Love him or hate him,
Lil Nas X is completely taking over hip-hop and country
with his viral track, "Old Town Road."
Now, if you've been living under a rock,
the country trap song's hashtag has been shared
over 100 million times on TikTok.
And if that isn't enough,
"Old Town Road" reached over 143 million streams
after country star Billy Ray Cyrus hopped on the track.
For reference, that's more streams
than Drake's "In My Feelings."
Here's how Lil Nas X went from running
a viral Twitter account
to topping the charts
and how he's stirring up some controversy
in the country-music world.
♪ I got the horses in the back ♪
Atlanta native Lil Nas X isn't new to going viral online.
A few years ago, his claim to fame
was running Nicki Minaj fan accounts
FactsAboutNM and NasMaraj.
Lil Nas X also used his NasMaraj Twitter account
to create choose-your-own-adventure stories with threads.
According to New York Magazine,
he was also known for creating force-viral content
and clickbait through a process called "tweetdecking."
It's basically when networks of larger accounts,
like NasMaraj at the time, rip viral tweets
from lesser-known accounts and pass it off as their own.
They also use this network to sell retweets for money.
A notorious example was this fake megaviral story
he posted about no one attending his dog's birthday.
Twitter cracked down on these types of accounts,
and as a result, the NasMaraj account was suspended.
But his large following encouraged the artist
to start posting his music
on SoundCloud and YouTube in 2018.
When he posted "Old Town Road" in December of 2018,
it was a perfect storm of virability.
The release coincided with the TikTok trend
the "yeehaw challenge," which gained popularity
the following month.
It's essentially, well, this.
♪ My horse to the old town road ♪
♪ I'm gonna ride till I can't no more ♪
♪ I got the horses in the back ♪
Because there was no official release to "Old Town Road,"
radio stations began ripping the track from YouTube
to keep up with the song's demand.
The internet track entered the Hot 100 Billboard charts
at No. 83 and quickly climbed to the No. 1 spot.
The song also made it
on Billboard's hip-hop and country genre charts.
But when it came to the country charts,
not everyone was dancing along.
"Old Town Road" hit the No. 19 spot
on the Hot Country Songs chart in March 2019.
And Billboard removed it.
According to the site, the country trap song
wasn't country enough due to "musical composition,"
and for not embracing "enough elements
of today's country music to chart in its current version."
Fans and even fellow musicians were outraged.
Many Twitter users accused Billboard
of making the decision based on race
instead of the music's sound,
and while Billboard denied that race was involved
in an interview with Genius,
this wouldn't be the first time black artists
were turned away from the country genre.
Take Nelly's 2004 hit, "Over and Over"
featuring country singer Tim McGraw.
Despite McGraw's signature twang, love themes,
and traditionally country instruments woven into the beats,
the double-platinum record never touched the country charts.
And like the time Beyoncé sang her song
"Daddy Lessons" at the 2016 CMAs
and certain Twitter users weren't here for it.
Despite singing her very-much country song
with country legends The Dixie Chicks,
the LA Times reported that many conservative country fans
were downright livid.
These songs, including "Old Town Road,"
were all from Southern artists
using traditionally country instruments and themes.
And one huge country artist decided to extend
the viral track's lifespan.
Country superstar Billy Ray Cyrus hopped in the studio
with Lil Nas X and gave hip-hop and country fans
something we didn't even know we needed.
While the song still has not been reentered
on the Hot Country charts, Cyrus' remix on the track
ironically became his first No. 1 hit
on the Billboard Hot 100.
After all the success,
Lil Nas X was officially signed to Columbia Records.
He's also taken to social media to drop some hints
of an upcoming album.
So do you guys hope he'll have more country tracks for us,
or are you hoping he'll try something else?
Let us know in the comments below,
and don't forget to subscribe.