more are plaguing the country and segregating its people, the union of a 57-year-old white country-crooner and a 20-year-old black rapper who has chosen country music as his home (and who has just come out as gay), is a step in the right direction. In fact, Lil Nas X's career has allowed other black country rap artists to shine, such as #BlancoBrown with his 2019 hit, #TheGitUp.
But, we also have to pay homage to those who made it possible for Lil Nas X's "get up", like Florida Georgia Line and their collaboration with rapper Nelly, to create the 2012 hit, "Cruise (Remix)", and lead singer of the rockband Hootie & The Blowfish, who is now a solo country artist, Darius Rucker - who, I must say, has been "forgotten" and sometimes teased as being "the only" black country artist, rather than being celebrated. It seems as if all the shine that Darius should have gotten when he transitioned into country music has been given to Lil Nas X, instead. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad someone of the African American community is being praised for their contribution no matter what genre they're in, but it's only fair that Darius was given his shine too.
In fact, speaking of shine and giving props where it's due, although I absolutely adore Billy Ray and agree that his contribution to Old Town Road really got the song to skyrocket, I'm not sure that his verses made the song "more country". I'm wondering if he, simply being a country artist, did that, because his verses sound more "gangsta rap" than Lil Nas X's.
Billy Ray's, "Hat down, cross town, living' like a rockstar / Spent a lot of money on my brand new guitar / Baby's got a habit: diamond rings and Fendi sports bras / Ridin' down Rodeo in my Maserati sports car" sounds a lot like any rap song where the artist brags about his women, his cars, and his money. To me, it's no more "country" than Lil Nas X's, "I got the horses in the back / Horse tack is attached / Hat is matte black / Got the boots that's black to match / Ridin' on a horse, ha / You can whip your Porsche / I been in the valley / You ain't been up off that porch, now". Nothing against Billy Ray, it's just something my sister and I took notice of the last time we heard the song on the radio. It just leads me to wonder why the original song was removed from the Billboard charts in the first place. In fact, this simultaneously shows how Billy Ray, the “delegated” country artist, can be just as influenced by rap.
Nevertheless, this collaboration was much needed for the music industry, to once again, cross genres; the racial issue in America; the age gap between parents and their children, teachers and their students, and artists of yesteryear and today; as well as the hetero and homosexual communities. In the case of the latter, there has been a lot of hullabaloo about parents no longer wanting their kids to sing Old Town Road, or straight people interpreting the song's lyrics differently than they did prior to Lil Nas X's #comingout, but, for me, in sticking to the music, this entire situation makes me ask the questions, What makes a genre a genre? What made Old Town Road all of a sudden more "country" than it originally was after Billy Ray hopped on it despite his lyrics not necessarily being "country"? What made Billboard put the song back on the charts after standing so firmly in their belief that it wasn't country enough? Why has the song been #1 for so long now, that Taylor Swift - country-"pop" superstar - has not been able to reach that position for weeks? Is this just a music industry issue or is this symbolic of the way the world, (America) works?
Still, the most important thing is that what has come out of this unlikely pairing is discourse; which is always good. Whether positive or negative, people are talking, to each other, from different sectors. Children and adults and people of all races and taste of music are requesting and listening; Lil Nas X is performing to all types of crowds all across the states & the world; and many conversations are being had that just might have been long overdue.
